‘Firestorm’ in the valley?

UDC statement ignites private property rights proponent

By SANDY LONG

NARROWSBURG, NY — The Upper Delaware Council staff call it an “incompatible use,” while one private-property rights advocate says it is the “American dream.” At issue is the increasingly contentious issue of natural gas extraction in the Upper Delaware region, as competing interests stake their claims.

In response to a statement printed in the spring/summer 2009 newsletter published by the Upper Delaware Council (UDC), Noel van Swol, co-founder and president of the Sullivan-Delaware Property Owners Association (SDPOA), attended the UDC’s May 7 meeting, where he read a statement addressing the council during its public comment session.

Describing his organization, van Swol said, “We represent 70,000 acres of property in the region, for which we are attempting to negotiate a decent lease to exploit the Marcellus Shale.”

The newsletter statement found objectionable by van Swol reads, “We believe that natural gas exploration activities, at the scale being proposed, would constitute an incompatible use anywhere in the river corridor.” It originally appeared in the UDC’s staff comments to the New York Department of Environmental Conservation in response to its Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement on the Oil, Gas and Solution Mining Regulatory Program.

The Long Eddy resident told the council that declaring gas drilling an incompatible use “has the potential to create a firestorm.” He added, “The UDC is an advisory body only. It and the NPS have no authority over private lands. If the UDC and/or the NPS were to shut down the possibility of natural gas exploration in the region, it would be, under the law, a taking. If such property rights were taken without compensation, that would be nationalization of the type done in Venezuela and communist states like the former Soviet Union,” he said.

Van Swol then asked the UDC, “If it were declared an incompatible use, does the UDC or the NPS wish to face myriad lawsuits through outfits like the Center for Law and Justice, and adverse national publicity on Fox News and other outlets?”

He continued, “I’m saying these things just to remind you that private property rights are paramount here. I’m urging everybody to work together with the property owners to create leases and state regulations that will allow us to responsibly develop this fabulous resource while protecting the environment. This is the American dream.”

Following these remarks, van Swol offered to meet with the council. “Compromise, not confrontation, is the way to go,” he said. “I know that you are reasonable people. I have a feeling that perhaps the comment in the newsletter was something that was not well thought out.”

On the contrary, the UDC has been wrestling with this issue for some time now.

Last year, members of Damascus Citizens for Sustainability, which opposes drilling, asked the UDC to take a stand against the activity and to call for a moratorium on drilling. Recently, Marion Schweighofer of the Northern Wayne Property Owners Alliance, representing 80,000 acres, and David Jones of Kittatinny Canoes made the UDC aware of their interests in seeing responsible gas extraction in the region.

Poised in the middle, between equally impassioned parties with opposing interests, the UDC is currently developing its formal position statement on natural gas extraction. The organization meets monthly on the first Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at 211 Bridge Street in Narrowsburg. Visit www.upperdelawarecouncil.org or call 845/252-3022 for more information. All meetings are open to the public.