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By arimoore, on September 29th, 2009%
Learn more about water,water contamination and gas drilling, and legal issues associated with this- come to this presentation on 11/18, Wed., 7pm, at the Binghamton Unitarian Universalist church, 183 Riverside Drive, Binghamton 13905, across from Lourdes Hospital.
Helen Slottje, Attorney at Law,Harvard Law School, very active with gas drilling issues / task forces in the Ithaca / Horseheads (Schlumberger site) areas, and Steve Penningroth, Ph.D, Biochemical Sciences, Executive Director of the non-profit Community Science Institute, a NYS Certified water testing lab in Ithaca. We’ll learn more about ground water and what gas drilling can and has done to contaminate water; water testing; looking at the legal issues involved in trying to get recourse from gas corporations and organizing communities to try to protect themselves from the devastation that’s already been wreaked in many other places. Q&A to follow presentations. Only 150 seats available in the sanctuary. Co-sponsored by the UU church, the UU Green Sanctuary Committee, Susquehanna Group Sierra Club, and the Binghamton Regional Sustainability Coalition.
By arimoore, on September 3rd, 2009%
EPA: Chemicals Found in Wyo. Drinking Water Might Be From Fracking by Abrahm Lustgarten, for ProPublica:
Federal environment officials investigating drinking water contamination near the ranching town of Pavillion, Wyo., have found that at least three water wells contain a chemical used in the natural gas drilling process of hydraulic fracturing. Scientists also found traces of other contaminants, including oil, gas or metals, in 11 of 39 wells tested there since March.
The study, which is being conducted under the Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund program, is the first time the EPA has undertaken its own water analysis in response to complaints of contamination in drilling areas, and it could be pivotal in the national debate over the role of natural gas in America’s energy policy. (Read more)
By arimoore, on August 25th, 2009%
By arimoore, on August 6th, 2009%
The Safety of Fracturing Fluids – A Quantitative Assessment by Steve Coffman, member of the Committee to Preserve the Finger Lakes –
August 4, 2009
In response to a FOIL request to New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation, the Committee to Preserve the Finger Lakes received a list of 48 toxic substances (as defined by the DEC or EPA) permitted for use in hydraulic fracture drilling of gas wells in the Marcellus Shale formation in Yates, Schuyler, Steuben, Broome and Cortland Counties. The received materials came in the form of documents submitted by the drilling companies themselves: Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) and Company Drilling Data Sheets.
Continue reading The Safety of Fracturing Fluids – A Quantitative Assessment
By shirari, on June 11th, 2009%
A public forum on the effects of Marcellus Shale gas drilling on local water sources will be held Monday, June 22 at the Bath Fire Hall, 50 East Morris St., in Bath from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. The forum is for community members, landowners and local government officials, and is sponsored by the Steuben County Environmental Management Council, the Finger Lakes Group of the Sierra Club, the League of Women Voters of Steuben County, the League of Women Voters of Chemung County and the Bath Peace and Justice Group.
The speakers at the forum will be Steve Penningroth, executive director of the state-certified water testing laboratory at the Community Science Institute in Ithaca, Ron Bishop, lecturer in chemistry and biochemistry at SUNY Oneonta, and Andrew Byers, a farmer/botanist from Newfield who has been studying gas drilling issues.
Ron Bishop will give an overview of natural gas extraction technology and explain how water contamination can occur during the gas drilling process. Steve Penningroth will describe how to test private and municipal water wells so that landowners and municipal officials can discover problems and have solid scientific baseline water data that will stand up in court should contamination occur. Andrew Byers will describe how community members who are knowledgeable about these issues can take action.
The forum is free and open to the public. For more information, call 607-569-2114.
By shirari, on April 13th, 2009%
Women’s Community Building, 100 W. Seneca Street, Ithaca (map)
Presenters:
- Dr. William Pammer, Commissioner, Planning and Environmental Management for Sullivan County ( Monticello ), NY
- Dr. Stephen Penningroth, Executive Director, Community Science Institute, Ithaca, NY
Thousands of Tompkins County land owners, and thousands more in the surrounding Southern Tier, have signed leases to permit Marcellus Shale gas drilling on their property. Many expect to see drilling begin later this year, perhaps as early as summer.
While some welcome the drilling and others dread it, a common concern for all is the protection of our clean water and air, our land, and our quality of life. NY State law (Environmental Conservation Article 23) took the ability to regulate most aspects of gas drilling activity away from towns, and gave it to the New York State DEC instead. This leaves many local legislators and community members wondering just what they can do to protect our critical resources given these constraints. The Sullivan County, NY Drilling Task Force has been working for many months on answering just this question.
Dr. Pammer will describe the work of a Gas Drilling Task Force in Sullivan County and their research on possible impacts, the authority of local municipal governments, and 21 recommendations that will be presented to their County Legislature . You can find a newspaper story about the report at
www.sc-democrat.com/news/002February/20/news.htm and the full report on the Sullivan County Division of Planning website: www.scgnet.us/index.asp?orgid=610&storyTypeID=&sid=&
Dr. Penningroth, Biochemist and Toxicologist, directs the Community Science Institute’s state-certified water testing laboratory. The CSI lab monitors water quality in Cayuga Lake and its tributary streams in partnership with citizen volunteers. He believes a reasonable estimate of drinking water that will be contaminated near drilling sites is between 1% and 5%. He will describe why and how to test private water wells so that land owners discover problems and have solid scientific evidence of pre-drilling, baseline water data should contamination occur.
Co-sponsored by: Social Ventures; Ithaca Health Alliance ; Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton; Department of City & Regional Planning/ Cornell University ; Sustainable Tompkins; CRESP Center for Transformative Action; Shaleshock Citizens Action Coalition; Back to Democracy.
For copies of informational handouts from the recent forum, Gas Drilling: Health Effects, Economics and the Watershed:
www.shaleshock.org/open-educational-form-on-natural-gas-drilling-march-26th-in-ithaca/
Questions or comments? shaleshock08-at-yahoo-dot-com or 202-368-8753
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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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