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By Clover56, on September 30th, 2010%
October 6, 2010
Press Contacts: Kate Bartholomew, CPNY, FLP, SLPWA 607-228-7371 & J. Paul Bursic, FLP 607-387-6562
Many questions have been raised in New York about the safety of the process of high-volume, high-pressure horizontal fracturing, or “fracking.” Other questions have been raised about the effect this form of gas drilling will have on property values.
Here’s your chance to learn more about the various issues involved from well-informed experts, local citizens, and Pennsylvania residents who are currently living in active and or soon-to-be active Marcellus Shale gas drilling areas.
On Wednesday, October 6, a Schuyler County Community Forum on Fracking will be held at the Watkins Glen Elementary School Auditorium, Watkins Glen, NY (612 South Decatur Street). Start time is 6:30 p.m.
Committed panelists include Dr. John Stolz, a microbiologist from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA; David Whiting of Red Newt Winery and Bistro (Schuyler County), Peggy Haines, a realtor with Audrey Edelman Realty; Helen Slottje, Esq., and environmental attorney; and Craig and Julie Sautner of Montrose, Pennsylvania. The Sautners live on the now infamous Carter Road in Dimock, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, an active drilling region
The Marcellus Shale, which underlies the Finger Lakes and other regions, is not the only shale formation with methane gas; there is the potential for accelerated drilling in the Utica Shale, which lies deeper than the Marcellus and is distributed across almost all of New York State.
At the moment, this form of drilling is not permitted in New York because a New York Department of Environmental Conservation study (dSGEIS) has not yet been acted upon. The preliminary regulations have been widely criticized for failing to address many safety questions about the chemicals used in the drilling. Property values in other states have been adversely affected by this type of gas drilling, with water contamination due to hazardous chemicals being one of many reasons for the decline in value.
The evening forum is being sponsored by the Finger Lakes Progressives, Committee to Preserve the Finger Lakes, Environmentally Concerned Citizens of Hector and the Coalition to Protect New York. It is free to all. It will be moderated by Paul Marcellus, a local business owner and former member of the Schuyler County Legislature.
By Clover56, on September 23rd, 2010%
Drilling for methane (hyped as “natural”) gas via high-volume slickwater hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) in the Marcellus, Utica, and other shale formations is a dire threat to the water, air, soil, property values, infrastructure, and communities of our beautiful region, and to the short- and long-term health of our people, animals, and environment.
Yet the Big Gas/Big Oil industry is spending tens of millions of dollars to convince Congress, the executive branch, and the public that methane gas is a “safe, clean, homegrown bridge fuel to help take the country from dependence on foreign oil” and that fracking “poses no threat to our water supply.” They’ve got some very slick PR folks — and they’ve been pretty successful in perpetrating these falsehoods.
That’s partly because mainstream media, and even many self-proclaimed “progressive” media outlets and journalists, have bought their story hook, line, and sinker. Populist, popular alternative music shows accept sponsorship from the gas megacompanies that have been fined for contaminating Pennyslvania’s water, air, and soil.
To help fight these rich corporate propagandists, we need well-trained, ethical, responsible citizen journalists who will tell the true story and educate the public and representatives about the dangers of fracking. Citizen journalists know the audience — their friends, families, colleagues, neighbors, and local elected officials — in a way no mainstream media outlet can.
We have designed an intensive, eight-session course citizen journalism course specifically for antifracking activists working in our region — central, western, and northern New York and northern Pennsylvania.
Read more about the class to see if you’d like to participate. The first course, in Ithaca, runs Thursday evenings, September 23 to November 18. Subsequent classes are planned for Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, and Cortland, Schuyler/Chemung, and Yates Counties, New York, and other counties as need and demand dictate.
By Clover56, on September 21st, 2010%
This is an exciting time, and well timed is a Shaleshock Monthly Meetup for updates, announcements, and the help us begin to organize our movement across state lines to Pittsburgh for the largest mobilization against fracking yet!
AGENDA
5:30pm Shaleshock Orientation for New Folks
6:00 – 7:30pm Meeting begins with Announcements and Updates
Agenda* Items:
-Marcellus Protest (www.marcellusprotest.org)
-Further Improvements/feedback for www.shaleshock.org
*Please e-mail additional agenda items
“On Wednesday, November 3-4, the gas industry will host a national conference on shale gas drilling at the David Lawrence Convention Center in in Pittsburgh. As Pennsylvania citizens concerned about the health of our communities and the environment on which we depend, we will attend this summit in the streets. We hope you will join us.”
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About Us Shaleshock is an information hub connecting people to regional groups and projects working to stop exploitative drilling in the Marcellus Shale.(more)
2009 Signs of Sustainability
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