|
Originally Posted by paquerette
 Yep, it's influenced our decision to look elsewhere to settle down. I won't buy here now. There's no stopping it.
|
The EPA can not regulate Gas Extraction due to provisions in the The Energy Policy Act of 2005 and the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 . Please tell congress that this industry should be held to the standards of the Clean Water Act. Here is a link to learn more about the frac act
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-1215&tab=summary
have you met up with earth first?
http://marcellusearthfirst.org/
i am planning on going to a rochester meeting soon.
Yup. We are hearing of it around our neck of the woods too. National Fuel is heading fracking in wny. But, they own the heating industry, so, kinda hard to boycott, but not impossible.
I've met up with Earth firsters in the Ithaca area. They are great people. Very welcoming.
November 18 the Broome county legislature will vote on opening up county lands to a gas lease. If you live in Broome county please contact your representative and tell them to vote no.
http://www.gobroomecounty.com/legis/legis
607-778-2131
Drilling is increasing in my area, but has been going on for quite some time. As a life-long West Virginian, this is my home. I have no desire to move. Our state has seen destruction for many years due to coal mining, more recently mountaintop removal. We're used to big energy companies coming in and destroying our land. It's almost part of our heritage and culture at this point. Many people in the southern part of the state have already been without clean drinking water for many years.
On a more positive note, it has recently been in the news that geothermal hotspots have been found beneath the ground here. I've heard that these hotspots could potentially provide geothermal energy for a large portion of the Northeast. I'm hoping that it is further explored, and we can use that as a way to cut back on the mining and drilling and move toward a greener future.
I believe every place on earth should have a healthy environment. Technology can help. There are examples. http://www.ecospheretech.com/products-services/oil-gas
Unfortunatly, so far this issue is all about people making a lot of money. Oil and gas are all about the old pollute and run economy. We must demand better. We need science to meet consciousness.
November 18 the Broome county legislature will vote on opening up county lands to a gas lease. If you live in Broome county please contact your representative and tell them to vote no.
http://www.gobroomecounty.com/legis/legis
607-778-2131
Broome County legislators tonight voted 10-3 against approving a $7.8 million gas lease on 3,200 acres of county-owned land
Courtesy of Walter Hang (toxic targeting)
Greetings,
I trust that everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving.
I write to let you know that Governor Paterson essentially declared late last week that DEC would not adopt a Final SGEIS during his administration. That means New York's on-going de facto Marcellus Shale drilling moratorium will extend into the Cuomo administration.
This stupendous achievement took a year of grassroots pounding to accomplish. Thank you all so much for your help. See below a link to Paterson's interview on WAMC.
Unfortunately, the Governor is still refusing to withdraw the draft SGEIS and start the process over, so we have much more heavy lifting to do during the last month the lame duck is in office.
You might have heard that activists are pushing the Assembly to adopt a bill in Special Session that would bar gas drilling permits until 5/15/11. This bill earlier passed the State Senate. I am not working on this matter because I do not believe enacting a six-month moratorium makes sense when New York already has a de facto moratorium in effect. We must focus on fixing our state's woefully inadequate regulation of shale gas hazards, notably wastewater threats.
Moreover, I believe it would be a grave mistake to allow Legislators or Paterson to take credit for enacting a moratorium on top of the one we already have. I believe it would be far better to pressure them to withdraw the draft SGEIS and address its shortcomings .
On the bright side, Cuomo will now have to make the final call on shale gas extraction. He will not be able to say he inherited a flawed Final SGEIS from Paterson. That means Marcellus Shale will soon be his cross to bear.
Our problem is that Cuomo is very likely to support hydrofracking. In order to prevent that outcome, we must bring maximum pressure to bear on him before he takes office as well as during his first months in office.
Check out what John Howard, the Attorney General's Deputy Chief of Staff, recently said to the Business Council about fracking: http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Act-I-to-be-magic-or-balancing-823972.php
"A phrase rang out from Howard's answer on drilling: 'a great balancing act.' He said that all the relatively clean-burning energy and the untold riches it could bring have to be kept in the context of the risks involved to human and environmental health. 'Anyone who's visited the drilling in Pennsylvania will see there are ways not to do this (emphasis added).'"
"He struck a far more cautious tone than I had expected. He also said that recent discoveries of huge natural gas deposits deeply underground all over the world, including Japan, will be 'game-changing' in terms of cheap energy for many years, 'whether we drill here (in New York) or not.'
Howard has been traveling around the state for months assuring elected officials that he believes horizontal hydrofracking can be done safely. His PA reference is consistent with DEC's position: "As a result of New York's rigorous regulatory process, the types of problems reported to have occurred in states without such strong environmental laws and rigorous regulations (emphasis added) haven't happened here. No known instances of groundwater contamination have occurred from previous horizontal drilling or hydraulic fracturing projects in New York State."
Nevertheless, neither Cuomo nor his senior staff has spelled out a final shale gas policy, so we live to fight another day.
I urge everyone to crank up the heat on Paterson and Cuomo to withdraw the draft SGEIS. That is the only meaningful solution to the looming crisis at hand. We should especially pound away on DEC's funding problems. Cuomo will have a hard time working around that issue.
According to the DEC memo that got Grannis fired: “DEC is in the weakest position that it has been in since it was created 40 years ago. The staffing and funding losses over the past 2.5 years, combined with increased legislative mandates from the federal government and State Legislature, have created the perfect management storm. Many of our programs are hanging by a thread. The public would be shocked to learn how thin we are in many areas.”
Signatories to the withdraw the draft coalition letter have bombarded Paterson with hundreds of emails and calls since Pete Grannis was fired. That may have helped prompt his radio statement.
On a final note, it is entirely possible the leadership of the State Senate will change hands after recounts are finished. If so, passing any anti-fracking bills during the upcoming Legislative session would be exceedingly difficult. I know many activists want to believe a six-month moratorium could be extended if it is enacted. That is unlikely.
Best,
Walter
Call, email and pester the powers that be:
Paterson
governor@chamber.state.ny.us
518-474-8390 (o)
Cuomo
http://www.andrewcuomo.com/contact
212-209-3314 (o) - Campaign
Enck
enck.judith@epa.gov
212-637-5000 (o)
Acting-DEC Commissioner Peter Iwanowicz
Peter.Iwanowicz@chamber.state.ny.us
518-402-8545
Pick any one of the major problems that accompany the drilling and ask yourself if it is in any way reasonable to ask anyone to live with such a problem.
We are being asked to uncomplainingly live with ALL of these problems and more. Is that okay?
They have gas drilling where I live. Unless the drill is on your property, you won't make much money. We have mineral rights and a half acre. We did not sign away our rights, but people who did are getting maybe $50 a month. They really thought they would get rich off it, they did not. I am glad they did not. But in the meantime, many many people are dying of cancer, as are children. I never had a single miscarriage prior to the drilling, I have had 7 now.
I wish you much healing and pray you and your people well. My parents live in Bradford County PA. Mom has always been one of the "sensitive individuals" doctors talk about when they talk about vulnerable populations. Shortly after her neighbors started drilling a few miles from her home she started experiencing neurological symptoms. A year and a half later, dad took her to the hospital. She has always hated doctors. By this point couldn't walk, her blood pressure (210over 140) had ravaged her frontal temporal lobe. She spent months in hospitals, they removed an enormous tumor from her uterus. It was only then they got her bp down to a livable level. She is suffering from what they describe as rapid onset frontal temporal lobe dementia. Doctors say her condition is one in a million, and they call the event that almost killed our mom "a mystery". They don't bother with diagnosis or prognosis. You ask about endocrine disorders and they are like "who knows". They are not worried about the cause. It's a crime.
HISTORIC VICTORY FOR THE CITIZENS OF NEW YORK STATE
In an amazing victory for the citizens of New York State, Governor David A. Paterson has issued an Executive Order directing the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to conduct further comprehensive review and analysis of high-volume hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus Shale. The Executive Order requires that, if approved, high-volume, horizontal hydraulic fracturing would not be permitted until July 1, 2011, at the earliest. New York State becomes the first state to have a formal prohibition on high volume horizontal hydrofacking because of concerns about environmental impacts. Regretablly instead of signing the "Moratorium Bill" legislation sent to him that included a prohibition on vertical hyrdofracking that was passed by on overwhelming bi partisan majority in both houses of the State government he decided instead to succumb to industry pressure and issue the Executive Order that eliminates vertical wells from the prohibition. While the Executive Order is historic and proves that our concerns over hydrofracking are legitimate it is also a disappointment because vertical wells are also dangerous.
The gas and oil industry lobby deliberately misinterpreted a section of the Moratorium Bill claiming it would bring all gas drilling in New York State to a halt. The bill only specified a moratorium on drilling for wells using hydrofracking, whether they are vertically or horizontally drilled.
A moratorium banning the fracking of vertical wells is very important for several reasons:
1. Gas companies have been clear that they plan to drill vertical wells in the Utica and Marcellus shale with the intention of converting them to horizontal wells.
2. While the State Senate was considering a two-year moratorium on horizontal wells the gas industry threatened to drill and frack 16 vertical wells every square mile in retribution if a moratorium on fracked horizontal wells was passed.
3. Some of the worst water contamination problems, such as in Dimock, PA came from vertical wells drilled and fractured in the Marcellus Shale.
We now look to Governor Elect Andrew Cuomo to protect the Citizens of New York from the dangers of hydro fracking by any method including vertical drilling and horizontal drilling and including all shale formations.
Follow Mothering