Greetings from CDOG February
26, 2010
It's been an eventful few weeks.
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On an intensely blustery & wet Monday,
January 25,
five hundred-plus people opposed to the
irreversible industrialization of the
Southern Tier of New York State in exchange
for a few years' worth of fossil fuel met in
Albany to demand a ban on HD/HVHF for
natural gas in low-permeability reservoirs (shales
& sandstones).
In response to the Statewide Ban rally
plans, a pro-drilling landowners' rally was
arranged for the same day, probably enabled
by the backing of IOGA-NY, an industry trade
and lobbying group.
The numbers for that rally were reported at
about 250.
View pictures and video of the Statewide Ban
rally
here. |
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In December, CDOG / un-naturalgas.org
invited Calvin Tillman, mayor of Dish, Texas,
to come to New York State
and speak at an
event that was in the planning stages.
His reply to the 500-word invitation was a
model of brevity and
 straightforwardness:
"What timeframe are you thinking?"
That set in motion what turned out to be a
weeklong visit to four counties in New York
and one in Pennsylvania from February 15-20.
The small town of Dish has been beset by
worsening problems ever since the natural
gas industry established a foothold there,
and each day throughout his visit, at
numerous public events as well as private
meetings with officials, Mayor Tillman gave
a firsthand account of what impacts should
be expected from the natural gas industry
and how citizens and local & state
governments should set in place structures,
policies, and regulations to protect
communities.
It was a joy to have Mayor Tillman with us.
Notably, and in some cases to their own
surprise, members and representatives of
pro-drilling landowner coalitions
appreciated his firsthand experience and
commonsense advice. Productive
conversations with elected officials were
also reported.
Thanks to all the groups who coordinated
events in their respective areas and ably
hosted Mayor Tillman.
Read Mayor Tillman's report on his visit
here. Visit Mayor
Tillman's blog
here.
Since publishing the results of an
air study, performed by Wolf Eagle
Environmental, that showed that compressor
stations are seriously degrading air quality
in Dish, the town has been subjected to
threats of legal action from the Texas
Pipeline Association. An e-mail
reveals that Chesapeake Energy (chk.com) is
behind the TPA's efforts to
exhaust Dish's small budget:
From: Grover Campbell [ mailto:grover.campbell@chk.com]
Sent: Friday, January
29, 2010 6:30 PM
To: Bryn Meredith
Subject: RE: Response
Letter to TPA
Celina,
I'll try to look this
over Monday and give you
a list of what might be
missing. Mostly I was
hoping to get any mail
or email correspondence
between the Mayor and
Wolf Eagle...guess that
hasn't happened?
Grover
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Celina Romero is a lawyer representing
the TPA; she signed
the letter
threatening Dish with legal action if
the town does not release more documents
to the TPA. According to the mayor, the
only documents not released relate to
private health issues of Dish residents,
information to which the TPA is not
entitled.
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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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Star-Telegram,
2/2/10:
Fort Worth wants more air testing around
gas drilling sites
By
MIKE LEE
Mayor Mike Moncrief announced Tuesday
that he wants to use city revenue from
natural gas drilling to pay for more
extensive testing for air pollution
around well sites in Fort Worth.
.....
Fort
Worth sits over about 6 percent of the
Barnett Shale gas field, and there are
more than 1,000 active wells inside the
city limits.
Many of them are close to homes and
businesses, and residents have become
increasingly concerned about the
potential danger from air pollution,
particularly for homes close to wells.
The city announcement came less than a
week after the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality announced that it
found high levels of benzene at one in
five natural gas sites in rural areas of
the Barnett Shale.
Read more on the TCEQ's announcement
here in the Barnett Shale blog. |
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From our inbox:
"
FEBRUARY 25 2010
CHESAPEAKE ENERGY CEO AUBREY
MCLENDON NOT WELCOME IN BOSTON;
ACTIVISTS DISRUPT NATURAL GAS
LECTURE
Photos available
here. VIDEO COMING SOON!
Chesapeake Energy has been
called the 2nd largest producer
of natural gas in the United
States. While CEO of Chesapeake
Aubrey McClendon sells natural
gas as the key to “fueling
America’s clean energy future,”
the residents of Marcellus
Shale-rich areas tell a
different story: poisoned
groundwater, toxic waste, and
rural communities that have seen
their once pristine air now
contaminated with higher levels
of o-zone than Los Angeles.
Activists representing the
Marcellus Shale field residents
spoke to the dirty truth of gas
drilling at McClendon’s lecture
at Harvard University titled
“Natural Gas: Fueling America’s
Clean Energy Future”.
After comments shouted from
audience members about what
chemicals are used in fracking,
concerns of health defects, and
how gas and oil companies are
exempt from regulations,
McClendon abandoned the lecture
forty minutes early, clearly
shaken by the feedback.
One activist showed him a jar of
murky brown water to represent
well water after fracking, and
asked McClendon if he would
drink it, as people are forced
to drink contaminated water.
He said no. After the
lecture, activists delivered a
packet with letters, questions
and comments to McClendon
directly from impacted community
members. As he was
escorted out of the building,
about 15 people sang songs of
ecocide to liven up his exit.
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Is natural gas really a clean fuel?
"A North
Texas environmental fund dedicated to paying for
projects that help clean the air will no longer pay
for projects that use natural gas as an alternative
fuel." Read story
here.
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want to know what you can do? visit
the
organizers' page
other useful pages:
FAQs: unconventional natural
gas
lies
the gas industry tells and how we know
image & video gallery
un-naturalgas.org/weblog
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