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By lisawright, on September 30th, 2009%
DEC EXTENDS PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD FOR MARCELLUS SHALE DRAFT SGEIS
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation today announced it has extended the public comment period on the draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS) governing potential natural gas drilling activities in the Marcellus Shale formation from Nov. 30 to Dec. 31.
Be sure to visit our Take Action Now page for suggested comments for the DEC!
Continue reading Take Action Now! Comment on the Draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement On The Oil, Gas and Solution Mining Regulatory Program
By arimoore, on September 21st, 2009%
Read Ithaca gears up for gas drilling by Krisy Gashler:
The Tompkins County Council of Governments — a group of leaders of every municipality in the county — has recommended that municipalities compile lists of resources like prime agricultural lands, unique natural areas, and waterways. The idea is for municipalities to send their lists to the DEC and ask to become “involved agencies” when the DEC is considering specific gas drilling permits.
“Becoming an involved agency would require the DEC to notify townships of potential drilling activity in advance, which is not the current situation, and would allow them to perform their own environmental assessments,” a council of governments documents states. “It is critical for towns to inventory natural resources and submit this information to the DEC once the new draft Environmental Impact Statement is released, meaning there is little time to collect this information.” (Read more)
By arimoore, on September 15th, 2009%
Shaleshock has emailed the Democratic Primary candidates for Tompkins County Legislature, District 11, Peter Stein and Michael Koplinka-Loehr, asking if they would weigh in on their opinions about gas drilling in our region. Mr. Koplinka-Loehr has responded, and his reply is pasted below. Shaleshock makes no endorsement for either candidate.
Continue reading Candidate Koplinka-Loehr's Views on Unconventional Gas Drilling
By arimoore, on September 9th, 2009%
The time to make your voice heard is tonight! Wednesday September 9, 7:00pm, at Horseheads High School (map).
The village of Horseheads wants to allow a huge corporation, Schlumberger, to build a giant facility serving a 300-mile gas drilling radius with explosives, radioactive material, and concentrated toxic chemicals across the street from a school, without requiring a full environmental impact statement (EIS). Hundreds of trucks will be carrying these materials to and from the facility every single day. The effects will range from air pollution and health hazards from Diesel exhaust to water contamination.
Horseheads wants to do this so that they can secure a few hundred jobs (most of them dangerous and unpleasant) for the duration of the project. Many landowners who have signed leases and whose sites will be serviced have been coerced into signing, and the drilling profits will primarily benefit the companies doing the drilling – not the landowners themselves, or the communities that will be affected by the project. This three hundred mile radius includes most, if not all of us, but we have absolutely no voice – except for tonight!
If natural gas extraction by unconventional means must occur as part of a well-thought out and soberly constructed NYS energy plan, then LET US DO IT METHODICALLY AND CAREFULLY. Go tonight and make your voice heard. Call some friends and arrange a car pool. This is the only chance to speak publicly on this topic before the joint board workshop on Sept. 15. Even if you don’t want to speak, go and listen to what others have to say, and show Horseheads and Schlumberger that you care about this assault on our region.
By arimoore, on August 26th, 2009%
Environmental concern in Horseheads:
I listened on Tuesday to the Horseheads Village Planning Board, along with their environmental consultant Ronald Sherman, discuss the process for deciding whether to allow Schlumberger to proceed with development of an industrial site without first conducting an Environmental Impact Study. I found the board and Sherman to be open and fair to those attending.
But why is Schlumberger asking the village for a waiver of an EIS? The magnitude and risk associated with this project is immense. It would be a 66-acre development for storage of explosives, radioactive materials and chemicals used to fracture shale to reach gas deposits. The chemicals, which will be stored in an undiluted form, are particularly worrisome. The state recently released a list of 34 highly toxic chemicals it approved for fracturing in Yates, Schuyler, Steuben, Broome and Cortland counties, in response to a FOIL request (www.shaleshock.org). The warnings for these chemicals are hard to forget.
I asked the representative from Bergman Associates, who is representing Schlumberger, whether Schlumberger would concede that an EIS is required in this case. The chair of the Planning Board also seemed curious to hear the company’s response. Schlumberger’s reply at the Aug. 25 Planning Board meeting will speak volumes about how it intends to conduct business in the village.
Ezra Sherman
Van Etten
By arimoore, on August 17th, 2009%
Remind our DEC officials and the Governor’s office that the “produced water” laced with chemicals and worse will be transported by thousands of trucks pulverizing local roads designed for sightseeing like Route 89 or ones made for milk trucks, farm vehicles and school buses like Route 96. According to State Comptroller DiNapoli the upstate highway infrastructure is already crumbling and will require at least $250 billion dollars to fix and/or maintain in the next decade.
Let’s not forget to mention we are very concerned about where the hundreds of millions of gallons of water necessary to frack wells will come from – and where it will go once it’s polluted with chemicals!
Please contact:
Pete Grannis, DEC Commissioner
625 Broadway, 14th floor
Albany, NY 12233
petegrannis@gw.dec.state.ny.us
(518) 402-8540
Judith Enck, Deputy Sec. for the Environment
State Capital Executive Chambers
Room 245
Albany, NY 12224
judith.enck@chamber.state.ny.us
(518) 473-5442
Governor David A. Paterson
State Capitol
Albany, NY 12224
518-474-8390
By arimoore, on August 12th, 2009%
Marie McRae wrote a letter to the editor in July 31′s Ithaca Journal, Drilling traffic also a concern:
In the article on truck traffic hauling New York City garbage through Tompkins County, John Grant of Trumansburg is quoted as asking “what is the true cost of doing this?” I completely sympathize with those whose lives are impacted by the truck noise, accidents and road damage.
However, if you think that a few (I use that word deliberately) garbage trucks are wreaking havoc now, just wait until the hydraulic fracturing trucks come to town. Fifty-ton trucks making hundreds of trips per well drilled, some carrying a mix of water and toxic chemicals.
In Pennsylvania, and other places where hydro fracing has occurred, the record is clear on: damage to roads (with the bill shouldered by local taxpayers), damage to land and water and risks to human health (information: shaleshock.org, catskillmountainkeeper.org).
The New York Department of Environmental Conservation holds the power to regulate gas drilling in New York with its Supplemental Generic Impact Statement. Ask DEC now for a 90-day public comment period for the draft of that statement when it is released. Clean water and peace of mind are priceless. Ask: What is the true cost of doing this drilling?
Marie McRae
Freeville
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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)
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