Concerned Citizens for Otego
Letter to the Editor of the Daily Star by Carolee Byrnes
This article appeared as a letter to the editor of the Oneonta Daily Star newspaper on Feb. 15, 2009, and is reprinted here with the author’s permission.
It has come to my attention that there is some confusion regarding the difference between the Unatego Area Landowners Coalition and the Concerned Citizens for Otego (CCO). I would like to take this opportunity to address this misunderstanding.
Concerned Citizens for Otego was formed with the objective of exploring the effects of future gas drilling in our community, county and state. Our goal is to educate all citizens about the possible hazards of natural gas extraction upon our water, air, health, land values, and overall well-being of our community. To that end, we have sponsored an informational forum (October 2008), have done much research, written letters to the editor, and started a website (www.otegony.com). Currently, we are preparing presentations to the Otego Village and Town Boards (February 9 and 11, 2009), and are circulating a town and county petition to request the governor for a moratorium on gas drilling until all facets have been studied and deemed safe. This is part of a larger effort to inform and educate our neighbors and fellow citizens.
It is our understanding that the various land coalitions are primarily concerned, first and foremost, with “getting the best deal” monetarily for leasing their land to the gas companies. To the best of our knowledge, environmental impacts have a very low priority on this agenda. The lure of enormous profit without consideration of the “real cost” of this enterprise impoverishes us all, and many of the harmful effects cannot be “undone.” While the monetary beneficiaries of this drilling operation will have the option of moving if their land, air, or water is contaminated, the majority of us will not have this luxury. It is imperative, therefore, to make sure that everyone is aware of the consequences of turning our community into a scarred industrial landscape.
–Carolee Byrnes, Concerned Citizens for Otego
One response so far
I am a member of Concerned Citizens for Otego as well. I concur with Carolee. Some of the information she got about the coalition group was from me. I was at the first major meeting of a local landowner’s coalition, and was one of only three other members who showed interest in the environmental committee, while many people flocked to the financial and other committees. That was one of my many reasons for leaving the group.
I am aware that most of our neighbors were not aware of the terrible threats to the environment that horizontal fracking presents. When I tried to bring some up at one of the meetings, many people were interested, but I was ordered not to “hijack” the meeting, because the leader had “paid for it.” Hmmm.
No one in our group is accusing anyone in Otego of being greedy. We are neighbors, and we all wish that there was some truth to the gas industry’s Siren song of “found money.” I’d like to be in on some of that, too!
The truth is that the companies are greedy, and are playing on people’s natural fears of being left out. If you don’t think they are greedy, ask yourself why no one is happy with the default contracts except the fat-cats from out of state and overseas who would be happy to rape the land in our little community, far from their corporate headquarters, for their piece of the action.
Are these the kinds of people you want to make a pact with? The answer is “don’t give up!” Don’t assume that it is a done deal. In the words of Edmund Burke, “The only thing necessary for the triumph [of evil] is for good men to do nothing.” Signing a pact with the devil not exactly doing something to fight him.
We are appealing to the good people of Otego to join with us in opposing any horizontal in our area until such time where the technology has been throughly tested, with satisfactory results. The onus should rest on the gas companies to come clean with all pertinent information. Their “proprietary recipies” for their toxic fracking sludge should not be considered more important that open and transparent oversight.
We must be assured that there will be adequate oversight and strict compliance, with meaningful (felony) punishment for abuses. Until that time, we are not willing to take a craps-shoot with our health and heritage.
We are not labeling anyone who doesn’t join or agree with us. This is Otego, everyone is entitled to their decisions. We just ask this:
Ostensibly, we stand to gain as much as you think you do, yet we are not signing. We have nothing to gain by not signing, except our freedom from very questionable environmental practices.
The gas companies and some of their “representatives” think they are going to make a lot of money off you and your property. They don’t care about your environment, and they have offered you a pitiful initial deal. Landowner groups are ostensibly offering you “some protections” and “a better deal.”
We have evidence that there are no adequate protection at this time, and that “better deal” is a pipe dream.
We have nothing to gain from you monetarily.
Why on earth would you trust them more than people who are only interested in the well-being of you, us and our area? If this was a decent deal, we’d jump at it just like you would.
Regardless of how we all feel, it’s important to remember that we are neighbors. I’d be very happy to listen to cogent arguments that refute mine.