Two Tusten moratoriums

Seismic testing and outdoor furnaces

By FRITZ MAYER

NARROWSBURG, NY — The Tusten Town Board unanimously voted to impose moratoriums on two separate matters after public hearings on September 29.

One moratorium was a six-month halt on seismic testing, which is done to help gas companies determine the best places to drill for natural gas.

Vehicles known as thumper trucks or shaker trucks perform the tests by sending shock waves into the ground and measuring the waves as some of them bounce back from underground formations. Typically, the tests are performed on road surfaces.

Tusten supervisor Ben Johnson said that a representative from a seismic testing company had inquired about testing in the town, and was concerned about the location of the pipes for the Narrowsburg water district.

The moratorium will give the town board time to study various issues. Not only are the integrity of the water district, roads and building foundations of concern, but there are also questions about who owns the information being collected by the seismic testers.

Tusten property owners own the land under some of the town roads and the town has easements to maintain the roads. There is a question as to whether property owners should be compensated for information collected below ground on land they own.

On a separate matter, the board also voted for a three-month moratorium on the installation of outdoor furnaces that burn either wood or coal. The moratorium does not affect the whole town, but is limited to the Flats, the downtown area and the commercial area by Pecks Market.

The moratorium was suggested by code enforcement officer Dave Sparling, who said that many outdoor furnaces, especially older ones, spew particulate matter into the air that is 10 times greater than the particulate matter created by woodstoves with catalytic converters.

Glenn Halloran, a farmer who also sells outdoor furnaces, said that there were new furnaces available that, when installed according to manufacturers’ specifications, are very clean and would pose no health or safety threat to neighbors.

Johnson and Sparling agreed that there are new outdoor furnaces that are clean and efficient, but Tusten has no regulations regarding outdoor furnaces at present and, thus, no way of ensuring that any that are installed would be the cleanest and safest available.

During the moratorium, the board will study the issue, look at regulations in place in the towns of Delaware and Neversink and come up with regulations for Tusten.