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Hinchey Urges Federal Representative to DRBC to Require Agency to Conduct Cumulative Impact Study before Allowing Natural Gas Drilling to Move Forward

Hinchey Urges Federal Representative to DRBC to Require Agency to Conduct Cumulative Impact Study before Allowing Natural Gas Drilling to Move Forward  Sept. 9, 2010

Just one Planet . .

From Cornell University’s Ornithology Lab publication, “Living Bird”, Summer, 2010
  “The View From Sapsucker Woods”  by John Fitzpatrick – in part-

“The Deepwater Horizon gusher was generated by 21st-century technology, but it symbolizes the 19th-century ethics we continue to apply when environmental  protection contradicts energy exploitation.  Although we cannot yet know the eventual scale of its biological and economic costs, we should for once agree that we must assemble, and never again forget, all the fundamental lessons of this disaster.  The unthinkable is possible, and must be planned for in advance.  As we assess risks versus rewards, as we fully audit the true costs of energy exploration and extraction, we need to incorporate and properly mitigate the enormous risks and costs of disasters like  Deepwater Horizon.  With just one planet to steward and only one chance at this game, all of us should ponder whether some natural systems are just too complex and valuable to risk losing, regardless of what temporary energy boost lied (lay)beneath them.”

 The Whole Fracking Enchilada
   Violating the bedrock, the atmosphere, and everything in between    by Sandra Steingraber 
     Published in the September/October 2010 http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/mag/issue/5825/> issue of
     /Orion/ magazine

I HAVE COME to believe that extracting natural gas from shale using the
newish technique called hydrofracking is /the/ environmental issue of
our time. And I think you should, too.

Saying so represents two points of departure for me. One: I primarily
study toxic chemicals, not energy issues. I have, heretofore, ceded that
topic to others, such as Bill McKibben, with whom I share this column
space in /Orion/.

Two: I’m on record averring that I never tell people what to do. If you
are a mother who wants to lead the charge against vinyl shower curtains,
then you should. If the most important thing to you is organic golf
courses, then they are. So said I. Read more of this post

CBS News Sept. 4, 2010

Sept. 4, 2010.
A Burning Debate Over Natural Gas Drilling
Chemicals That Energy Companies Secretly Use in a Process Dubbed “Fracking” Are Fueling Concerns About Our Water Supplies
(CBS)  The natural gas-producing shale that lies under 34 states is now being seen as a game-changer in helping meet the nation’s energy needs for decades to come. But the process of extracting that natural gas, dubbed “fracking,” is fueling environmental fears. CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian has more:

“You can’t live like this – it’s so stressful every single day………”

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/09/04/eveningnews/main6835996.shtml?tag=contentBody;featuredPost-PE

Siegel & Ingraffea. SUNY Cortland, Feb. 20, 2011

 Don Siegel (SU) and Tony Ingraffea (Cornell).  Sunday. February 20th, 2-4pm  – place tba

PBS/ProPublica TV report on Hydrofracking

The price of gas: A Need to Know investigation

Hydraulic fracturing — or fracking — is a process used by energy companies to get natural gas out of the ground. Fracking involves forcing water, sand and chemicals underground to fracture rocks and release the natural gas trapped within them.

But what happens to those chemicals once they’ve been injected into the ground? That depends upon whom you ask. In a joint effort with ProPublica, the non-profit investigative journalist organization, we sent correspondent John Larson to Wyoming, where some residents believe fracking is contaminating their water and risking their health.

Gas Industry Strategy Revealed in Confidential Document

Pittsburg City Paper Aug. 19, 2010 LINK

Shale Game
BY CHRIS POTTER

Somewhere beneath our feet — Pennsylvanians are told — lies a mile-deep layer of rock known as the Marcellus Shale, which contains more natural gas than Saudi Arabia has oil. And natural-gas companies are lining up to drill it all around the state.

Lately, though, they seem to be doing most of their prospecting in Harrisburg.

City Paper has acquired a document — titled “A Holistic Solution to Modernizing Pennsylvania Policies Impacting Marcellus Shale Development” — currently being circulated in Harrisburg. Credited to the Marcellus Shale Coalition, a trade group representing drillers, the proposed “solution” is a wide-ranging wish-list of industry priorities. Among its requests, for example, is that legislators “encourage” state and local governments to convert their vehicle fleets to natural gas.

The document — which is marked “DRAFT CONFIDENTIAL” — asserts that the coalition is “committed to participating in an honest, open dialogue.” But it includes positions the coalition has, at least in public, offered few specifics on. Among them:

— The coalition urges legislators to “oppose statutory and regulatory proposals that are not logically or scientifically based, or that would otherwise jeopardize capital investment with little or no benefit to the environment or consumers.”

— The coalition also asks legislators to “reinforce … the current preemption language” in state law, which bars local officials from passing their own environmental regulations. It also seeks to ensure that drilling is permitted “in all zoning districts.” (Since shale drilling can take place a mile below ground and a mile from the “well-head” visible on the surface, however, it’s possible this exemption would only apply to below-ground operations.)

— The coalition, which has long argued against imposing a “severance tax” on the value of gas drilled, will accept one — sort of. Gov. Ed Rendell has proposed a tax of 5 percent on the value of the gas; the coalition accepts that rate — but only after the well has been in operation for five years. Until that time, it urges charging only 1.5 percent on the value of the gas.

The coalition largely declined to comment on the document, and did not respond to a list of e-mailed questions. Instead, coalition president Kathryn Klaber issued a statement asserting the coalition is “fully committed to crafting commonsense legislative and regulatory policies.” Those policies, Klaber adds, “will help ensure that Marcellus development remains competitive with other shale gas-producing states,” which will ensure “that the economic and environmental benefits associated with responsible Marcellus Shale gas production reach all Pennsylvanians.”

“If this is a strategy for the industry, it’s unconscionable,” counters Pittsburgh City Councilor Patrick Dowd after reviewing the document. Read more of this post

Capitol Pressroom Series on Fracking

Series Covering Various Impacts of Hydrofracking on the local infrastructure, economy, scientific will be presented every Friday for 13 weeks. All programs are archived for listening at any time. http://thecapitolpressroom.org.

• Part 1. Hydrofracking – What are the Financial Aspects? Posted on August 13, 2010   The EPA Hearing that was postponed until further notice was to be centered around the discussion of Water Quality and Safety in respects to Hydrofracking. Today’s edition of “The Capitol Pressroom,” we had Brian Nearing, Science and Environment Reporter from the Albany Times Union, and David Wethe, Energy Reporter for Bloomberg Business News from Houston, Texas, to talk about the financial aspect of Hydrofracking.
• Part 2 In the 2nd installment of our series on gas drilling in New York, we explore the issues that will face towns and villages when “gas culture” clashes with “upstate NY culture”. Those are the words of Elmira-based attorney Chris Denton, one of our guests today. He will be joined by the Supervisor of the Town of Preston, Pete Flanagan, and the Supervisor of the Town of Caroline, Don Barber. Plus, Jannette Barth, Ph.D, joins us. Currently the principal of J.M. Barth & Associates, Inc., Barth is the former Chief Economist for the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority. With her help, we will weigh the real economic demands and benefits of gas drilling on local towns and tax payers.
• Part 3  Where do you go to find the most balanced and scientifically accurate information about horizontal, high water pressure hydrofracking in the Marcellus Shale? How do you determine which science is the most sound? Well, today we spoke with Bob Williams of Barnes-Williams Environmental Services BWES and Tony R. Ingraffea, Ph.D to figure that out. If you didn’t hear what Bob and Tony had to say, then please checkout our podcast of today’s show.
• Stan Scobie & Brad Vickers on The Capitol Press room 11AM-12 PM Binghamton 91.5, Ithaca 88.1 8PM on WRVO 90.5 (Cortland) 89.9 (Syracuse/Oswego)  Podcast later.

No Frack! Is Andrew Cuomo listening? By Cris McConkey, on August 20th, 2010% no-fack-is=cuomo-listening http://shaleshockmedia.org/wp-admin/media-upload.php?post_id=80&type=image&TB_iframe=1Thursday, August 19, 2009. Gubernatorial candidate Andrew Cuomo visits Ithaca Aug. 19, 2010

No Frack! Is Andrew Cuomo listening?