Cortland Legislature to Form Gas Taskforce

http://www.cortlandstandard.net/articles/11052010n.html

Panels will explore gas drilling impacts County subcommittees will focus on roads, public safety, housing, environment, economy

By CATHERINE WILDE
Staff Reporter
cwilde@cortlandstandard.net
A number of subcommittees will be formed over the next two weeks to study the impacts that gas drilling could have locally if the state allows hydraulic fracturing to proceed.
The county Agriculture, Planning and Environment Committee Thursday endorsed forming a steering committee which will select members to sit on five subcommittees that will analyze different areas that could be affected by the gas drilling industry.
Hydrofracking, the process of injecting large quantities of chemically-treated water into the shale deep underground to extract gas, is being reviewed by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. Until the review is complete, there is a de facto moratorium on the process statewide.
But the technology is expected to proceed and Cortland County lawmakers want to be prepared when it does.
Agriculture Planning and Environment Committee Chair Danny Ross (R-Cortlandville) spearheaded the idea of forming the natural gas drilling task force.
Committees will be formed to examine the public safety impacts, the ways roads and infrastructure could be affected by truck traffic, the potential need for more housing for gas company crews, and the environmental and economic impacts of the industry.
Ross said the committees should be up and running within two months. Each committee will consist of about eight people who have expertise in the areas their committee is exploring, he said. The committees will meet monthly and report their findings to the Agriculture, Planning and Environment Committee.
Steering committee members will be Legislators Jack Williams (D-8th Ward), Ross, Newell Willcox (R-Homer), Larry Cornell (R-Marathon and Lapeer), Jennifer Gofkowski (D-Homer), John Steger (R-Preble and Scott) and Ray Parker (D-2nd Ward).
According to Ross, the purpose of the natural gas drilling task force is to study all the impacts natural gas development could have on the county and help local governments make the best use of those opportunities.
For example, the subcommittee that will examine the impact to roads and infrastructure, will investigate what can be done beforehand, such as documenting existing conditions of roads that could in turn be used to show how much a road has been damaged by drilling activity, he said.
The subcommittee that will examine the housing situation will research whether there is enough housing to accommodate the gas crews that will come into the community.
The public safety committee will investigate how prepared emergency crews will be in the event of a spill and the environmental subcommittee could consist of geologists and scientists who can help the county understand the potential environmental impacts of gas drilling.
Ross said he will not have anyone with existing gas leases sit on the subcommittees.
Parker said he will look for members who are not biased in one direction or another.
“I’m going to be looking for someone who’s going to look at the pluses and minuses and try to find out if there’s some way any of the negatives can be taken care of and looked at in a positive nature,” Parker said.
Parker said he does not want the potential economic benefits to be ignored and also does not want the possible adverse environmental impacts to be discounted. He said he has someone in mind to recommend for the subcommittee because the person is a scientist with knowledge of the industry.
Parker would not say who the person was until he asked him if he wants to serve.

Links to Gas Committees/Taskforces from Other Counties

• Broome
  • Broome Legislature Forms Gas Committee
  • http://gobroomecounty.com/gasresources/natural-gas-development-team-meeting-reports
• Chenango    http://www.co.chenango.ny.us/Planning/Planning_NatGas_Minutes.htm
• Cortland
  •  Drilling Taskforce Proposed Cortland Standard article 11/10
  • Citizen’s Taskforce Proposal
• Schuyler http://www.schuylerenergy.org/
• Steuben County  http://www.steubencony.org/naturalgastaskforce/index.html
• Sullivan  http://co.sullivan.ny.us/Departments/DepartmentsNZ/PlanningandEnvironmentalManagement/NaturalGasDrillingandDevelopment/CountyGasDrillingTaskForce/tabid/3253/Default.aspx
• Tioga County.  http://www.tiogacountyny.com/ting/
• Tompkins County  http://www.tompkins-co.org/legislature/tccog/Gas%20Drilling/index.html
• Yates County  http://counties.cce.cornell.edu/yates/MarcellusShale.html 
• Upper Delaware  Council
• Madison (proposal)
• Otsego   http://www.otsegocounty.com/depts/pln/OCGasHome.htm

Cortland Standard Editorial on Gas Issues Nov. 5, 2010

Nov 16, Elmira–“The Rest of the Story: The Real Impacts of Gas Drilling”,

Remember, the Citizens for Protection of Health and Environment (CPHE) sponsored Public Forum, “The Rest of the Story: The Real Impacts of Gas Drilling”, Tuesday, November 16th, 6:30 PM, Trinity Episcopal Church Parish Hall at the corner of Church St and Main St., in the middle of Elmira, N.Y.
There is lots of parking off of 1st Street, which is parallel to Church (1 block) and perpendicular to Main St. The 1st St. entrance comes directly into the Parish Hall.
Speakers: 
Louis Allstadt: Former Exec VP of Mobil Oil Corp
Chris Burger: Chair of Binghamton Regional Sustainability Coalition
Ron Gulla: An affected farmer from Hickory Co, PA
Bret Jennings: Director Hallstead Great Bend Sewage Authority
Jack Ossont: Community Organizer and Regional Activist
Dr. John F. Stolz: Director Center for Environmental Research & Education, Duquesne University
Panel Discussion with Q & A Session Following

Effects of Gas Extraction on Recreation. Lansing 7pm Nov. 1

A Free, Public, Educational Forum on the Effects of Gas Extraction on Recreation, Hunting, Fishing, Hiking, etc.

Link to Video of this Program

Link to Download Video

High volume, slick water, hydraulic fracturing (hydro-fracking) to take natural gas from the Marcellus Shale has been going on in Pennsylvania for the past three years. Hydro-fracking includes withdrawing millions of gallons of water from nearby rivers, lakes, and streams, mixing it with chemicals, and injecting the solution under high pressure into the shale to release the gas.

What has been the effect of Marcellus gas development on the people who use the outdoors for recreation? What has been the effect on their hiking, fishing, biking, birding, hunting, camping, boating, family outings, sightseeing?

Pennsylvanians and those who have studied the effects will share what they have learned, and they will take questions from the audience at this free, educational forum.
Intended Audience:  People who enjoy the outdoors for recreation, hunting, fishing, hiking, biking, birding, hunting, camping, boating, family outings, and sightseeing.  In addition, anyone who seeks more information about the effects of Marcellus gas development in Pennsylvania on their natural environment should attend.
Speakers:

Katy Dunlap, Trout Unlimited, Eastern Water Project Director.  Ms. Dunlap will talk about impacts on coldwater fisheries and their watersheds, ranging from small mountain streams to larger river systems like the Susquehanna.  Katy will also explain what Trout Unlimited and its members are doing to protect streams and rivers in the Marcellus Shale region.

·  Shellie Northrop, member and volunteer of several PA and NY hiking clubs and trail associations.  Through Ms. Northrop’s years of hiking and contact with other hikers, she is able to describe the impact of drilling activities for hikers in the Northern Tier of Pennsylvania.  She will also use examples in PA to offer suggestions of how those of us in NY can take action now that will help protect our wilderness areas.

·  Bill Belitskus, Allegheny Defense Project, Board President.  Mr. Belitskus lives adjacent to and has been hiking, camping and recreating in Pennsylvania’s Allegheny National Forest for over 35 years.  He has been monitoring forest fragmentation, water degradation, air pollution, species decline and loss of recreation opportunities associated with oil and gas development from land clearing, well site and road construction, pipelines, tank batteries, generators, compressors, gas processing plants, truck traffic and construction equipment for the past 15 years.  He will discuss one of the critical issues of unconventional hydrocarbon, deep shale extraction: withdrawal of water from streams and rivers, and riparian rights of landowners to protect waterways.

· Co-Sponsors: Social Ventures, ROUSE, Dryden Resource Awareness Coalition (DRAC), Cornell Outdoor Education, Cayuga Lake Watershed Network, Finger Lakes Sierra Club, Coalition to Protect New York, Tompkins County League of Women Voters, Ithaca Health Alliance, and others

Contact information:   Sara Hess, 607-272-6394.

Text of Summary on this Forum outdoor forum article.[1]

Nov. 19 Pittsburgh Conf. on Fracking & Health

The University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health cordially invites you to the following exclusive conference:

HEALTH EFFECTS OF SHALE GAS EXTRACTION: WHAT IS KNOWN AND WHAT CAN WE PREDICT?

This free conference will explore the science and methodological approaches behind understanding environmental health impacts associated with increasing development of natural gas extraction from shale deposits found under wide geographical areas of the United States.

Event Information:
University Club, Pittsburgh, PA
November 19, 2010
8 AM – 6 PM

This conference is limited to 150 participants. Click on the link to learn more and register: http://www.eoh.pitt.edu/marcellus.asp.

-Samantha Malone, MPH, CPH-

Communications Specialist & Doctoral Student
Center for Healthy Environments & Communities
University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health
slm75@pitt.edu | samanthamalone119@gmail.com | www.chec.pitt.edu <http://www.chec.pitt.edu>

PA Charges Cabot with Tainting Water in Dimock

DEP pledges public water for Dimock

‘Fracking’ Mobilizes Uranium in Marcellus Shale-UB study-

News Release ‘Fracking’ Mobilizes Uranium in Marcellus Shale, UB Research Finds Findings raise new concern: could uranium show up in groundwater? Email Article Print Article Subscribe to News Like This // CDATA[ var o = SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: “‘Fracking’ Mobilizes Uranium in Marcellus Shale, UB Research Finds”, icon: ‘http://www.buffalo.edu/news/thumbnails/TracyBank10.jpg’, summary: “Findings raise new concern: could uranium show up in groundwater?” }, { button:false }); document.write(‘ ShareThis’); o.attachButton(document.getElementById(‘share’)); // ]]> ShareThis UB geologist Tracy Bank and colleagues found that uranium and hydrocarbons in Marcellus shale are not just physically, but also chemically, bound. Download JPEG Contact Ellen Goldbaum goldbaum@buffalo.edu 716-645-4605 Release Date: October 25, 2010 BUFFALO, N.Y. — Scientific and political disputes over drilling Marcellus shale for natural gas have focused primarily on the environmental effects of pumping millions of gallons of water and chemicals deep underground to blast through rocks to release the natural gas. But University at Buffalo researchers have now found that that process — called hydraulic fracturing or “fracking”– also causes uranium that is naturally trapped inside Marcellus shale to be released, raising additional environmental concerns. The research will be presented at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in Denver on Nov. 2. Marcellus shale is a massive rock formation that stretches from New York through Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, and which is often described as the nation’s largest source of natural gas. “Marcellus shale naturally traps metals such as uranium and at levels higher than usually found naturally, but lower than manmade contamination levels,” says Tracy Bank, PhD, assistant professor of geology in UB’s College of Arts and Sciences and lead researcher. “My question was, if they start drilling and pumping millions of gallons of water into these underground rocks, will that force the uranium into the soluble phase and mobilize it? Will uranium then show up in groundwater?” To find out, Bank and her colleagues at UB scanned the surfaces of Marcellus shale samples from Western New York and Pennsylvania. Using sensitive chemical instruments, they created a chemical map of the surfaces to determine the precise location in the shale of the hydrocarbons, the organic compounds containing natural gas. “We found that the uranium and the hydrocarbons are in the same physical space,” says Bank. “We found that they are not just physically — but also chemically — bound. “That led me to believe that uranium in solution could be more of an issue because the process of drilling to extract the hydrocarbons could start mobilizing the metals as well, forcing them into the soluble phase and causing them to move around.” When Bank and her colleagues reacted samples in the lab with surrogate drilling fluids, they found that the uranium was indeed, being solubilized. In addition, she says, when the millions of gallons of water used in hydraulic fracturing come back to the surface, it could contain uranium contaminants, potentially polluting streams and other ecosystems and generating hazardous waste. The research required the use of very sophisticated methods of analysis, including one called Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry, or ToF-SIMS, in the laboratory of Joseph A. Gardella Jr., Larkin Professor of Chemistry at UB. The UB research is the first to map samples using this technique, which identified the precise location of the uranium. “Even though at these levels, uranium is not a radioactive risk, it is still a toxic, deadly metal,” Bank concludes. “We need a fundamental understanding of how uranium exists in shale. The more we understand about how it exists, the more we can better predict how it will react to ‘fracking.'” Bank conducted the experiments with UB Department of Geology graduate students Thomas Malizia and Lauren Fortson, and Lisa Andresky, an undergraduate student from Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania. Andresky worked in Bank’s lab during the summer while on a National Science Foundation-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates in UB’s Ecosystem Restoration through Interdisciplinary Exchange (ERIE) program. The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, a flagship institution in the State University of New York system and its largest and most comprehensive campus. UB’s more than 28,000 students pursue their academic interests through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at Buffalo is a member of the Association of American Universities.

Focus On UB 2020 Progress <!– UB and Town of Amherst Collaboration –> UB in the News Buffalo News: UB receiving $8.2 million for extension of women’s health study 10/08/10 Buffalo News: Editorial supports continuing efforts to get UB 2020 done 10/06/10 AOL Health: UB scientist develops adult stem cells that don’t age 10/04/10 MSNBC: Psychologist interviewed live about Chilean miners, effects of being trapped underground 10/04/10 Gather: UB scientist discovers way to manufacture viable stem cells 10/03/10 See more coverage

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What’s all this about Fracking? Ithaca College Nov. 3, 6:30PM

 “What’s All This About Fracking?” forum at Ithaca College Wed. Nov. 3, 6:30 p.m.

• Videolink to the forum

• Land Coalition Critique on the IC Forum: IC forum gave unbalanced view of drilling. By Neil Vitale • November 16, 2010, 12:00 am http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20101116/VIEWPOINTS02/11160305/1129/viewpoints/IC-forum-gave-unbalanced-view-of-drilling

—————————– 
The subject of fracking crosses a multitude of fields — the sciences, agriculture, business, citizenship, economics, employment, health, philosophy, politics, psychology, media, recreation, sociology, tourism, and more.

Ithaca College is hosting an educational forum that will touch on some of these multidisciplinary aspects.

“What’s All This about Fracking?” will be held in Emerson Suites, Phillips Hall, starting at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, November 3.

Moderated by Crystal Sarakas of the Binghamton NPR affiliate WSKG, it will feature noted experts from various fields as well as an industry professional and a representative of a pro-drilling landowners’ coalition.

Tony Ingraffea, Ph.D., P.E. (NYS), the D.C. Baum Professor of Engineering at Cornell University, will lead the forum with a look at the physics of the gas extraction process via fracking. Ingraffea’s research concentrates on complex fracturing processes, and he has been a principal investigator on research and development projects from the National Science Foundation, NASA, the Gas Research Institute, and Schlumberger, among many others. His numerous awards include two Research in Rock Mechanics Awards from the U.S. National Committee for Rock Mechanics and awards for outstanding teaching at Cornell. He organized and was the first director of the Synthesis National Engineering Education Coalition, a team of eight diverse engineering colleges.

John Holko, president of Lenape Resources, Inc., and also representing the Independent Oil and Gas Association of New York, will share the industry perspective on jobs and economic benefits of drilling. Lenape Resources is the operating arm of Lenape Energy, Inc. Along with its sister companies Lenape Drilling, Inc. and Lenape Gathering Corp, Lenape Resources is involved in the exploration, development, gathering, and marketing of oil and gas in the Appalachian basin, with a primary focus in New York and Pennsylvania.

Lorin Cooper, chair of the Political Action and Public Relations Committee of of the Steuben County Landowners Association, will discuss how this drilling education and advocacy group works to ensure the most favorable contract provisions for those who lease their land to drilling companies and the economic benefits the coalition expects. Cooper is retired from the Steuben Allegany BOCES, where he was the director of vocational education and alternative high schools. He had previously worked as a research analyst for the New York State Education Department.

Jannette Barth, Ph.D., will discuss her findings about the deep and broad economic impacts of fracking in the Marcellus Shale. Barth is president of J. M. Barth and Associates, an economics research and consulting firm specializing in demand analysis and forecasting. In her study, which unlike others was not funded by industry, she looked at employment and demographic information in areas where drilling has taken place in Pennsylvania and western states. The report, titled “Unanswered Questions About the Economic Impact of Gas Drilling in the Marcellus Shale: Don’t Jump to Conclusions,” was released in March.

Robert Howarth, Ph.D., will discuss his study on the greenhouse gas footprint of Marcellus shale. Howarth, who is the David R. Atkinson Professor of Ecology and Environmental Biology at Cornell University, aims in his research both to address fundamental ecological questions and to contribute to practical issues of environmental management. He is conducting a full life-cycle analysis of greenhouse-gas emissions from shale gas development relative to existing fossil fuel and alternative renewable energy sources.

Helen Slottje, a public interest attorney with the nonprofit law firm Community Environmental Defense Council, Inc., will address legal challenges confronting residents and communities. She was lead attorney for citizens on the lawsuit challenging the Village of Horseheads’ finding that there would be no significant environmental impact from a new 88-acre drilling services facility operating right in the town. Slottje also works with landowners who are trying to understand their leases, students at Cornell’s Water and Land Clinic, and other community groups trying to protect themselves from the negative impacts of fracking and volume of wells slated for towns like Ithaca that lie above the Marcellus shale.

Finally, New York State Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton will speak about fracking from her legislative point of view. Lifton is finishing her fourth term representing the 125th Assembly District, which includes all of Tompkins County, the City of Cortland, and the towns of Cortlandville and Virgil in Cortland County. She serves on six committees in the Assembly: Agriculture, Commerce & Industry, Election Law, Environmental Conservation, Higher Education, Job Creation, and Mental Health, and is vice chair of the Assembly Steering Committee.

There will be a question-and-answer session after the forum. The public is invited and reminded that the Ithaca College culture is one of collegiality and respect for diverse opinions.

The free forum is being hosted by the School of Business, the Commit to Change program, and Sustainability at Ithaca, with further support from the School of Communications, the School of Humanities and Sciences, and the Departments of Departments of Biology, Chemistry, Economics, Environmental Studies and Sciences, Philosophy & Religion, Physics, Politics, Psychology, and Sociology.

For more information, or for individuals with disabilities requesting accommodations, contact Marian Brown at 607-274-3787 or mbrown@ithaca.edu. Those requesting accommodations are asked to do so as soon as possible.
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