DEC delays release of the draft Supplemental
Generic Environmental Impact Statement
Originally scheduled for late spring, the
NYS Department of Environmental Conservation
is now saying the draft will be released
sometime in September. Once it is released,
the public will be given a minimum of thirty
days to submit written comments. The DEC is
not required to hold hearings held across
the state, but will if they are pressured to
do so. Once the comment period ends, the DEC
will finalize the SGEIS and unconventional
gas drilling will begin in NYS. That could
happen as soon as January 2010.
Now is the time to learn about the damage
high pressure horizontal fracking has done
across the country, and what you can do to
stop the destructive processes from
happening here. Everything you love about
your home and community may be at risk. It's
time to get involved - before it is too late.
One way to get involved: GasWatch
On about August
20, the first gas well will be drilled in
southern Otsego County: The Ross1 well, in
the town of Maryland, is a vertical well
into the Utica shale, but the driller will
also be evaluating the Marcellus and other
gas-bearing formations as he drills
through them. Thus it could lead to
high-volume horizontal hydrofracking in
shale deposits, plus drilling in five or six
other sandstone and limestone formations.
This driller, the first recently permitted
in the area, intends to drill 100-400
wells if he finds sufficient gas, and he is
only one of several
gas companies who hold leases in the
county.
Many residents are already concerned
that the driller is ignoring their
concerns and cutting corners, not
following up on promised conditions such
as truck routes to the well site. In
many ways this will be a test case for
Otsego County and the state: anything
the driller can "get away with" here
may be incorporated into state rules for
future drilling.
The
driller has already stated to the
Maryland Town Board that he helped DEC
re-write the rules for this well.
Why doesn't the public have a say in
how the rules are written and a good way
to complain when they are not followed?
We would like to use this as a pilot
project, too, for local monitoring of
drilling. Please go to
http://un-naturalgas.org/organizers.htm and
see whether you can help with our
GasWatch project.
Upcoming Events:
Thursday,
August 20 7 pm
Film: Rural Impact! followed by audience discussion.
Displays on view & materials to
take home.
Old Capitol Theater
Hancock, NY
Friday,
Saturday & Sunday, August 21 - 23
Action Otsego's Water Festival
Friday
6pm - Poetry & Music Open Mic:
Share your watery writings and songs 9pm - Vanessa Bley performs a live set Then the Dance Party begins! Old School Cafe, 2 Genesee St, Cherry Valley
Water Paintings and Sculpture
at the Cherry Branch
Gallery all weekend.
25 Main St,
Cherry Valley
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.
Is natural gas really a clean fuel that
preserves air quality? How about a
benign bridge fuel to help us transition
to renewables? Take a look at this
video:
Visit TXsharon's
explanatory blog post, with comments
from Dr Theo Colborn and the Texas
Department of Environmental Quality
here
How is
it that DEC is aggressively
monitoring family business farm &
construction equipment for exhaust
emissions, but plans to allow
intensive industrial gas drilling &
the ancillary activities that
accompany it?
Propane stripper
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.'
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.
