Local government comes up trumps

We live in a network of organizations that are, supposedly, designed to give us control over our personal and collective fates. And there’s nothing like a crisis to test which parts of that system work and which do not. The gas drilling rush, which threatens to change both our lives and our homes beyond recognition, has put this system to the test, and some parts of it—interestingly, those closest to us—have responded better than others.

Two weeks ago, we discussed the state regulatory agencies, which we would assign a “C” grade so far. Seemingly apologetics for the gas industry, they seem to be as fervent in supporting the benefits of gas drilling as they are in voicing concerns about the environment. Even if they had the will or a sense of objectivity, they lack the infrastructure to protect the latter against the former.

The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) has been unfortunately slow in responding to the gas-drilling onslaught, although recent indications that it intends to start enforcing the need for water-use permits in Pennsylvania is encouraging. And we are pleased to see Congressman Maurice Hinchey is on the ball (he’s the only representative on the federal level who has addressed the issue in a meaningful way), enjoining the DRBC to use its authority to ensure that gas drilling does not harm the watershed and environment in New York State. We hope to see a strong response from the DRBC, and a recognition that requiring permits is not enough; there needs to be strict conditions for granting those permits, and not just a rubber-stamp process.

Elected officials at the state level have been a mixed bag. Pennsylvania Senator Lisa Baker is the standout on the grounds of the letter she recently sent to the DEP, requesting both an increase in staffing to oversee the drilling and transparency with regard to the composition of fracking fluids. In contrast, New York State Senator John Bonacic, a stalwart on many other issues, has taken the tack that gas drilling is a great thing, by simple-mindedly admonishing potential lessors to be sure to negotiate a good deal. He has shown no interest in the potential impact of the drilling on the lessors’ neighbors, environment, or community, evincing a child-like trust in the regulators’ ability to take care of all that. New York State Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther, so far, gets an “incomplete;” she did cast a vote against a recent bill easing restrictions on drilling in the state, but her office’s elucidation of this vote to us—“needs more study”—is not yet indicative of a willingness to take strong stand.

Probably the most impressive performers in our system of safeguards have been those closest to us: town government officials. Because Pennsylvania is not, like New York, a home rule state, the options of local officials there are limited. But the towns on the eastern shore of the river have more options and they are exploring them. Town officials have been asking the right questions and taking the necessary broad and long-term perspective, worrying about issues like stress on infrastructure, emergency management and transportation of toxic materials. And Cochecton, Highland and Tusten have all proposed moratoriums on drilling, an extremely sensible first step with so much environmental, financial, legal and medical data to assess.

We realize that the gas drilling companies would most likely take a moratorium to court, and know that the attorney at the gas-drilling forum on June 27 told the towns they would lose. But without being constitutional lawyers, we can’t help wondering whether any law forbidding local moratoriums on matters that have such a huge impact as drilling are, in fact, constitutional in a home-rule state like New York. We wonder about provisions provided in the New York State Environmental Conservation Law.

And certainly, the expense of litigation is a concern. But, perhaps, the towns could group together to share costs on one test case. Help from groups like the National Resource Defense Council should be pursued, and we believe it would be beneficial for town officials to sit down and talk to groups, like the Upper Delaware Preservation Coalition and Communities Against Regional Interconnect, that have found ways to battle the power lines and NYRI in court.

It is, in some ways, heartwarming and, in others, alarming that our best defense currently seems to be our local officials—alarming because, of all the people who should be safeguarding us, they have the least power. Ironically, as we celebrated just last week, it is central to our democracy that power is supposed to come from the people. Our current struggles may prove to be an interesting case of the extent to which that is still true in our nation.

Dr. Punnybone

T-bird