Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy
Local officials who voted to impose municipal bans on hydraulic fracturing gathered in the state capitol in Albany on Monday, June 18 to call attention to the rapidly expanding “home rule” movement that is sweeping upstate New York.
“I don’t think that most people are aware of the full extent of this movement, or how quickly it is taking hold,” said Karen Edelstein, who keeps track of local anti-fracking ordinances and initiatives for FracTracker, an organization dedicated to collecting and sharing information related to shale gas drilling.
In a little over a year nearly 130 municipalities have used home rule to enact bans or moratoria that prohibit fracking in close to 4,500 square miles of New York State.
“The state constitution gives municipalities the authority to prohibit activities that threaten the health and welfare of residents, and we’d be derelict in our duty if we didn’t exercise this power to protect the public,” said Don Barber, supervisor of the Town of Caroline. He said his decision was motivated by health and safety considerations, and a concern that fracking would negatively impact property values and the municipal tax base.
Julie Huntsman, Otsego Town Board Member, says a fracking ban protects the local economy. “I represent a unique upstate town, Otsego, which has an economy heavily dependent on tourism and health care. High volume hydrofracking threatens this economy, as well as our environment, public health and animal health. For these reasons, I worked very hard for a ban,” Huntsman said.
The industry has tried to derail the municipal ban movement, so far without success. Two upstate towns–Middlefield and Dryden—were sued for enacting fracking prohibitions, but in both cases the fracking bans were upheld in court. Late last month Binghamton Mayor Matt Ryan was notified that the ban in his city is now being challenged in court. “The residents of Binghamton have the right to control their own destiny though ultimately we would like to see a statewide prohibition on fracking as what we’re doing is no substitute for statewide action,” said Ryan.
In all, more than a dozen local officials including Mayor Ryan, Supervisor Barber and Councilperson Huntsman participated in the press conference. They were joined by FracTracker’s Karen Edelstein and Robert Rosborough IV of the Albany law firm Whiteman Osterman & Hanna, a firm that has advised towns on their right to enact municipal ban and moratoria.
The press conference was sponsored by Sustainable Otsego, Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy and Otsego 2000.
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THIS IS &^%$ED UP!!! You will destroy the Beauty of Upstate New York and make it look like a Toxic Waste Lang. I hope we stop this Fracking now.
Fracking is an industrial operation. People who think that fracking will give money and jobs with little danger or damage, haven’t seen the real thing. Instead of there being a pastoral rural and farming area in one place, and industrial developments in some other place, fracking would take a HUGE industrial infrastructure – pipes, access roads, pumps, etc. and spread it out in rural areas changing their character completely. There are areas of Pennsylvania where the density of the fracking wells has fully transformed the environment, the ability for much of the wildlife to thrive, and the people’s way of life. New York State is NOT Pennsylvania, or West Virginia or Ohio or Wyoming or Oklahoma or Texas. We will not sell the out the beauty of our state for overestimated promises of jobs and money, and underestimated dangers.
These two previous commentators are absolutely right. The dangers here are enormous, because of the way that fracking companies make their profits. Unscrupulous companies buy up leasing rights and encourage speculative drilling, then passing the leases on at 500%-1000% profit to those who drill. The output of the wells can be minimal, so any promises of profits/percentages to the original owners may be worthless.
THe land is drilled, and contaminated in the process, and the companies move on when the well gives out, leaving what may be a poorly-engineered well at the mercy of natural forces which – for anybody who knows Upstate – include freezing, deep snows and frequent melts that result in torrential meltwaters. The cement/concrete that should protect the steel well-casing can easily crack, and then the trouble starts.
This leasing scam is exactly how the oil companies got their start. It’s the biggest land-grab in history. If you doubt my analysis, please read the great American reformer Upton Sinclair’s novel “OIL!” that describes JUST what’s happening to Upstate to a fictional California ficalled “Paradise.”
What happens to Paradise? It gets lost, of course.
I’m very grateful to all those in New York who are leading these protests, because I was born right on the shale, and the idea that the area might be turned into a wasteland is beyond a horror.
These two previous commentators are absolutely right. The dangers here are enormous, because of the way that fracking companies make their profits. Unscrupulous companies buy up leasing rights and encourage speculative drilling, then passing the leases on at 500%-1000% profit to those who drill. The output of the wells can be minimal, so any promises of profits/percentages to the original owners may be worthless.
The land is drilled, and contaminated in the process, and the companies move on when the well gives out, leaving what may be a poorly-engineered well at the mercy of natural forces which – for anybody who knows Upstate – include freezing, deep snows and frequent melts that result in torrential meltwaters. The cement/concrete that should protect the steel well-casing can easily crack, and then the trouble starts.
This leasing scam is exactly how the oil companies got their start. It’s the biggest land-grab in American history. If you doubt my analysis, please read the great American reformer Upton Sinclair’s novel “OIL!” that describes JUST what’s happening in Upstate at a fictional California region called “Paradise.”
What happens to Paradise? It gets lost, of course.
I’m very grateful to all those in New York who are leading these protests, because I was born right on the shale, and the idea that the area might be turned into a wasteland is beyond a horror.