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Residents React to Moratorium
By Erika Mahoney
July 31, 2012
Owego, NY (WBNG Binghamton) In a five-to-one vote Monday, the Village of Owego board says "yes" to a one-year moratorium on hydrofracking and related activities.
As news of the resolution spreads, some are very unhappy.
"Owego has just recently been through a very devastating flood and it seems like this board is going out of its way to promote anti-growth activities," said resident John Ceccherelli. "[Hydrofracking] brings the promise of a lot of jobs. Owego is perfectly cited to be 'natural gas central' in southern New York State. We have just a perfect infrastructure, with a railroad just north of us to carry bulk commodities."
But Mayor Kevin Millar said the board believes they need more time to make a final decision.
After public hearings on the idea, he said a lot of residents have serious concerns.
"The thing that came up primarily was trucking," said Millar. "You know, a lot of truck traffic related to gas drilling. Each well takes about 1,000 tractor-trailer loads of water."
Two sites in the village are already dedicated to hydrofracking activities, one of which helps make cement for wells in Pennsylvania. But because the sites were there before the moratorium, they are grandfathered in.
Some residents say those two sites are enough for the village, as they already cause excess traffic.
"The truck traffic alone would be enough to devastate a lot of the businesses here," said resident Wes Ernsberger, who spoke at Monday's public hearing. "There are a lot of shops that people come in, it's a draw."
Annette Schweiger works at an art gallery on Front St. She said having one more year to decide can't hurt.
"If the board feels, as representatives of the folks in Owego, that they need more time to study and figure out exactly the best thing for the village of Owego, then I think it's fine," said Schweiger. "We can wait a little bit longer there's no rush."
In fact, she says she appreciates the healthy debate going on in the village.
The Daily Star, Oneonta, NY - otsego county news
February 24, 2012
Middlefield wins 'home rule' case in court
Victory comes on the heels of similar ruling for Dryden
Joe Mahoney
COOPERSTOWN — In a major setback for the natural gas industry, a state judge today upheld the legality of the town of Middlefield's ban on drilling for natural gas, marking the second victory of the week for home rule advocates out to stop hydrofracking.
Acting State Supreme Court Judge Donald Cerio, in an 11-page decision, said there was "no support" for claims that the state Legislature, by enacting the Environrmental Conservation Law in 1981, intended to "abrogate the constitutional and statutory authority vested in local municipalities to enact legislation affecting land use."
The lawsuit aimed at upending revisions to Middlefield's zoning law that were enacted last year was brought by Jennifer Huntington, owner of Cooperstown Holstein Corp., a company that has leased nearly 400 acres in the town to a gas drilling company.
Huntington's lawyers have claimed the ban strips landowner of their mineral rights and that the Environmental Conservation Law places all regulation authority over drilling with the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
Cerio, who was assigned the case after Otsego County judges recused themselves, wrote: "There is no language contained with the legislative history which serves to support plaintiff's claim tha the supersession clause enacted was intended to impact, let alone diminish or eliminate, a local municipality's right to enact legislation pertaining to land use."
The decision came on the heels of a similar one issued Wednesday by State Supreme Court Judge Donald Rumsey, who upheld the town of Dryden's move to ban gas drilling.
Unlike the Dryden case, in the Middlefield litigation, several local organizations, as well as the Village of Cooperstown, were permitted to files friend of the court briefs, backing the town's arguments that it was entirely within its authority to update its zoning law to keep out gas drillers.
"We are extremely pleased by Judge Cerio's forceful and clear decision supporting home rule," said Nicole Dillingham, president of the Board of Directors of Otsego 2000, one of the environmental groups supporting Middlefield.
"The towns have the power to regulate land use within their borders," she said. "There can be no doubt of this after reading Judge Cerio's decision."
Middlefield Town Attorney David Clinton said, "The people who are proponents of our law are obviously jubilant tonight. I'm sure there are going to be some people who see this as a lost economic opportunity. But the gas is not lost. It's still here."
Advocates of the drilling ban have argued that hydrofracking was inconsistent with the town's rural character and that the activity could lead to toxic contaminants ending up in ground water. Brewery Ommegang, which also submitted a friend of the court brief in support of the drilling ban, had indicated it would have consider relocating if drilling began on Huntington's land.. The brewery is within close proximity of the Cooperstown Holstein tract.
Thomas West, an attorney for Huntington who also represented the gas company that lost the Dryden case, could not be immediately reached for comment.
West said earlier this week that Anschutz Exploration Corp., which sued Dryden after that town enacted a fracking ban, has not yet decided whether it will appeal the Rumsey ruling.
Clinton said the two cases could be rendered moot if legislation proposed by Sen. James Seward, R-MIlford, that would clarify that local governments are empowered to have home rule in zoning heavy industry, is passed by both houses of the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo last year lifted a moratorium on permits for gas drilling and the Department of Environmental Conservation coulud begin to award permits to drillers later this year after completing its review of draft rules that would govern hydrofracking.
http://thedailystar.com/breakingnews/x1875165986/Middlefield-wins-home-rule-case-in-court
The Daily Star, Oneonta, NY -
February 24, 2012
Town may need to outsource ethics review
By Jake Palmateer
Staff Writer
---- —
The town of Oneonta's Board of Ethics -- tasked with reviewing potential conflicts of interest over gas drilling and the Oneonta Town Board -- may have a conflict of interest itself.
The board met earlier this week, and it was discovered two of the four Board of Ethics members had signed an anti-drilling petition last year, Town Supervisor Robert Wood said.
Wood would not name which of the four signed the petition, but the four members include Glenn Mayer, Leon Kalmus, Rudolph Schuster and Benjamin Nesbitt.
"That may lead to their disqualification," Wood said Thursday.
A petition drive against drilling last year yielded 1,753 signatures, including more than 1,500 registered voters in the town.
The board is opting to go for the ethics review, which is intended to examine all five board members, after the town received about 50 letters of concern regarding board member William Mirabito's connections to the energy industry.
Those letters were received in advance of a public hearing on two proposed gas drilling moratoriums Jan. 13. The town board has 30 days from that date to act on the legislation for which the public hearings were held.
"The town board needs to get together and consider a new course of action," Wood said.
The town may look to outsource the ethics review to a neighboring town's Board of Ethics but is also open to other options, according to Wood.
With the clock ticking on a vote, Wood said the town may have to hold a new public hearing.
He said the town is committed to an ethics review of the entire board for possible conflicts of interest in advance of any votes on a moratorium.
"I think we do have an obligation at this point," Wood said.
The town board next meets March 13, but Wood said special meetings could be scheduled ahead of that date.
One moratorium, brought forth by Wood, is an amalgamation of earlier moratorium drafts by Town Attorney Richard Harlem and one by anti-gas drilling lawyer David Slottje.
The 12-month moratorium proposal focuses on all forms of drilling and associated activities, such as the storage of drilling-related materials.
A competing moratorium was drafted by Harlem and brought forth by Mirabito. It would impose a five-month moratorium on hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling only. Vertical drilling would still be allowed.
Wood said he favors the 12-month moratorium and said he expects there are enough votes to pass it. The moratoriums are intended to give the town time to examine its land-use regulations.
A judge's ruling in favor of the town of Dryden's ban on gas drilling also occurred this week and could lead to more support on the board of a 12-month moratorium.
"I think the people who are interested in seeing the moratorium pass are encouraged by the decision in Dryden," Wood said. "We were glad a decision has been made. We are still waiting to see what happens in the Middlefield case."
Mirabito has said he is a 21 percent shareholder of Mirabito Holdings, which owns 10 percent of Corning Natural Gas. Because of that 10 percent stake, Mirabito said, he sits on the board of directors for Corning Natural Gas.
Mirabito Holdings and Corning Natural Gas each have a 50 percent share in Leatherstocking LLC, which Mirabito said is pursuing pipeline franchises in Chenango County. None of the companies is involved in gas leasing or gas drilling, he said.
The purpose of obtaining the franchises is to get gas from well sites in Coventry and Guilford to the Amphenol plant in Sidney, according to Mirabito.
Mirabito said several lawyers have told him he has no conflict of interest. But he requested the Board of Ethics review his background along with that of the other town board members.
The Daily Star, Oneonta, NY -
February 14, 2012
Dueling moratoriums debated at hearing
By Jake Palmateer
Staff Writer
---- —
WEST ONEONTA _ A public hearing on competing gas drilling moratoriums Monday night in the town of Oneonta was the latest battleground in the debate over hydraulic fracturing for natural gas.
More than 150 people crammed into the town hall's meeting space, with dozens more spilling into a hallway.
Supervisor Robert Wood prefaced the hearing by saying the board would take no action at the meeting.
The board would vote on either a five-month and more limited moratorium or a more expansive 12-month moratorium only after a town Board of Ethics reviews the background of all board members, including Councilman Bill Mirabito, for conflicts of interest, Wood said.
What followed was nearly two hours of pleas against drilling, and more specifically hydrofracking, for the sake of the environment and public health. A minority spoke of a local economy in near ruin because of a lack of business development and the need to keep an open mind toward drilling.
There were also words of caution from some who said the debate is tearing the town apart and pitting neighbor against neighbor. But not all who spoke were from the town of Oneonta. Anti-drilling activists from Butternuts and Fly Creek addressed the board from the same floor as drilling supporters from Maryland and Otego.
Early speakers targeted Mirabito, who has a 21 percent share of Mirabito Holdings and is on the board of directors of Corning Natural Gas. A jointly owned company of those two firms, Leatherstocking LLC, is working to develop pipelines in Chenango County.
One man, Howard Hannum of Sidney Center, asked for Mirabito to be removed from the meeting room and to have the door shut behind him.
"Even if he sat and said nothing, his mere presence in the room would be that of a lobbyist," Hannum said.
Others defended Mirabito, including Christine Amos, an executive with NBT Bank.
"I'm not pro-frack. I'm not anti-frack. I'm pro-business," Amos said. "Many have been forced out of business. Others are struggling to survive."
Some speakers pointed to a petition drive that garnered 1,753 signatures as a reason for the town to vote in favor of the 12-month moratorium, which was brought forth by Wood. It is an amalgamation of earlier moratorium drafts by Town Attorney Richard Harlem and one by anti-gas drilling lawyer David Slottje. The 12-month moratorium proposal focuses on all forms of drilling and associated activities, such as the storage of drilling-related materials.
A competing moratorium was drafted by Harlem and brought forth by Mirabito. It would impose a five-month moratorium on hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling only. Vertical drilling would still be allowed.
The 12-month moratorium would allow time for the town to look at its zoning laws, which town officials have said already includes a gas drilling ban, according to Maria McMullen, an architect of the petition drive.
Those town laws are "outdated and weak" and also do not address activities related to the gas drilling industry that could also have harmful impacts, she said.
But Brett Holleran of Oneonta said those who were using the petition drive as justification for supporting the 12-month moratorium didn't speak for him.
"I signed the petition as well when I was under the impression it was just for fracking," Holleran said. "Maybe not everybody understood completely what they were signing, me included."
Holleran shifted to another aspect of the issue and lamented what he said he was seeing around him.
"I have never seen the town so divided," Holleran said. "We are pitting neighbor against neighbor. I think a lot of bullying is going on in this room in both directions."
Bill Whitaker, who said he was an 18-year town resident, said he had just one question.
"Why is the New York City watershed exempted from all drilling if it is so safe?" he asked.
But he got no answer and was not entitled to one under the rules regarding public hearings. There was little interaction between the board members and the public aside from Wood banging a gavel to signal the end to each speaker's three minutes.
"Are we really saying we are going to let the boys with the big money tell us what to do?" Whitaker said.
Edward Zaengle of the town of Maryland urged the board to hear both sides of the issue.
"People have been in economic ruin because of what's been going on with our economy," Zaengle said.
The Rev. Craig Schwalenberg, pastor of the Unitarian Universalist Society in Oneonta, said he has tried to keep an open mind and said he was aware of the need to revitalize the area's struggling economy.
"Sacrificing our environment, sacrificing our future of our children is not the way to do that," Schwalenberg said.
Dick Downey of the Unatego Area Landowners Association said his organization represents a dozen landowners in the town of Oneonta.
Downey, of Otego, said the opposition to drilling was being led by "propaganda from an ideologically-driven elite and a lazy, prejudiced press."
"The economy has run roughshod over the environment for 50 years and its time for us to tip the scales in favor of the environment," said Teresa Winchester of Butternuts.
While some used their full allotment of time, others had more blunt statements.
"We're not going to be here if there is no water," town resident Irene Curley said.
No one spoke directly in favor of the 5-month moratorium and some, including Virginia Lee, a leader of the petition drive, said it was flawed because by singling out hydrofracking and still allowing vertical drilling, it left it more susceptible to attack.
Fracking banned for two years in Binghamton
Published: Sunday, January 29, 2012 Updated: Monday, January 30, 2012 01:01
After years of debating the environmental impact and future of natural gas drilling in Binghamton, the Binghamton City Council voted in favor of a two-year ban on fracking.
Mayor Matt Ryan signed the bill into law on Dec. 22, making Binghamton the first city in the Southern Tier to ban the process.
The ban preserves all land within city limits from fracking and prohibits the natural gas industry from exploring and developing in the area over the two-year period. The law is meant to protect the city from the potentially harmful effects of fracking, including the risk of contaminated drinking water due to the discharge of toxic material or chemical spills, according to Andrew Block, executive assistant to the mayor.
"The mayor signed off on this legislation because it is critical to protecting our health, safety and economic future," Block said. "While fracking promises short-term economic gains, the long-term fallout is much more severe and merits our concern."
The legislation banning fracking can be repealed by the Binghamton City Council before the two-year period ends, but it would take the consent of six of seven council members to override a veto by Mayor Ryan, according to Block. Although a recent election changed the political landscape of the council, with three Republicans taking seats once held by Democrats, two of the returning members voted in favor of the law, making a repeal unlikely.
Newly elected council member John Matzo does not support the ban, according to a report in the Press & Sun-Bulletin, but he does not have plans to overturn it.
"It's kind of a back-burner type of thing," Matzo told the Press & Sun-Bulletin. "There's still people that aren't back in their homes yet [following the flood]."
For members of Binghamton-based pro-fracking group Joint Landowners Coalition of NY, however, the ban on fracking is a major concern.
Julie Lewis, vice president of the group, as well as a Broome County legislator and Binghamton University alumna, said the ban may affect Binghamton's future.
"It sends the wrong signal to this industry and hundreds of related businesses that work with it and follow it that Binghamton is closed for business," Lewis said. "This is an industry that will bring thousands of jobs with it. I might also add that this industry loves to hire young people, and they pay a lot better than the average job rate around here."
Lewis said she believes the effects of fracking on the environment are nominal if the process is properly regulated.
"This issue started out in 2008 as, 'let's slow down and do this safely' to 'let's ban hydraulic fracturing altogether,' a process that has been done in this state since 1947," Lewis said. "My own personal research has proven to me without a doubt that, though there are risks involved in drilling as with any industry, the benefits far outweigh the risks."
Student environmental groups on Binghamton University's campus, on the other hand, have actively worked to halt the fracking process in the area.
Jenna Fierstein, president of Student Environmental Awareness Club (SEAC), said she believes the ban is inarguably good for the community.
"Hydrofracking, with regulation as it now stands, would severely decimate public health, safety and welfare, rather than improve it," Fierstein said. "The ban means two more years to conduct research and present findings on the hazards of the process and to shed light on how current regulatory measures would fall quite short of protecting the community."
The city of Binghamton's fracking ban was soon followed by concerns in Albany by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
On Wednesday, Jan. 11, the EPA released a report outlining ways for the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to strengthen its fracking regulations in New York. These suggestions include expanding a ban within 4,000 feet of the New York City and Syracuse watersheds to include all fracking, regardless of volume, and to make clearer plans for dealing with wastewater. The DEC must take these suggestions under consideration and finalize its proposals before high-volume fracking is allowed to take place in New York, according to a report in the Press & Sun-Bulletin
In the meantime, Block said he hopes the ban in Binghamton will encourage other communities in the state to take similar actions.
"We hope our leaders at the state and federal level share this concern and take all measures necessary to protect our communities," Block said.
http://www2.bupipedream.com/news/fracking-banned-for-two-years-in-binghamton-1.2756619
From: Sandra Steingraber
To: sustainableotsego
Subject: PBS "Groundswell: Hyrdrofracking in NYS" On-line
Date: Tue, 7 Feb 2012 12:11:45 -0500
Dear friends,
Last week, Helen Slottje and I served on a panel of experts for an hour-long PBS program, "Groundswell: Fracking in NYS," that was reported and moderated by the always trenchant Susan Arbetter.
It aired last night on WCNY and is now available for viewing at the links below.
WCNY also opened up a FB page for us to "continue the discussion," so. . .this is a wonderful invitation for public dialogue, and I look forward to reading your various comments. (See below.)
"Groundswell" framed the issue of fracking as one of competing rights. The focus is on rural communities in both NY and PA and includes interviews with farmers and others on both sides of the border and on both sides of the issue. It highlights the issue of local bans.
These video narratives were pre-screened in the studio last week before a live audience--along with us "expert" panelists (who were also equally split between pro and con)--and so part of the program involves the audience members asking the panelists questions. In addition, Susan asked us to respond to the stories that she reported and that we were seeing for the first time.
There are a lot of moving parts in this program! And many voices! Think Tolstoy!
For that reason, there was little time to make in-depth comments on any one of the many competing rights profiled here. Which is why it's great that we have the opportunity to make comments on the facebook page.
I, for one, would especially welcome the response of farmers and the NY food community, as dairy farms and faltering farm economies are at the center of the story here. You'll hear me express my own concern, at one point, about the vulnerability of cows' milk--and mothers' milk--to chemical and radioactive contamination.
There is much more to be said here and many more connections to make. e.g. Governor Cuomo's recent endorsement of Greek yogurt. Of which I, for one, greatly approve. His daughters and mine are big fans.
Feel free to post the links below to your various lists, along with this invitation from me.
Faithfully, Sandra
Vista - Groundswell: Hydrofracking in NYS is now available to view in its entirety on our website:
http://www.wcny.org/television/vista/groundswell-hydrofracking-in-new-york-state
We have also opened up a Facebook page for viewers and the community to continue the discussion on line:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Vista/283840418340154?sk=wall
Please feel free to share these links with whom ever you feel would be interested.
Amy Manley
Producer/Director
WCNY
506 Old Liverpool Road
Liverpool, NY 13088
(315) 453-2424 x271
Gov's 'Fair Tax' Bomb Hits Albany
Faced with ever rising deficits this year and next, the governor decided to drop his no new taxes pledge in favor of raising taxes for the wealthy while reducing them for middle and low income New Yorkers.
Also in the mix to try to revive the state's economy and create jobs and spur business growth, the governor would seek:
.To broadly expand the creation of major casinos in the state and to create jobs while capturing gambling cash that's going to other states.
.Create a youth job training and placement program by giving tax credits to participating businesses.
.Start rebuilding the state's infrastructure and creating other jobs while helping to revive the economy.
Conspicuously absent from the governor's plan, which was unveiled to reporters in Albany on Sunday, is any mention of opening up the upstate area of the state to the natural gas industry, which would help create an estimated 40,000 jobs.
But the omission could be explained by the very strong opposition which has developed against the natural gas initiative because of its controversial mining process, called hydrofracking, which could pose a major threat to drinking water sources in the state, including New York City's huge reservoirs in the Adirondacks.
Hearings on the proposed approval or disapproval of clearing the way for the natural gas industry and hydrofracking to come into the state are nearing conclusion and there was a real expectation that the governor would find a way to make it happen because of the great economic benefits it could bring to the state.
But the strong opposition which developed at the hearings may have doused the governor's ardor for the planned economic rebirth of the northern part of the state because of the threat and opposition to hydrofracking. Perhaps the governor himself was convinced that hydrofracking was indeed a real enough threat that it didn't make sense to embrace the benefits that could come with natural gas mining. Or maybe the governor has decided to go at full throttle with the economic and jobs plan he unveiled on December 4 and he's decided to lay aside the natural gas development for the moment and revive it sometime in the future.
Getting back to today's possible start of a special session to get started on the governor's new plan, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver had made no comment on it as of yesterday, but he's been calling for extension of the so-called "millionaire's tax, and the governor's new tax proposal would have the same effect.
At the same time, Republican Senate Leader Dean Skelos said it sounded interesting, especially if it provides a chance to kill an MTA tax that Republicans on Long Island hate. There might also be a chance to change the governor's mind about the real estate tax cap he rammed through earlier in the session. The tax cap was strongly opposed by school officials and teachers in upstate and Long Island GOP areas, so maybe Skelos can work out a deal to get the tax cap reversed.
There's no indication as yet how wealthy New Yorkers feel about suddenly facing a tax increase when, for the entire year, Cuomo has reassured there would neither be an extension of the millionaire's tax nor a tax increase for them that would be created under a new name.
But with Cuomo under the gun, facing a $350 million shortfall in the 2011 budget and a projected deficit of $3.5 billion staring him in the face for next year, there had to be a surprise new plan coming out of the governor's mansion to finally get some movement in the state. Before you know it, all that excitement about pension reform will be forgotten and the good old days will be back again.
ADDABBO REPEATS OPPOSITION TO HYDROFRACKING: State Senator Joseph Addabbo Jr. (D-Howard Beach) issued another attack against the controversial hydrofracking method to drill for natural gas in New York state, asserting he is not opposed to other processes of drilling, and repeating his concerns that hydrofracking would contaminate our drinking water.
The lawmaker's statement was prepared for submission to the hearings being held by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
Addabbo stated, he did not want any of the 31 chemicals he named explicitly, "or any other foreign items found in hydrofracking anywhere near our state's water supply".
Addabbo's new assault against the controversial drilling method comes as Governor Andrew Cuomo's Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is near the completion of public hearings on the drilling issue.
Following the hearings, Cuomo has said, he will announce whether his administration will proceed with plans which would authorize use of hydrofracking- and the extent of it-in order to spur economic and job creating activity to help the state deal with major budget deficits.
The possible widespread use of the controversial mining method has created a huge debate between the natural gas industry and those seeking jobs and economic improvement on the one hand and environmental advocates predicting calamitous dangers to the state's drinking water reservoirs which are located in the Adirondack watershed where the drilling is proposed to proceed at full blast.
Citing the dangers to the state's and city's daily supply of 15 billion gallons of water, as well as its "lakes, rivers, streams, estuaries and ground water", the Queens senator points to our neighboring states where the hydrofracking has been shown to be flawed.
Those neighboring states, he says, can also show us the way to "alternative environmentally sound drilling techniques", but he didn't go any further.
Addabbo also touches upon federal studies that have "indicated consumed radioactive waste, whether by drinking or eating, can cause cancer and other health problems".
The lawmaker adds that he has introduced legislation requiring that "radioactivity in drilling waste would need to be treated before being accepted or discharged by any permit holder".
Another concern of Addabbo is that the state's facilities for treating contaminated water presently are not equipped "to remove such carcinogens from the chemicals contained within hydrofracking fluids".
Addabbo states bluntly, "Our state cannot seek to create upstate jobs, but at the same time create a long-term, harmful condition for people throughout the state." He also urges the governor to proceed with caution on this issue.
http://www.qgazette.com/news/2011-12-07/Political_Page/Govs_Fair_Tax_Bomb_Hits_Albany.html
November 3, 2011
Town candidates square off on hydrofracking, public safety
By Jake Palmateer
Staff Writer
ONEONTA _ Three Oneonta Town Board candidates exchanged views on hydrofracking, public safety and the recent property revaluation by the town at a candidate forum Wednesday.
November 1, 2011
Fracking becomes 'wild card' in Otsego races
BY JOE MAHONEY
Staff Writer
COOPERSTOWN -- Hydrofracking has become a "wild card" in races that could impact the makeup of the Otsego County Board of Representatives as well as a number of town councils.
Drilling Debate in Cooperstown Turns Personal
By PETER APPLEBOME Published: October 29, 2011
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. - The letter that arrived in Kim Jastremski's mailbox on County Highway 52 suggested that she stop protesting the possibility of natural gas drilling. It seemed more of a threat than a request.
Computer-generated, unsigned and sent to about 10 other opponents of a practice known as fracking, it compared them to Nazis and said they were being watched while picking up their children at school in their minivans.
A version of this article appeared in print on October 30, 2011, on page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: A New York Village's Debate Over Drilling Turns Personal.
October 18, 2011
Otsego to organize gas drilling hearing*
By JOE MAHONEY
Staff Writer
COOPERSTOWN -- Many people eager to sound off on draft state regulations on hydraulic fracturing said they were upset last month when the state announced that none of the four public hearings on the rules were slated for Otsego or Schoharie counties.
http://thedailystar.com/localnews/x1548942685/Otsego-Schoharie-to-organize-gas-drilling-hearing
September 14, 2011
Oneonta Town Board hears debate over natural gas drilling
By Jake Palmateer
Staff Writer
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WEST ONEONTA _ The Oneonta Town Board on Tuesday night heard from both sides in the debate over natural gas drilling.
Attorney David Slottje of the Ithaca-based Community Environmental Defense Council said his group does pro-bono work for communities seeking to ban natural gas drilling.
"There is no question that exclusion of heavy industry is a proper use of land-use laws," he said during a wide-ranging presentation to the board, which was also heard by about 35 members of the public.
Slottje said there is a lot of misinformation circulating in areas of the state that gas companies view as lucrative. Chief among these, he said, is the view that local governments cannot ban a particular industry from the town.
"Everybody understands you cannot regulate this industry (at the town level)," he said.
But a ban on drilling is not the same as regulating it, he said.
"We believe that the state has not pre-empted the town in its ability to prohibit gas drilling," said Slottje, who cited several legal cases from the Supreme Court to lower state courts.
Gas drilling opponents often say that drilling, particularly hydraulic fracturing, poses a risk to the environment and public health.
Slottje offered to draft legislation for the board that would ban gas drilling in the town.
The town also received several more pages of a petition from a local advocacy group, Concerned Citizens of Oneonta, that requests the board take action to prevent hydraulic fracturing in the town.
That brings the total number of signatures to 1,705, which includes 1,554 registered voters in the town, according to petition coordinator Maria McMullen.
McMullen said that represents a majority of the 2,964 registered voters in the town.
Pro-drilling advocate Mary Lusins-McLaughlin countered with book she said includes photographs and other data that show how bad the economic condition of the area is. Lusins-McLaughlin's photos, which she showed to individual board members, showed vacant storefronts and substandard housing.
Dick Downey, a founding member of the Unatego Area Landowners Association, said the area, outside of Cooperstown and Oneonta, is in decline. Statistics from DCMO-BOCES shows the area has lost 18 percent of its school-age population. This is mainly because those in the 25- to 40-year-old age group are leaving and not coming back, he said.
Town Supervisor Robert Wood offered a late motion, not on the agenda, to accept Slottje's services on a pro-bono basis to look at strengthening the town code, and Councilman Scott Gravelin supported it. But Councilman Bill Mirabito, Councilman Carleton Delameter and Councilwoman Janet Hurley-Quackenbush were opposed.
In other business,…….more at link…
Town board should listen to residents
http://thedailystar.com/letters/x151679692/Main-Headline
http://thedailystar.com/opinion/x999479073/DEC-gas-rules-dont-help-upstate?mailingdate=201107071019
http://thedailystar.com/opinion/x1317142954/Drilling-not-the-only-issue?mailingdate=201107010933