UPDATES ON HYDROFRACKING

What You Can Do:

Here are three actions you can take:

SIGN a petition that will be delivered to our state legislature and governor - "Ban hydrofracking in the Finger Lakes watershed":

SIGN a petition that will be delivered to our state senate and
governor - "NYS Senators: Bring bill A07400 to suspend hydraulic fracturing for vote

Submit comments by 12/12 on the SGEIS and proposed fracking regulations for NY State: Detailed information, comment letter templates, and complete instructions, are here: and here:

THANK YOU!

Hilary Lambert

Steward, Cayuga Lake Watershed Network

Just in - Canandaigua Lake Watershed Association votes to oppose 'fracking (Nov 8, 2011)

ALSO SEE SIERRA CLUB'S ACTION LIST AND SENECA LAKE PURE WATERS ASSOCIATION'S WORK

Hilary Lambert, CLWN steward, comments on proposed LPG gas storage Nov. 14, 2011

Upcoming Events:

The Seneca Lake Pure Waters Association Marcellus Shale Committee is already hard at work poring over the dSGEIS 1537-page document. While there have been significant improvements made to the first draft, we expect to offer additional constructive comments to provide further protections for our lake and watershed. You can follow progress our Committee's work

Recent Journal Articles:

Physics Today - July 2011 "Shale-gas extraction faces growing public and regulatory challenges"

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Recent Newspaper articles:

The Hill -Mar 1, 2011

Wastewater No Cure-All in Gas Process Mar 1, 2011 article #2 New York Times

A top House Democrat is urging EPA to quickly toughen regulation of natural gas drilling following a report New York Times Feb 27, 2011 on the discharge of dangerous pollutants into rivers that supply drinking water. Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) sent EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson a detailed letter calling for “immediate action.”

“I am outraged that state and federal regulators were evidently well aware of the risks that the wastewater might pose, but instead chose to adopt a ‘see no evil, hear no evil’ approach to regulation by ignoring them,” writes Markey, the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee.

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Protest Hydrofracking Albany occurred April 11, 2011

From the Sierra Club:

Fracking moblizes uranium in groundwater

Fracking is literally a 'dirty bomb'

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Movies:

Gasland

Split estate

Documentary on Hydrofracking on HBO. Includes health issues. Another shows methane fires in people's sinks as they turn on the water in the presence of a flame!!

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Sites and Documents:

Eight Questions you should ask about hydrofracking.

Protest organization

marcellus-shale.us

fractracker.org

The Oil and Gas Accountability Project, Earthworks

The Natural Resource Defense Council The Natural Resource Defense Council. Amy Mall at the NRDC is a good contact and is willing to help out through emails and phone conversations.

The Endocrine Disruption Exchange This is Theo Colborn's site. Theo has done a lot of research on the health impacts
of fracking chemicals.
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Blogs and google groups:

Dish and fracking The blog of Calvin Tillman, Mayor of Dish, Texas.(Calvin has been fighting hydraulic fracking in his town of Dish for several years. He is very willing to come and speak at Marcellus events

Google groups: pittsburghmarcellus, susquehannacogasforum, heard of cats, marcellus protest discussion group, citizens concerned about natural gas drilling

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Past Local events:

Link to EPA mini-hearings on hydrofracking in Binghamton Sept 13 and 15, 2010.

"Chemical Signatures of Contamination from Shale Gas Wells: Baseline Monitoring to Protect Water Resources."
CSI Volunteer Symposium, Tompkins County Human Services Building, 320 West State Street, Ithaca, NY
Tuesday, February 15, 5:40 - 8:00 PMA Watershed Academy Webcast on "Nitrogen and Phosphorus Pollution and Harmful Algal Blooms in Lakes” on Jan. 26th at 1-3pm. This webcast will highlight an emerging issue of nutrient enrichment leading to harmful algal blooms in lakes.

Three Ithaca area gas drilling events "The Marcellus Shale Science and Technology" Thur Feb 2, 4:30-6:15pm 120 Physical Science Bldg Cornell; "A Framework for assessing water resource impacts from shale gas drilling" Dr. Riha, Feb 4 Corson_Mudd Bldg, Cornell (More info: 607-255-1269);

NYS Assembly Passes Temporary Moratorium bill on hydrofracking. In an historic vote, the New York State Assembly enacted a temporary ban on hydraulic fracturing which will remain in effect until May 15, 2011.

Seneca Lake Pure Waters Association meeting Aug 18 6-9pm. at Harbor Hotel, Watkins Glen

Following dinner (6:30pm) and business meeting (7:30pm), Dr. Ron Bishop and Dr. Adam Law will speak (at 8pm) about gas etxraction from shales, and the potential health effects of natural gas drilling respectively. RSVP for business meeting and presentations only SLPWA@senecalake.org - follow next link for dinner ticket information.

EPA POSTPONES SYRACUSE MEETING ON HYDRAULIC FRACTURING STUDY, NEW DATES COMING SOON

NEW YORK, NY - After months of work organizing the New York Hydraulic Fracturing public meetings, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced that the Syracuse meeting, originally scheduled for Thursday, August 12th at the Oncenter Complex Convention Center, has been cancelled. The Agency now intends to hold a new public meeting on the study in upstate New York in September and will announce the location as soon as it is confirmed.

EPA was forced to cancel this meeting following a conversation with the Onondaga County Executive's office, during which they expressed concerns about the ability to complete preparations for the meeting on such short notice. The last minute change to Syracuse was caused by Binghamton University taking several actions to dissuade EPA from holding the meetings at their campus including increasing the cost from $6,000 to almost $40,000. The Agency also reached out to Broome County officials in Binghamton to hold the meeting at the Arena and they pulled out of negotiations with EPA. The Agency searched a 40 mile radius from Corning to Ithaca to Cortland to
Oneonta but no options were available for Thursday. Onondaga County officials did not feel they could arrange the necessary security for the potential protests and rallies outside the meeting itself, and EPA respects and understands their decision.

From the beginning, EPA has been committed to ensuring that the public has an opportunity to express their opinions on the study. There are serious concerns about whether the process of hydraulic fracturing impacts drinking water, human health and the environment. To address those concerns and strengthen our clean energy future, EPA announced in March that it will
study the potential adverse impact that hydraulic fracturing may have on drinking water and would be seeking input from people across the country. EPA has held had three successful meetings in Fort Worth, Texas, Denver, Colorado and Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, where more than 1200 participants attended, and the Agency is committed to holding a similar meeting in upstate New York.

All Fracked Up the movie - at a location near you

Comments on dsGEIS The Cayuga Lake Watershed Network writes to the Bureau of Oil & Gas Regulation to highlight the threats to our watershed if hydrofracking in the Marcellus Shale is allowed to go forward. See also Wine Spectator article (May 14). And letter from Council of Scientific Society Presidents (May 21).