Broome County Offer to Lease Public Land
July 5, 2010
Letter from Broome Legislator, Mario Nirchi, on the Lease Deal
— On Sun, 7/25/10, Nirchi, Mario MNirchi@co.broome.ny.us> wrote:
From: Nirchi, Mario MNirchi@co.broome.ny.us>
Subject: RE: Drilling in Broome County
To: “Sally Motyka” smotykat@yahoo.com>
Date: Sunday, July 25, 2010, 10:53 AM
Sally,
The drilling for natural gas in New York State is regulated by the DEC and horizontal drilling in the Marcellus Shale will resume once the state lifts its moratorium. The leasing of county owned land and the use of county roads is under the County Legislature’s control.
As a retired Environmental Engineer from the DEC, I had a number of technical issues with the proposed resolution leading to a lease with Inflection Energy. Two of the most significant and unpublicized issues are (I say are because this issue is not dead):
1. The resolution that we were to vote on gave the administration blanket authority to negotiate and sign a lease that had not yet been drafted and that we as Legislators would never see.
2. In addition to leasing 5,700 acres, the resolution said that Inflection Energy would be granted access to all county roads so that they could construct any pipelines necessary for gas exploration. I discovered that Inflection had been in discussions with the administration and Huron to construct an industrial waste pipeline from the landfill/airport sites to Huron’s waste treatment plan on Clark St (former IBM waste treatment plant) in the Village of Endicott. The proposed Energy Corridor would mean that the lease would lead to a pipeline containing frack water and landfill leachate on Farm-to-Market Road and other roads in Endwell and the Village of Endicott.
When my attempts to change the lease resolution failed I began to try to convince other Legislators to vote against the proposal. I believe that the county is continuing to negotiate with Inflection Energy and that recent publicity together with liberal lease terms has attracted interest from other gas companies.
Thank you for your interest and community involvement.
Mario Nirchi
July 19th Broome Co. Legislature hearing live broadcast at 5pm July 19
Broome Co. Map of Leased Properties and Proposed County Leases
Videos Explaining the Broome County Leasing Decision
YOUR ONLY CHANCE TO SPEAK OUT
TO OUR COUNTY LEGISLATORS
Public Hearing on County Natural Gas Leasing Proposal
WHEN: MONDAY JULY 19th, 5:00 to 6:30 pm
WHERE: Broome County Office Building, 6th Floor, Hawley Street, Binghamton
(There is a parking ramp directly across the street.)
Broome County is Ground Zero for the natural gas rush. We need a strong showing on Monday to tell our legislators that we do not want them to rubber stamp a lease deal and gamble with our public lands. Every person’s presence will make an impact whether you choose to speak or not. Our message must be loud and clear: We will not have elected officials making a decision of this gravity without public input. Let’s hold these people accountable to be good stewards of the public trust. They will vote on Thursday July 22.
Come as early as you can in order to be assured a spot. Bring signs, dress outrageously.
For more information go to www.NYRAD.org
Contact – Yvonne Lucia: Artsy56@aol.com (607) 723-4786
NOTE: The Broome County Legislative Environmental Committee has scheduled a public forum for Monday, July 19, 5:00 – 6:30, Broome County Office Building, Legislative Chambers, to hear from residents. If you are concerned about the gas deal, show up Monday and join many others who will tell the legislature, “No frakking way, Oppose this bad deal!”
Petition to Defeat Gas Lease Deal
Broome County Gas Lease Deal is a Disaster
The headline in the morning paper is completely deceptive – the press appears to be attempting to influence public opinion by muddling the difference between leasing the land, thereby allowing horizontal drilling UNDER the parks, and allowing drilling rigs WITHIN the park. The article skates around the issue, but leaves the impression for the casual reader that the parks are not included.
The parks ARE included in the deal, with a no surface rights clause. In practical terms this means that the proposed lease would allow them to drill UNDER the parks from rigs located just outside the park.
Official Maps and Parcels Lists CB160841715[1parcels list]
GDACC 
