Forum on Gas Drilling Impacts, Feb. 1, 2009, Corning A public forum on the health and environmental impacts of new gas drilling techniques will be held Sun., Feb. 1 from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm at the Southeast Steuben County Library in Corning. The forum is sponsored by the Sierra Club Finger Lakes Group. The forum will begin with a showing of a 31 minute documentary film showing the impacts of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing in Colorado. The film features landowners and town and county officials discussing the impacts of the gas drilling on their lives. The film also features Dr. Theo Colburn, a research chemist who lives in Colorado, discussing her studies of the chemicals used by gas drilling companies. After viewing the film, we will discuss possible health and environmental impacts in our area if the DEC allows widespread use of these new techniques in New York State.
Horizontal drilling and high-volume hydraulic fracturing (also known as "hydro fracking") are techniques used by gas drilling companies to produce gas in so-called "unconventional gas" formations, which include gas shales such as the Marcellus shale found in New York and Pennsylvania, and the gas shales, tight gas sands and coal bed methane found in Colorado. Fracking wells drilled into the Marcellus shale formation requires millions of gallons of water per well. Mixed into the water are friction reducers, oxygen scavengers and other corrosion inhibitors, biocides, surfactants, and scale inhibitors, many of which pose human health hazards. The environmental impacts of horizontal drilling and high-volume hydraulic fracturing are being studied by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation. Last fall, the DEC held six hearings in the Southern Tier on its Draft Scope for Draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement on Well Permit Issuance for Horizontal Drilling and High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing to Develop the Marcellus Shale and Other Low-Permeability Gas Reservoirs. Comments were due by December 15, 2008. A final scoping document is expected shortly taking into account the hundreds of comments received. Dr. Colburn's website, http://www.endocrinedisruption.com/, gives the results of her studies of the health effects of the products and chemicals used in the gas production process. She has collected data about the effects of chemicals used by gas drilling companies in Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Washington and Wyoming. Her research provides a glimpse at the patterns of possible health hazards for those living in proximity to gas development. What: Forum on Gas Drilling Impacts When: Feb. 1, 2009, 1:30-3:30 pm Where: Southeast Steuben County Library, 300 Nasser Civic Center Plaza, Corning The event is free and open to the public. Call 607-569-2114 for more info. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Earn your permaculture design certificate. The Finger Lakes Permaculture Institute offers affordable local classes. http://www.fingerlakespermaculture.org - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - _______________________________________________ fingerlakespermaculture@lists.mutualaid.org listserv RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information: http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/fingerlakespermaculture Support the list host by donating to: http://www.mutualaid.org
