Shale Gas Summit Draws 100-plus Activists
To Launch Collective Grass Roots Effort in New York State;
Goal: Protect New York State & Neighbors
from Risks of “Chemo-fracking”
A summit aimed at launching a collective grass roots effort to challenge the shale gas industry and indifferent government regulators drew more than 120 activists to Binghamton, New York, for a day-long work session on Saturday, June 19.
Sponsored by the Coalition to Protect New York, the event offered participants a powerhouse agenda that covered a wide range of issues including legal, economic, information gathering, lobbying, the latest science and more.
A tightly packed agenda offered an impressive list of speakers and panelists who included:
- Weston Wilson - a well-known environmental engineer from the EPA (retired) who spoke about the risks of contamination from hydraulic fracturing.
- Walter Hang - president of Toxics Targeting in Ithaca, NY, which is an environmental database firm that has generated clean-up initiatives for polluted sites often ignored by government and corporate officials.
- Tony Ingraffea - Cornell University professor of engineering and director of Cornell Fracture Group who asked the participants whether they wanted to play “offense or defensive” on the issue.
- Several attorneys addressed environmental-legal issues including Rachel Triechler, who spoke about what local governments can do with regard to zoning restrictions and deep disposal injection wells; and Joseph Heath, general counsel for the Onondaga Nation, who spoke about the combined political and legal work involved in demanding accountability from government.
Attendees representing more than 40 groups and blogs came from New York State, Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Withdraw dSGEIS
Among the immediate goals is to petition New York Governor David Paterson to withdraw the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Marcellus Shale draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (dSGEIS) for Oil and Gas Mining.
The petition now contains nearly 10,000 signatures. To read or sign it, log onto Toxics Targeting website at this link: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/MarcellusShale/coalition_letter
The draft impact statement (dSGEIS) was made public by the DEC in September 2009. It is a supplement to the 19-year old State Environmental Quality Review Act. Critics, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), believe the draft impact statement needs to be expanded in order to take into account the reality of the adverse effects of hydraulic fracturing on human health and the environment.
In a letter to the DEC in December, John Filippelli, Chief of the Strategic Planning and Multi-Media Program Branch of EPA’s Region 2, said:
“… we have concerns regarding potential impacts to human health and the environment that we believe warrant further scientific and regulatory analysis. … EPA recommends that these concerns be addressed and essential environmental protection measures established prior to the completion of the … process.”1 (For pdf file of EPA letter to DEC, see “Links & Resources” below.)
Walter Hang, president of Ithaca, New York-based Toxics Targeting, told this blog that the DEC draft is “fatally flawed” yet “DEC is pushing as hard and as fast as they can to adopt the draft SGEIS. They have said it might happen by the end of the year.”
DEC Does Not Count All Spills?
Hang has challenged the DEC that it is either not counting - or it is undercounting - scores of sites and examples of contaminated drinking water from natural gas wells in the state.
In an April 2 letter to DEC Commissioner Alexander “Pete” Grannis, he wrote [emphasis added]:
“I subsequently learned the [DEC] spills database does not include natural gas problems reported to health authorities in the three counties with the highest number of oil and gas wells in New York State. I also learned DEC’s Division of Mineral Resources does not report all oil and gas releases to the Division of Spills.” Link: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/MarcellusShale/documents/dec-letter
Based on New York State’s poor track record for regulating gas drilling, Hang says three steps are necessary:
1) DEC should immediately withdraw its draft SGEIS;
2) Reopen discussions regarding the scope of the regulatory proceeding; and
3) Revise the SGEIS draft to respond to the reality of documented natural gas hazards.
Following are photos from the conference. See also the list of additional “Links & Resources” below.
More than 100 participants from three states attended the event in Binghamton, NY, to hears speakers such as Wes Gillingham of Catskill Mountainkeeper.
Several attorneys addressed legal-environmental issues at the summit; and Volunteer Jack Ossont (yellow T-shirt) captured key ideas (which have been digitally erased).
Walter Hang, president of Toxics Targeting, uses an environmental database to drive clean-up initiatives of polluted sites often ignored by government.
Mike Bernhard, Laurie Spaeth respond to questions about tracking & gathering information while Walter Hang listens.
Weston Wilson, well-known environmental engineer from EPA (retired), spoke about the risks of contamination from hydraulic fracturing.
Links & Resources
1 U.S. EPA (Region 2) Letter to New York State Department of Environmental Conservation regarding agency’s comments on DEC draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement. 3ppepa-dec09-letter-hl2
Coalition to Protect New York (CPNY) - Describing itself as a group of “regular people who give a damn,” CPNY says, “Our mission is to build a strong, unified, and unbeatable force to stop the dangerous practice of fracking for methane gas unless and until it is proven risk-free and harmless to our environment, health, and property.” Website: www.coalition2protectny.org
Toxics Targeting - Based in Ithaca, New York, Toxics Targeting tracks environmental data from government and other sources and maps the impact of pollution. The company’s work has been featured in The New York Times, MSNBC, and other news outlets. Walter Hang, president of the company, has challenged regulators like New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation that it is not counting or it is undercounting examples of drinking water contamination from natural gas wells. Website: www.toxicstargeting.com
Chenango Delaware Otsego Group (CDOG) - This group offers two excellent resources: www.GasMain.org is an “index” website that helps a wide variety of groups “improve their outreach to the general public by reducing advertising costs and increasing message options.” Another CDOG site is http://www.un-naturalgas.org/ which takes the position that “there is nothing natural about what the methane extraction process … does to water, air, & living things.” The website provides information and resources on a range of issues from hydraulic fracing to eminent domain, well spacing, and health issues.
EARTHWORKS - describes itself as a “non-profit organization dedicated to protecting communities and the environment from the destructive impacts of mineral development, in the U.S. and worldwide.” It works with “communities and grassroots groups to reform government policies, improve corporate practices, influence investment decisions and encourage responsible materials sourcing and consumption.” One resource worth evaluating is a 6-page booklet for citizens and elected officials looking for examples of how to improve the oil & gas industry’s current approach to drilling. It includes recommendations for environmentally friendly drilling technology to transparency on industry practices. As the report states: “We support drilling right in Texas: responsible energy development that protects private property owners, water, the environment, and public lands while enabling energy production.” Here is a pdf file of the document: drill_right_texas_final Website: http://www.earthworksaction.org/publications.cfm?pubID=444