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Gas rallies stoke Albany
Opponents, supporters and politicians weigh in
By SANDY LONG
ALBANY, NY — Residents of New York and Pennsylvania, along with various environmental and community groups, rallied at the New York State Capitol in Albany on January 25 to raise awareness of the multi-faceted issues related to the natural gas exploration coming to both states. Participants also lobbied state legislators and Governor David Paterson.
Those in support of drilling focused on the economic benefits associated with the activity, citing the influx of income, jobs and the opportunity to save struggling farms from development. Those opposed to the activity targeted the protection of drinking water and called upon the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to withdraw its Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS) to include evaluation of the cumulative impacts of drilling and more.
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| TRR photo by Sandy Long | |
| Anti-drilling activists marched through the New York State Capitol concourse during a rally targeting natural gas on January 25 waving signs and shouting, “Statewide Ban,” and “Hey, hey! Ho Ho! Hydrofracking’s got to go!”
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| Contributed photo by Herons Eye Communications | |
| New York state senator Tom Duane, center, and Wes Gillingham, right, of Catskill Mountainkeeper, addressed an impassioned crowd during the rally. “The concerns on both sides of the river are the same, that fracking is potentially incredibly dangerous to our water supplies. Until and unless it’s completely safe, we have to ban it in New York State,” said Duane. “I have introduced legislation that would ban it near anyone’s drinking water. We cannot let this become an upstate-downstate divisive issue. No matter where anyone lives, we’re sticking together and we are not going to let fracking ruin our drinking water. Not just NYC’s but everyone’s drinking water is sacred. Water is one of New York State’s best natural resources and to do anything to harm it is an irreversible tragedy.”
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| TRR photo by Sandy Long | |
| Proponents of natural gas development also rallied and met with legislators. From left, Dave Jones, member of Northern Wayne Property Owners Alliance; Noel van Swol, founder of Sullivan-Delaware Property Owners Association (SDPOA); Inge Grafe-Kieklak and Edward Allees, members of SDPOA, show their support. Jones said, “Not only can we have clean water and a beautiful area, but prosperity, jobs, tax revenue and clean fuel for cars and trucks. This is going to happen. If the gas is under us, it will be harvested. It’s too valuable.” Van Swol added, “Our members want a good lease that will protect them and the environment. They want decent bonus money up front and a good royalty. People know that they’re standing on a treasure. Two years ago, the companies could come along and take advantage of people because no one knew what we had. In the end, we’re going to win. We will get this approved and we will get a compromise with respect to the new regulations of the DEC that w
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| TRR photo by Sandy Long | |
| Senator John Bonacic: “Natural gas is clean energy, makes us less dependent on foreign oil, brings economic vitality and preserves property rights. Those opposed to it say that when you contaminate the water, it’s irreparable and you can never correct it. You have to be extremely careful when it comes to water, our most important natural resource, and we shouldn’t go there until we have all the facts. There’s nothing in the regulations that would cover the issue of damage to the water. We’ve put legislation in to make an energy company have to bond any damage to any water supply of any neighbor or municipality. I’ve asked Peter Grannis [New York Department of Environmental Conservation commissioner] to delay the environmental impact statement. He claims that there have been over 20,000 wells that have been drilled over the last decade or two, and the harm to the environment was insignificant, but that was not hydrofracking. This is a totally different process. I’m nervous that the governor has already built in a revenue enhancer in this year’s budget. You don’t want to poison the process. It should not be driven by anticipated revenues from the energy companies. We have to be slow, we have to be deliberate, we have to try to balance these things in the protection of the environment.”
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| TRR photo by Sandy Long | |
| Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther: “I have heard a lot of concerns from my constituents about water usage, air quality and contamination. For years, we’ve lived under restrictions in Sullivan County and all over the state of New York in order to protect one of our natural resources, which is water. I want to see everybody work together on this issue. What we do will determine the future for generations to come. On the other side of the equation, I listen to farmers who are suffering. Farming and agriculture have been in such a slump and I understand that part of the equation. But we haven’t studied the cumulative effects; I don’t think we’ve given it enough time. I know people are in a rush, but sometimes, if we rush, we don’t do due diligence. I think it’s time we sit back, take a breath and do the right thing. The SGEIS is not sufficient. I think you have to look at cumulative effects. There’s really no process in place that would accommodate the amount of leases proposed in the tri-state area. We’re not only working as New York State, we’re working together with other states. Let’s slow down. There’s a lot of work to do.”
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