Dryden confirms ban on hydraulic fracturing

DRYDEN — Applause erupted from most of the 50 or so residents in attendance when the town board unanimously voted to ban hydraulic fracturing in Dryden.

“I’m overjoyed (by the decision),” said resident Hilary Lambert, a member of the Dryden Resource Awareness Coalition, the group that gathered 1,700 residents’ signatures asking the board to ban hydraulic fracturing in town. “I’m hoping that the example set by the Town of Dryden will be paid attention to by other towns state-wide.”

By Tuesday night’s action, Dryden became the second town in Tompkins County after Ithaca to ban the gas drilling technique, and at meetings over the past several months, it appeared that at least three quarters of residents in attendance supported a ban. Ulysses, whose residents also circulated a petition asking for a ban, is widely expected to also vote into law its own drilling ban on Aug. 10.

Dryden Supervisor Mary Ann Sumner said that the heavy industry and pollution associated with hydraulic fracturing for naturalgas is at odds with the town’s comprehensive plan and many residents’ way of life.

“Sometimes we’re not able to do things that the majority wants, but this time we can,” she said.

The board’s decision, she said, was not a ban so much as a clarification of existing zoning, which “prohibits all uses which are not expressly permitted,” and does not permit extractive industry, she said.

“It removes any doubt that extractive activities are permitted,” said board member Jason Leifer, who co-authored the legislation.

In addition, the ban will be added only to the current zoning, not the proposed new zoning code that town officials have been working toward completing in coming months, though Leifer said they plan to add the ban to the proposed zoning as well. As with any legislation, board members said in the event that the town decides hydraulic fracturing has become safer, or if citizens elect a new town board, the ban can be overturned.

Sumner and each town board member explained their feelings on the vote, with all stating that they felt a ban was the only way to represent the electorate and keep their consciences clean.

While town officials have said previously that they could face legal action as a result of a blanket ban, Sumner said the recent Draft Generic Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement released by the state Department of Conservation regarding hydraulic fracturing proposes that drilling applications conform to local zoning, which she said reaffirms the town’s ban.

“It’s one more way of hearing from the state that local land use authority may be respected,” she said.

There were a few opponents in attendance, who were displeased by the board’s vote.

“The town board didn’t look at the economic risk of this,” said Henry Kramer, a resident and member of the newly created Dryden Safe Energy Coalition, which supports regulated gas drilling in the area. “They assumed power they didn’t have. This will not end here. There’s the possibility of an appeal, and litigation.”

Resident Ron Szymanski, who is opposed to a blanket ban on gas drilling, said he presented town board members with questions he wanted answered about how drilling would affect the town’s tax base and residents’ right to their mineral rights, and he hasn’t heard back.

“They said ‘we’ll get to it when we can,’ but that’s not acceptable,” he said.