THE ITHACA JOURNAL
http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20100125/NEWS01/1250350
Robertson, Lifton among Ithaca contingent at Albany anti-gas-drilling
rally
By Aaron Munzer •Correspondent • January 25, 2010, 8:15 pm
The rain may have wet their jackets, but it did nothing to dampen the
enthusiasm of the approximately 60 anti-drilling activists from the
Ithaca area who showed up at the Capitol Monday to join the protest of
hydrofracking in the Marcellus Shale and lobby members of Congress.
Martha Robertson, the chair of the Tompkins County Legislature, helped
organize two busloads of activists who left at 6 a.m. and expected to
get home at 11 p.m.
She said she was surprised by how many members of Congress, the
Assembly and their staffers knew very little about an issue that will
have a profound effect -- positive or negative -- on the Southern Tier
and Finger Lakes region.
"We were telling them what was going on, what the issues are," she
said. "It's clear we need to come back to Albany and do this again."
Related
Stakeholders in gas-drilling debate air opinions in Albany
Although she said there seems to be no way to reconcile the "drill,
baby, drill" crowd and the "statewide ban" crowd, her position on the
issue is that, at the very least, there needs to be more research done
on the environmental effects of drilling before letting energy
companies tap the Marcellus.
She was very supportive of Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton, D-Ithaca, and
several others, who have been following the issue closely and are even
now proposing legislation to control drilling.
Pam Mackesey, a fellow county legislator and protester, said she spent
the afternoon in conversation with several of Gov. David Paterson's
aides, who relayed a message that the governor "doesn't want to hurt
the environment, and he's particularly concerned with the issue of
water contamination for people who have wells."
Mackesey said the face time all the activists got with their elected
officials was invaluable.
"It's so important to have them hear from everyday citizens. It helps
them focus on an issue, and they hear personal stories," she said.
Ithaca oral surgeon Scott Noren, a Democratic challenger for Kirsten
Gillibrand's U.S. Senate seat, said he was struck by the aggressive
nature of the "pro-fracking" crowd.
He said many seemed to come from rural, impoverished areas, where the
lure of potentially large drilling revenue streams is especially
enticing.
"Some of these people are really hurting in these farming communities,
and I understand their position," Noren said. "It's a Catch-22
situation. All it takes it one spill to turn some of these areas into
ghost towns."
He said the solution is to provide other jobs instead, ideally in green
energy. And he is calling on people to follow the money going into the
pockets of both landowners and politicians.
He is pushing for a national ban on hydraulic fracturing. Barring that,
he said the state is obligated to do further studies, although he is
wary to have any more taxpayer money funneled toward this process.
"To do otherwise is really negligent," he added.
Stacey Shackford contributed to this report.
January 25, 2010
Stakeholders in gas-drilling debate air opinions in Albany
http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20100125/NEWS01/1250356/Stakeholders-in-gas-drilling-debate-air-opinions-in-Albany
By Cara Matthews
[email protected]
ALBANY - It was the environment versus the economy on Monday, as
hundreds of people for and against drilling for natural gas in the
Marcellus Shale in the Southern Tier, Catskills and central New York
brought their messages to the Capitol.
Robert Moore, a resident of Port Crane, Broome County, said New York is
"running people out of the state" because of high taxes. He believes
natural-gas exploration, using horizontal wells and a process called
hydraulic fracturing - or "fracking" - is safe, and the benefits to the
economy would be great, he said.
"The jobs would be astronomical," said Moore, 49, adding, "Without it,
we're done."
Joyce Lovelace of Ithaca, who spoke after a rally organized by
environmental groups, said she doesn't think the jobs that the drilling
would bring to the area would be long term or would be filled by local
people.
"I don't think that this is worth any amount of money because once our
ground water is polluted, we can't unpollute it," she said.
Lovelace, a former farm owner in southern Cayuga County, said she
signed a lease for gas rights and later learned that well drilling
would be much more concentrated than she was told originally. If
catchment basins leaked, fluids moving through the shale would destroy
its integrity and endanger health and safety, she said.
The Marcellus Shale is a black shale formation that travels deep
underground from Ohio and West Virginia northeast into Pennsylvania and
southern New York, according to the state Department of Environmental
Conservation. The agency is evaluating public comments on its draft
study on the potential negative environmental impacts of horizontal
drilling and high-volume hydraulic fracturing to develop the shale.
In response to requests for more time to evaluate the state's draft
report, Gov. David Paterson extended the comment period to 90 days,
said Morgan Hook, a spokesman for the governor. More than 13,500
comments were filed with the DEC before the comment period ended Dec.
31, he said.
The governor's budget proposal calls for a 3 percent tax on natural-gas
producers in the Marcellus and Utica Shale formations that use
horizontal wells.
During the hydraulic fracturing process, fluids are injected into deep
shale gas formations under high pressure, fracturing the bedrock and
releasing natural gas, which is then captured.
Randall Slimak of Horseheads, Chemung County, held a sign that said "My
land. My gas." as he waited in the pouring rain outside the Capitol for
the pro-drilling rally to begin. Slimak, a physician who owns
forestland, said he and other landowners think of themselves as the
original conservationists. The Department of Environmental
Conservation's drilling rules are the most restrictive of any state, he
said.
"I support natural gas exploration. It's a source of jobs and revenue,"
he said.
Sen. Thomas W. Libous, R-Binghamton, said there will not be another
economic-development opportunity like this one for generations.
"We have before us an opportunity and we can't blow this opportunity,"
he said.
John Holko, president of Lenape Resources of Alexander, Genesee County,
asked how many people would like to see money arrive in their mailboxes
and not have to go to work. Lenape works to explore, develop, gather
and market oil and natural gas resources.
"I can tell you that this is one of the few opportunities you have,
outside of winning the lottery, that you get money that comes to your
house," said Holko, secretary of the Independent Oil and Gas
Association of New York.
Meanwhile, environmental and conservation groups said the proposed
drilling is arguably the most pressing threat to the state's
environment.
Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton, D-Ithaca, spoke against what she called a
"frighteningly destructive process for extracting more fossil fuels
from our ground."
"This is the state we live in. This is the state we love and whose
water resources are ... one of the most important resources we have
that we intend to preserve," she said.
In Tompkins County, half the people get their water from private wells.
"So we have a lot to be worried about," said Martha Robertson,
chairwoman of the Tompkins County Legislature.
The DEC should take back the draft plan, "trash it and start over," she
said.
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