OtegoNY.com

A region is discovering that the price of the economic boom from natural gas drilling may be irreversible environmental damage and residents’ peace of mind

A telling article by Rona Kobell in the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay’s “Bay Journal” describes the bitter disappointment of communities who’ve been duped by the illusion of the “Natural Gas Boom.”

Excerpts:

When the natural gas companies descended on Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale two years ago, it felt like a Gold Rush. And everyone seemed to be hitting pay dirt…

But now, with nearly 700 Marcellus wells drilled throughout the state, the environmental costs of drilling are becoming clear… It has transformed some of the state’s most beautiful landscapes into industrial zones and brought hardship to some who thought it was their lifeline.

“The regular folk out here will never see the compensation they deserve, and their original water supply is forever gone,” Switzer said. “I’m never going to make any money on this. All I’ve lost is my soul.”

Read the entire “Bay Journal” article here.

If you want to know the real story, talk to people who have made the mistake that many are considering making now. Watch, for example:

Candace Mingins – Gas Drilling: Stories From the Front Line

“We had sold the land out from under our children and their children, and no amount of money is worth that.

“Unconventional gas drilling is a nasty business, and I venture to guess that there are hundreds, maybe thousands of lease landowner’s who as they learn what this new gas drilling entails wish that they had never signed.

“A contract between an individual and a multinational corporation is never on an even playing field.”

Link to the entire story

A lot of us wonder what we can do besides sign some petitions, write some letters, etc (Although all of those things are good and necessary.)

One thing we can do is let our friends know about the predicament the gas industry and it’s cronies are putting us in, and how that predicament will soon be coming to a town near them.

A good way is to cut and paste the following message into an e-mail and send it to your intelligent out-of-state friends and family:

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For a lot of people, the promise of “free money” doesn’t raise the red flags that it should. People want to believe in Santa Claus, and that they can win the lottery, even if they lose thousands of dollars buying lottery tickets year after year.

If someone offered those people all the thousands back that they had squandered, they’d take them in a minute (and probably throw them away again on more lottery tickets!)

The point is, that early on, people find all the reasons they can to convince themselves that something is good, even though they really know better.
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The title is a little misleading. What we are trying to do is ban unconventional (high-pressure horizontal hydraulic fracturing) of shale deposits like the Marcellus and Utica deposits (or what the gas industry likes to call “plays”) in New York State.

The following is from the EarthJustice site. Please read it and click the link to go and sign their petition to the DEC to extend the public comment period on the Draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS) to 120 days.

The gas drilling industry is at New York’s doorstep, clamoring for access to underground reserves and demanding the right to blast millions of gallons of chemically-treated water into the earth to extract the gas.

And we’re facing the fight of our lives to keep them at bay while we determine how to keep New Yorkers safe from the toxic chemicals used in the drilling.

We’d hoped state officials would help. But they seem just as eager as industry to start the drilling—giving New Yorkers just 60 days to weigh in on the state’s plan to oversee what’s poised to be an unprecedented scale of industrial activity.

Among the deficiencies we’ve identified so far with the state plan: in the entire 800-page document there’s not a single rule that industry will have to follow. The state’s proposal gives state officials unbridled discretion to decide whether and when to impose protections. Without rules that are transparent, consistent, and enforceable, you better believe that drillers will lobby for exceptions at every turn.

Tell Governor David Paterson and the state Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Pete Grannis to extend the public comment period to 120 days. And while you’re at it, tell them we need the gas drilling industry to be following rules—not the toothless, piecemeal permitting approach outlined in the plan.

We’ve seen what happens when the government tries to speed up the approval process. Next door in Pennsylvania, drilling has ramped up quickly, with more than 1,100 permits in the first eight months of 2009. Last month, the state shut down one company’s operations after three chemical spills at one drilling site in less than a week.

At stake is the water we drink, the air we breathe, the soil in which we grow our food and the scenic landscapes that feed our spirit. Before the rigs move in from Texas, we need time to make sure these precious resources are protected.

Tell Governor David Paterson and DEC that industry doesn’t get to dictate the timetable for drilling—the people do.

Sign the petition here.

In a post ,Water Contamination Concerns Linger For Shale Gas
by TOM GJELTEN at the NPR website, NPR tries some damage control.

Good try.

After “Morning Perdition” so pitifully dropped the journalistic ball on this one, this was a nice attempt at CYA.

Too little, too late. Steve Inskeep and friends owe us a huge explanation and apology.

Imagine this:

• Newspaper headlines today: “NPR is a bunch of terrorists with radical ties to Al Qaeda!”

• Blurb on third page next day after getting swamped with negative comments, “NPR is maybe not a bunch of terrorists with radical ties to Al Qaeda!”

Of course that’s a ridiculous, twisted, unimaginable scenario. It would be ludicrous for anyone to imagine that. As ludicrous as what they’ve done by shilling for a dangerously not-ready-for-prime-time energy scheme.

Thanks, guys.

Are we there, yet?

It’s funny that the gas industry likes to talk about the economic benefit of gas drilling. Maybe natural gas can do for upstate New York what coal mining did for Appalachia. In today’s report, W. Virginia has the second-lowest median household income in the United States.

What part of “boom and bust” industry don’t people understand?

I’m a frequent listener to NPR, and I count on it for much of my news, as do many people in our area. My local station is WSKG.

So I was shocked to hear a report this morning that was so egregiously misleading, that I had to write in to NPR as well as WSKG. I suggest you do, too. The more response we get on this, the better.

This is what I sent to NPR as a correction to it’s report on “Morning Edition”  and as a comment to WSKG this morning:

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What exactly does it take to make the people with denial-syndrome see the hazards of this not-ready-for-prime-time drilling method?

How could an intelligent person talk about there being no danger in the face of such overwhelming evidence?

Here’s some more evidence - a new article on the Dimock spill from the Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin:

Hazardous chemicals cited in drilling spill
Pa. officials monitoring creek; test results expected next week

By Tom Wilber

DIMOCK Pa. — Drilling fluids that spilled into the headwaters of
Stevens Creek contain a class of hazardous chemicals called volatile
organic compounds, according to the latest information from
environmental officials.

Read the whole article here.

Amazing Reaction

Following text is from:

http://readme.readmedia.com/news/show/IOGA-of-NY-Press-Statement-on-Spill-at-Gas-Drilling-Site-in-Dimock-PA/954211

LAKE VIEW, NY (09/18/2009)(readMedia)– The following press statement
was issued by Brad Gill, Executive Director of the Independent Oil and
Gas Association of New York (IOGA-NY) on September 18, 2009.

“On behalf of members the Independent Oil and Gas Association of New
York, we are deeply concerned with the incident that occurred, in
Dimock, Pennsylvania yesterday (September 17, 2009). It is our
understanding that the spill resulted from a decoupling of a water
line, which contained “slick water”. Slick water is comprised of 99.5
percent water and sand and is not considered a toxic substance. The
Pennsylvania DEP has been on hand and is satisfied with the
remediation being completed.

May I interrupt, Brad? “Slick water?” I mean, I know you are concerned, because this may affect your livelihood. I’d believe that you gave a crap about what your company has done to the environment if you weren’t so mealy-mouthed about your contrition.

The incident in Dimock is indeed regrettable and unfortunate. It is
important to note that this circumstance should not be viewed as
representative of members’ work and experience day-to-day. Such
incidents as the spill in Dimock are quiet rare, and natural gas
exploration has been conducted safely and in an environmentally sound
manner for decades in New York. Our companies have worked very, very
hard to work in conscientious concern for the environment – due in
large measure to very rigorous oversight by NYSDEC – and we will
continue to do so. We live and work in New York too.

Yeah, Chernobyl was “unfortunate,” too.  By trying to “spin” this, you are basically telling us we shouldn’t worry, because it’s “under control.” Sure it is. You guys f**ked up, but hey, it’s none of our business, right? Why should we trust you not to f**k up bigger next time, when your main reaction seems to be, “sorry, but it’s no big deal. Nothing to worry about here, folks.”

Sorry, but if your company was working hard in concern for the environment, you wouldn’t be raping it.

Rigorous oversight by the DEC? Are you kidding? Are you the only person who doesn’t know that they are overworked and underfunded, just the way your industry likes them?

We stand steadfast in our conviction that natural gas exploration can
be facilitated in a safe and environmentally friendly manner. In days
to come, IOGA of NY is looking forward to the Department of
Environmental Conservation’s issuance of a generic environmental
impact statement that will guide Marcellus development. And as we have
done in the past, our companies will comply with all regulations and
permit requirements.”

Of course you’re steadfast. You won’t entertain the thought that it’s environmentally friendly, no matter how much VOCs you spill. In this case, “steadfast” and “intentionally and stubbornly ignorant” are the same. Why not? It serves your bottom line.

I’m sure you’re looking forward to the DEC’s issuance, because your industry has lobbied for it’s own interests regardless of the health of the environment or the effect on the population. You’ll comply with the regulations and requirements, because they will be inadequate and lax. Just the way your industry likes them.

IOGA of NY is a trade association founded in 1980 to protect, foster
and advance the common interests of oil and gas producers,
professionals and related industries in the State of New York.

Where does the public or the environment fit in that mix?

Gill’s statement is not an apology – it’s not a formula for eliminating the problem – it’s a bunch of self-serving excuses.

This just in:

Crew spills gas-well lubricant into Pa. wetland

Associated Press – September 18, 2009 6:05 PM ET
DIMOCK, Pa. (AP) -
Cabot spokesman Ken Komoroski says the substance is “relatively innocuous,” but may cause eye, skin and breathing irritations.

read the rest here

You gonna drink that “relatively innocuous” brew, Ken?

As long as companies and their official flunkies behave like this, we have no reason to trust them.

Don’t collaborate. Resist. Write letters. Sign petitions.