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Marcellus Shale: An Environmental Disaster In The Making

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  • I find it very interesting that the EPA wants to be hands off on this hydro-fracturing waste in NY - but at the same time wants to strong-arm NY into tighter regulations on pollution via runoff that makes its way into the Susquehanna River (Chesapeake Bay watershed).

    Not only would I think that the EPA would want to be very hands-on ... I would think that everyone between NY and the Chesapeake Bay, including those surrounding the bay, would want to be overseeing this. Ultimately, any waste that makes its way back above ground is sent to treatment facilities - typically located right on the river.

    Comment


    • Originally posted by thebluesman5748 View Post
      Taken from the New York Times today, 3/3/11
      Natural gas drilling companies have major exemptions from parts of at least seven of the 15 sweeping federal environmental laws that regulate most other heavy industries and that were written to protect air and drinking water from radioactive and hazardous chemicals.
      This seems like the most blatant, obvious red flag that could be waved.

      Why and how is this the case? Why would ANYONE be exempt from not polluting the two things most species NEED, air & water, to exist?

      Comment


      • Originally posted by sp_nyp View Post
        This seems like the most blatant, obvious red flag that could be waved.

        Why and how is this the case? Why would ANYONE be exempt from not polluting the two things most species NEED, air & water, to exist?


        Why indeed. Our government (both parties) have allowed industry to basically write their own regulations. Anyone reading into the facts of the BP spill would be surprised that it has only happened once, that we know of. It's all about the money. I expected this to change under the current administration, but I don't see that happening. The Times article may get more people interested as this is an environmental nightmare of epic proportions brewing. I find the argument that this makes us energy independent somewhat amusing as energy without clean water is not of much use. There is also no shortage of natural gas. With the EPA budget under attack, and the various interests trying to gut the Clean Air Act as well, these bring me back to the days of James Watt. Not good.
        “Once there were brook trout in the streams in the mountains. They smelled of moss in your hand. On their backs were vermiculate patterns that were maps of the world in its becoming. Maps and mazes. Of a thing which could not be put back. Not be made right again. In the deep glens where they lived all things were older than man and they hummed of mystery.”
        ― Cormac McCarthy

        Comment


        • Excerpts from today's article (3/3/11)

          Excerpts from today's article (3/3/11)



          “The industry was going to get what it wanted, and we were not supposed to stand in the way.”

          "More than a quarter century of efforts by some lawmakers and regulators to force the federal government to police the industry better have been thwarted, as E.P.A. studies have been repeatedly narrowed in scope, and important findings have been removed".

          "Asked why the letter about hydrofracking in the New York City watershed had been revised, an agency scientist who was involved in writing it offered a one-word explanation: “politics.”

          "An early draft of the study discussed potentially dangerous levels of contamination in hydrofracking fluids and mentioned “possible evidence” of contamination of an aquifer. The final version of the report excluded these points, concluding instead that hydrofracking “poses little or no threat to drinking water.”

          "Shortly after the study was released, an E.P.A. whistleblower said the agency had been strongly influenced by industry and political pressure. Agency leaders at the time stood by the study’s findings."

          “It was shameful,” Weston Wilson, the E.P.A. whistleblower, said in a recent interview about the study. He explained that five of the seven members of that study’s peer review panel were current or former employees of the oil and gas industry."

          "These topics were cut from the current study plan, even though E.P.A. officials have acknowledged that sewage treatment plants are not able to treat drilling waste fully before it is discharged into rivers, sometimes just miles upstream from drinking water intake plants."

          "In interviews, several agency scientists and consultants, who declined to be named for fear of reprisals, said the study was narrowed because of pressure from industry and its allies in Congress, as well as budget and time constraints."

          " The stakes are particularly high in Pennsylvania, where gas drilling is expanding quickly, and where E.P.A. officials say drilling waste is being discharged with inadequate treatment into rivers that provide drinking water to more than 16 million people."

          And the hits just keep on comin.......

          Comment


          • Earth Day... April 22, 1970

            How many of you remember this.......?

            Hawk... can't believe I found this. I could have sworn he was on a horse...

            Earth Day, the annual day of environmental action and awareness, was first held on April 22, 1970. This past April 22nd, we finally ventured into the woods b...

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            • In NYC yesterday, downtown, there were young people trying to get signatures to ban Fracking in NYS. The group was working for an organization called Save NY's Drinking Water. If anyone is interested in helping out I can get the organizations exact name and probably a link.



              However the DEC has come out in "favor" (with limits) of Fracking in their review report but Cuomo would still have to approve and what is a watershed of NYC and Rochester is gray to say the least:


              A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they never shall sit in

              Comment


              • Terry the Friendly Fracosaurus … a 24 page children's coloring book put out by Calgary based Talisman to spread the good news about "clean" natural gas (which is only slightly dirtier than coal).


                The best, the most successful adventurer, is the one having the most fun.

                Comment


                • DEC releases draft regulations....lots of pages long..
                  BTW... France bans fracking....mmmm

                  http://www.dec.ny.gov/press/77499.html

                  http://www.grist.org/list/2011-07-01...and-new-jersey
                  Last edited by chairrock; 10-18-2011, 11:20 AM.
                  Be careful, don't spread invasive species!!

                  When a dog runs at you,whistle for him.
                  Henry David Thoreau

                  CL50-#23

                  Comment


                  • Article from FingerLakes1.com

                    IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT FRACKING TO DO TO YOUR COMMUNITY?

                    Do you know what the direct impact of fracking will be on your family's health, your personal finances, the value of your real estate and your local community's ability to deliver services in the future? Hear the compelling story of what has happened to one family and their farm.

                    We're quickly moving toward the endgame on fracking In New York State. New Yorkers only have until December 12, 2011 to comment on the proposed regulations that will govern gas drilling using hydraulic fracturing In New York State. After that, unless we act together, we can expect drilling permits to be issued in early 2012 and drilling to start soon thereafter.

                    While many of you have followed the fracking issue with interest and concern, we're worried that you don't have enough understanding of how the commencement of drilling will directly affect you. So over the coming weeks we'll be sending you information about exactly how drilling can impact you, your family and your community. We'll also outline how to take action and tell the DEC what's wrong with their plan.

                    Today we would like to offer you the opportunity to learn from the first person account of Libby Foust. Libby is a resident of the Finger Lakes region of New York State. There is no question that what happened at Libby's farm in Bradford County PA is going to happen in the Finger Lakes, the Catskills and all over New York State. Here's her story:

                    Libby Foust "Our family farm is in Bradford County, Pa. Our farm was one of the first well sites chosen and is now one of hundreds, soon to be thousands.

                    When the folks in Pennsylvania first heard of the wells coming, they were excited. No one had ever experienced the drilling business, so there was nothing to fear. They had toiled their whole lives just to make ends meet, and maybe this was the road to a better life.

                    Then they came. Trucks by the hundreds, tankers, dump trucks, drilling rigs, fracking rigs. Five-acre drilling pads were bulldozed in the middle of farmers' best fields, million-gallon ponds were installed, roads were built, woods and fields were trenched and bulldozed for tie lines. Drilling rigs went up at an unbelievable rate. From one spot on our farm, I counted eight rigs. Then the generators started. You could hear them a half-mile away. Then the pumping stations - small, industrial sites with buildings and pipes sticking up out of the ground.

                    They put one of these at the end of our little dirt road. Now the woods are gone and the dirt road is a main thoroughfare. One entire field is a pumping station. When I first saw this, I cried. This industry is like a swarm of locusts, leaving destruction and a lasting impact on the environment.

                    But it goes much deeper than this. It creates greed and pits neighbor against neighbor, even dividing families. Back home, all rental properties now house gas people, as the landlords raised the rents so high that longtime tenants were forced to move. Every parking area is lined with pipes and equipment associated with the gas business. Roads have been destroyed and are barely passable. Motorists are being forced off the road by a steady stream of big rigs and trucks. People who are used to a few cars going by their house now have to endure 100 tractor-trailers a day. I went up to our well site and counted 80 tankers lined up so closely that you couldn't fit between them.

                    The gas companies do put on a good show. They have a nice booth at the fair. They buy bicycle helmets for the kids. They pay to have the walkways at the fairgrounds paved. They are always presenting a check for this and a check for that. Their pictures are always in the paper for doing good deeds. What a joke. That's Bradford County.

                    The Finger Lakes area has been blessed with so much natural beauty - the gorges, the lakes, the vineyards. We have so much to protect. We want our fields to be green so our children can walk through them. We need our water to be clean, not only for ourselves but for our livestock and marine life. If they start drilling, what's going to happen to the water in our lakes? What's going to happen if there is a drilling accident and people's homes start filling up with methane gas? Don't think it can happen? In northern Pennsylvania, it already has. I urge you to protect this area, its residents, its natural beauty and our way of life from the ravages of the gas industry."

                    Now is the time to act to protect your health, home and community.

                    The DEC is accepting comments to the regulations that they propose will govern gas drilling using hydraulic fracturing in New York State -- and there are many, many things wrong with these regulations including:

                    · No adequate assessment of the impact to local roads and bridges, the impact on rental prices or the impact on the environment

                    · No comprehensive, focused plan to analyze the cumulative impact of a full build out of gas wells

                    · Inadequate protection of drinking water

                    · No health assessment

                    Please take the following action:

                    · Plan to go to as many of the public hearings scheduled by the DEC as possible:
                    Dansville, NY - November 16
                    Binghamton, NY, November 17
                    Loch Sheldrake, NY, November 29
                    New York City, November 30

                    A huge public presence is especially important at these meetings.

                    · Forward this message to your friends, family and neighbors and ask them to pass it on.

                    · Use the Catskill Mountainkeeper website as a resource. Get educated, especially about the health issues and threats.

                    · Sign on to our petition; Join over 3200 people who have already signed asking Governor Cuomo and DEC Commissioner Martens to extend the comment period to 180 days so a thorough review can be done.

                    _________________________
                    "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." - M. Gandhi



                    Be careful, don't spread invasive species!!

                    When a dog runs at you,whistle for him.
                    Henry David Thoreau

                    CL50-#23

                    Comment


                    • Bump...

                      December 12 is the cutoff for comments on the latest DECs attempt to , who the hell know do what..\
                      Read and comment.....speak up
                      Be careful, don't spread invasive species!!

                      When a dog runs at you,whistle for him.
                      Henry David Thoreau

                      CL50-#23

                      Comment


                      • OK - we get it. Make your comments and thoughts known.

                        Beyond that - this is tiptoeing the line of being a politically minded thread - so far the info has been pretty good, so let's keep this on the 'informative' side of things and not the 'political persuasion' side.
                        “Death is the only wise advisor that we have. Whenever you feel, as you always do, that everything is going wrong and you're about to be annihilated, turn to your death and ask if that is so. Your death will tell you, 'I haven't touched you yet.” Carlos Castenada

                        Comment


                        • NYS DEC, after pressure from concerned groups ,extends comment period for 30 days until January 12....
                          It seems that many concerns are not being met by the draft regulations.

                          NYC and Syracuse watersheds are being recommended to be exempt from fracking...

                          Many are wondering why those watersheds are more important than their own wells...
                          Be careful, don't spread invasive species!!

                          When a dog runs at you,whistle for him.
                          Henry David Thoreau

                          CL50-#23

                          Comment


                          • shale drilling study



                            and


                            Be careful, don't spread invasive species!!

                            When a dog runs at you,whistle for him.
                            Henry David Thoreau

                            CL50-#23

                            Comment


                            • What will happen is that the powers that be will allow fracking. Its as simple as that. If DEC says they are ok with it there is no other agency in the state that could trump them on environmental issues. Legislators and the Executive will take the word of DEC as being the expert opinion on these matters. The 30 day extension is a bone thrown to appease those who complained the comment period was too short and nothing else. A charade, if you will.

                              What can anyone do thats actually constructive? Watch. See what these folks are doing. Educate yourself on what will be allowed under the law and what won't. Document. If you feel that operators are working outside the established regulatory framework take pictures, ask questions, inform the media. Be a well respected advocate for the quality of life in the community in which you reside, not a raving lunatic who alienates your local government by appearing to be a zealot. You catch a lot more flies with honey than you do with vinegar.

                              Lastly, if you are totally against the petrolium industry, walk the walk. Light your home with liquid parafin lanterns and beeswax candles. Produce your own electric with solar, wind, and water. Purchase an electric car to plug into your own electric source, or buy a bike, walk even. Until the demand for petro products decreases operators will do what they can to provide a supply. Its really that simple. High school economics.
                              Are you in possession of all of your marbles?

                              WAIT a min-u-ete! I am the only one who gets to say "one more time"!

                              Comment


                              • Latest article




                                Sen. Inhofe needs to produce his panel of experts...
                                “Once there were brook trout in the streams in the mountains. They smelled of moss in your hand. On their backs were vermiculate patterns that were maps of the world in its becoming. Maps and mazes. Of a thing which could not be put back. Not be made right again. In the deep glens where they lived all things were older than man and they hummed of mystery.”
                                ― Cormac McCarthy

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