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By arimoore, on September 28th, 2009%
Contact NPR to tell them what you think of their recent natural gas drilling coverage. Here’s a response from a Shaleshock member:
Like many in my Upstate New York community, I am incredibly disappointed with your one-sided coverage of horizontal natural gas drilling. Horizontal fracturing of shale deposits requires millions of gallons of water over the 30-year life of each well, there could be thousands of wells in each county, and this water will deplete and then pollute local water supplies. When the water is pumped into the ground to break apart and release the gas from the shale, the water includes dozens of harmful chemicals, the exact composition of which the natural gas industry claims it does not have to make available to the public. When the chemically-laden fracking fluid is pumped back up to the surface, it is stored in lined pools or trucked to treatment facilities. If you had checked with landowners in other states like Wyoming, Texas and Pennsylvania, you would have learned that leaks and spills occur frequently and with little oversight or penalties from over-stretched state EPA officials. Horizontal natural gas wells are poisoning homeowners’ drinking water wells and land. Hydro-fracturing enjoys exemption from the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Right-to-Know Act. This is unacceptable.
Martha Stettinius
Ithaca
By shirari, on July 30th, 2009%
A form letter from a NY landowner coalition group is making its way around the internet.
I have written a response, and the form letter follows. The letter to Governor Paterson is being disseminated by this local landowner coalition group which accuses an un-identified “anti-drilling crowd” of impeding the progress of unconventional gas drilling in New York State. The landowners further accuse the “anti-drilling crowd” of “misinformation”, “fear-mongering” and “fabricating ‘facts’”.
As someone who has been gathering facts about unconventional gas drilling, I have attended many informational meetings related to drilling with speakers including representatives from the State Assembly, the State Senate, the US Congress, the NYS Attorney General’s Office, Farm Bureau, CCE, USGS, Soil and Water, SRBC, DEC and other agencies. Not once in all these meetings did any representative of these disparate agencies use the terms “misinformation” or “fear- mongering” when speaking of public concerns.
On the contrary, the Attorney General’s Office representatives warned landowners against signing bad leases and advised they should report to them any inappropriate behavior in their dealings with landmen. The USGS geologist who spoke here in Ithaca clearly relayed numerous concerns related to wastewater treatment and disposal. Many town and county representatives spoke of the need for plans to prepare for gas drilling to ensure the health and safety of citizens. One does not need to “fabricate” facts. The facts speak for themselves. High volumes of water and chemicals are needed to frack one well. There are expected to be tens of thousands of wells in NYS in the next few years. We do not have enough facilities to process the wastewater. From Dish, TX, to Dimock, PA, there have been problems. Real problems, not fabricated ones.
The people who have previously made accusations against public citizens of “misinformation” and “fear-mongering” are IOGA and gas industry representatives. And now, they have succeeded in getting the public to do their dirty work for them. Perhaps this is a victory for the multi-national corporations, but it is a tragedy for our communities.
Lisa Wright
Ithaca
Continue reading Industry Doesn't Want Good Neighbors
By shirari, on July 15th, 2009%
Energy Industry Sways Congress With Misleading Data by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica:
“We are all for using science-based information,” said Amy Mall, a senior policy analyst for the Natural Resources Defense Council. “But the underlying information doesn’t really tell the story they claim it does.”
Nonetheless, the arguments have gained traction in Congress and have eroded support for new regulation.
Read more…
By shirari, on March 28th, 2009%
Landowners discuss drilling concerns (News 10 Now):
“A lot of people have signed because they were really misinformed about the noise and how deep the drilling is and what they’re going to do with all the water. So I’m really concerned about it,” said Marina Gershon.
“The problem of the 21st century is to make the environmental and the economy work together, not the way we are currently debating this, which is how much environmental damage can we accept for the sake of natural gas drilling,” said Al Appleton, an environmental consultant.
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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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