Greetings from CDOG
October 30, 2009
On Saturday,
October 17, 2009, the Executive Committee of
the Atlantic Chapter of the Sierra Club met
in Syracuse and passed a resolution calling
on the NYS legislature to enact a ban on
unconventional gas drilling in NYS.
To sign an online petition calling for a ban
on natural gas drilling across NYS, go to:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/NY-Statewide-Ban-On-Natural-Gas-Drilling
As of October 28, 2009, the following groups
have issued statements in support of a
state-wide ban, and/or in support of the
Sierra Club resolution, copied below:
Atlantic Chapter of
Sierra Club
Action Otsego
Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy (CCSE)
CDOG (Chenango Delaware Otsego Gas Drilling
Opposition Group) (
www.un-naturalgas.org)
Citizens Action Alliance
Concerned Citizens of Otego (http://otegony.com
)
Damascus Citizens for Sustainability
Environmental Working Group of Central New
York
Friends of Brook Park
Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederation)
Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation (NOON)
New York Climate Action Group (NYCAG)
NYH2O
More Gardens!
Shaleshock Citizens Action Alliance
Sustainable Otsego
SWiM (Safe Water Movement)
The Atlantic Chapter of Sierra Club
resolution:
“WHEREAS extensive environmental and
health damages would be caused by horizontal
drilling and high pressure hydrofracturing
gas extraction techniques due to the
contamination of water, soil and air by the
toxic chemicals used in drilling and
fracturing, and the naturally occurring
toxic chemicals brought to the surface from
deep in the ground,
“WHEREAS these environmental and human
and animal health damages will have damaging
economic consequences on residential
property values, and on the state’s tourism,
agriculture, forestry, winery, real estate
development and educational businesses,
“WHEREAS the infrastructure costs of
building and repairing roads, water
treatment facilities, and other public
services would far exceed any economic
benefit to local communities, and
“WHEREAS it is yet to be proven that the
green house effects of the production and
use of natural gas produced by horizontal
drilling and hydrofracturing are any less
than those of the production and use of coal
when the life cycle emissions of natural gas
production and the higher impact of methane
as a green house gas are taken into account.
“Be It Resolved that the Atlantic
Chapter of the Sierra Club calls on the New
York State Legislature to enact a ban on
permitting gas wells that use horizontal
drilling and hydro-fracturing to release gas
from tight sand and shale formations such as
the Marcellus.”
What's behind Chesapeake's recent
announcement that it won't drill in the NYC
watershed? Some informed viewpoints:
"Thinking
like a lawyer, my first thought was that
Chesapeake's lawyers said, "avoid drilling
in the NYC watershed" because NYC has the
legal resources to litigate when any
accident happens in the watershed.
Additionally lawsuits usually center on the
amount of damages, so an accident in the NYC
watershed could generate an awful lot of
monetary damages to a corporation. That
will not be the case outside the NYC
watershed. First individual landowners and
small communities do not have the legal
resources like the NYC law department.
Second, even if successful, the upstate
plaintiff would not get the massive damages
that NYC would get and so Chesapeake's
bottom line would not be threatened." -
Mary Jo Long, Esq.
_____________
"There's
a method to their madness. This is designed
to make people in NYC complacent, which will
help industry in both the short-term and
long-term. Short-term effect: On November
10, there's a hearing in NYC on the dSGEIS.
If NYC is no longer worried, the turnout
will be low. Long-term effect:
Upstate NY needs NYC to bring its political
clout to bear in order to achieve a
statewide ban. If citizens in NYC start to
relax, it will cost the statewide movement a
good deal of energy. And of course,
there's nothing binding about this - they
can change their mind anytime. How do you
know when a gas corporation rep is lying?
When you see his lips moving."
______________
"This is
mainly a PR stunt on the part of
Chesapeake. They are trying to dissipate
opposition by making public statements, but
the facts point to a very different
scenario:
1. There are at least 16 other companies ready to
acquire leases and drill in the Catskill /
Delaware watersheds, which provide water to
NYC. Most of these companies currently have
leases in Otsego County and will cross the
border as soon as there is a green light
from the DEC
2. Public statements on the part of Chesapeake do not
cancel leases, or the ability to acquire
future leases. As the people from Colorado
and Wyoming say about the gas drillers, 'If
they are moving their lips, they are lying.'
3. Only the NYS DEC, and the NYS legislature and
governor, can create a ban on gas drilling
within the Catskill / Delaware watersheds.
Once they do that, they will be sued.
Aubrey K. McClendon, the CEO, is just
telling you what you want to hear so that
you will lower your opposition during this
critical period of public review."
Breaking news - our
own hearing, not DEC's:
Public Hearing on the dSGEIS to be held in
Oneonta, Foothills Performing Arts Center,
Atrium, Mon., Nov. 9th, 7:00 to
9:30 PM, doors open at 6:00 PM |
What do you love about living here? Clean
air? Clean water?
Whatever is precious to you, the time to take a
stand for it is now.
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Compressor station,
Susquehanna County, PA |
From Texas:
Dear Dr. Pierpont,
I
would like to thank you for making time
to read this. Also, for your excellent
work on WTS. It is so similar to VAD
Vibroacoustic Disease caused by low
frequency noise. Initially identified in
the aeronautical field, by military
pilots and aircrew. I am sure you are
aware of Vieques, Puerto Rico studies.
The Navy bought the end of this small
island for artillery practice. Poor
people lived at the other end of the
island. They have since suffered high
cancer rates, heart problems, internal
problems, and low birth weights.
I
live in Texas, the state with the most
gas wells (95,000+). The gas from the
wells is piped to compressor stations.
Our county has 130 or more compressor
stations. The low frequency noise
travels up to 5 miles radius, thereby
overlapping.
Our director, Charles Morgan, has been
diagnosed with VAD by a Dr. Wright in
Indiana. Feel so bad for him.
Sometimes he drives 150 miles just to
sleep. His eardrums have burst twice.
He has very bad headaches and burning in
his veins.
We
have tried all means to get to get Noise
Law (1982) given to states re-enacted,
to no avail. We have tried to get
school districts to have a noise
assessment. We have been to Austin to
see Representatives and Senators. We are
not trying to stop big oil & gas, just
get them to give up some of
those billions in profit and do the
responsible thing by enclosing, or using
noise abatement, on these compressor
stations. Yes, even the rural ones. To
protect us and the wildlife.
Could I be so bold to ask if you could
do a paper or write something on this
subject you know so much about? Please
help us! I wear earphones and
take [redacted] medicine, and can’t
afford to move away.
Enclosed please find our brochure. Thank
you again for your time.
Sincerely
Sharon Ward, Secretary
Fairfield, TX 75840
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windturbinesyndrome.com |
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T H
A N K Y O U
The purpose of our efforts and this
mailing list is to make sure the
place we love isn't turned into a
wasteland for the sake of corporate
profit. There's a lot that any
one of us can do, even with just a
couple of hours a month:
write a letter to the editor of
your paper, chip in for advertising
costs, put up posters for the
next event, talk to your neighbors,
go to your town board meetings,
staff a table at community events
- whatever you think of, whatever
you're good at! Please
watch for future e-mails with
notices of meetings, events, and
activities in which your
participation will help keep our
region the beautiful place and
community it is. If
you'd like not to receive future
e-mails, please reply with both of
the following in the subject line:
your e-mail address and the word
'remove.' |
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Please click over to our FAQs page,
Hydraulic Fracturing A-Z, for a
comprehensive overview and multimedia
resources. Read breaking news at
our blog, use the Resources & Documents
page for research or to download
handouts, or the Organizers' page for
ideas on how to get involved. |
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