OtegoNY.com

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 of the six public hearings on environmental issues associated with natural gas drilling will be at the State University College at Oneonta on Dec. 2.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation had previously announced communities and dates for the series of hearings. Officials recently released specific times and locations.

The Oneonta hearing will be at the Hunt Union Ballroom. The site will open at 4:30 p.m., with the formal meeting beginning at 5:15 p.m. Brief remarks by DEC staff will be followed by public comments starting at 6 p.m.

The meetings were scheduled to give the public an opportunity to participate in the analysis of the potential environmental impacts of high-volume hydraulic fracturing of horizontal wells in New York’s natural gas-bearing Marcellus and Utica shale formations, according to the DEC.

Other hearings are Nov. 6 in Allegany, Nov. 12 in Bath, Nov. 13 in Elmira, Nov. 17 in Binghamton and Dec. 4 in Loch Sheldrake.

Although there is a Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) covering gas and oil drilling in the state, the DEC determined that a supplement was needed to address issues related to the large volumes of water required to ‘hydrofracture’ the shale to release the gas.

As a first step of its review, DEC recently released a draft scope that proposes issues to be covered in the analysis. The forums give the public the opportunity to review and comment.

In addition to the DEC’s website at http://www.dec.ny.gov/energy/45912.html , copies of the draft scope, a Glossary of Technical Terms and related materials are available at the following area locations:

DEC Region 4, Stamford Sub-office 65561 State Highway 10, Suite 1, Stamford, 652-3722.
Huntington Memorial Library, 62 Chestnut St., Oneonta.
William B. Ogden Free Library, 42 Gardner Place, Walton.
Rogers Education Center, 2721 State Route 80, Sherburne, 674-4017.
Guernsey Public Library, 3 Court St., Norwich.