Ulysses Town Board Gets Overwhelming Message Opposing Fracking In Town
Last night the Ulysses Town Board saw a presentation by Concerned Citizens Of Ulysses about a survey of residents on the subject of drilling for natural gas in our town. The meeting room was packed, with at least 50 people in attendance, in addition to the members of the Town Board.
The presentation given by Ken Zeserson, chair of the Town Planning Board and member of the Ulysses Gas Drilling Advisory Board, described natural gas drilling as a threat to social and economic health of the community. Zeserson spoke in favor of a principle of “Rational growth, but only if it doesn’t interfere with the environment we enjoy,” and encouraged members of the Town Board to act to stop drilling, saying, “It’s possible for little towns to stand up to hydrofracking, and say, ‘Not here. Not now. Not ever.’”
A cooperative effort by CCoG, UGDAB, and Back to Democracy had drafted a petition supporting a ban on drilling for natural gas using slickwater horizontal hydrofracturing to in our town. Robert Oswald reported the results of the petitioning effort, showing a broad base of opposition. “It’s not limited to any geographical part of the town, political party, age of gender,” Oswald said, and showed extensive statistics to back up that claim.
1,047 signatures from Ulysses residents are on the petition so far, and even more signatures from people who live in neighboring communities. Of those who were asked to sign the petition, 80 percent did, and only a small fraction of those who did not sign expressed support for natural gas drilling using hydrofracking. Those who signed the petition reflected the demographic characteristics of the town in general, rather than a skewed minority of our population. Farmers and students, rural landowners and residents of Trumansburg alike signed the petition.
After the presentation of the petition was over, Supervisor Roxanne Marino remarked, “It’s the most professional petition I’ve seen, that’s for sure.”
A zoning amendment was then proposed. The amendment does not attempt to ban fracking by name, but would have the effect of banning fracking by prohibiting “high impact industrial uses”, defined as activities that have four or more impacts, such as truck traffic, use of explosives, and high water use. Agricultural activities would not be banned by the amendment. In order to prevent lawsuits against the Town of Ulysses by a proxy for a drilling company, the proposed zoning amendment contains a provision that would require an “administrative remedy” to be fully pursued before a lawsuit could begin.
Members of the Board asked specific questions about the proposed amendment, and expressed an eagerness to look the amendment’s specific language. Board member Liz Thomas suggested that a larger public forum on the matter ought to be held. “It may be that we’ll want to have an informational session for the public that’s larger,” she said.
In addition to three speakers from CCoU and the Ulysses Gas Drilling Advisory Board, 19 residents rose to speak in favor of the proposed zoning amendment. Only one resident spoke against the measure.
Marty Petrovic, Mayor of Trumansburg, spoke in favor of the proposed amendment, though not in his capacity as mayor. He explained that the Village Board of Trustees has already passed a resolution stating that Trumansburg will not provide water for use in fracking by drilling companies. “I can’t think of anything that would more ruin the life, health and welfare of our community than hyrdrofracking,” he said.
Biologist Sandra Steingraber talked about her research on the health impact of fracking, and also discussed impact on the more general quality of life in the town of Ulysses, saying, “All those thousands of truck trips to each well will fill our roads with trucks. That’s a certainty.”
Resident Tree Cook talked about her concerns about the likely impact of drilling for natural gas on income through tourism. “I’m a small business owner, and a lot of my customers are tourists,” she commented. “People will not come here when we have this type of industrial landscape.”
Veterinarian Michelle Bamberger explained her work with farmers in Pennsylvania whose animals had been poisoned by chemicals related to hydrofracking, and said to the Board, “I hope that you’ll stand up and do the right thing here, not just for the community, but for other communities across the country.”
County legislator Jim Dennis joined those expressing support for a move by the Town to prevent fracking here. A representative of the West Shore Homeowners Association also came forward in support of the zoning amendment.
This is tremendous work. I hope the Town of Ulysses Board takes the only responsible action. They can be sure there will be plenty of public support for protecting water, infrastructure, air quality, food sources, tourism dollars, property values, and the peaceful way of life enjoyed by Ulysses residents and all residents of this spectacularly beautiful and water-blessed area.
There are many reasons to be very concerned about the process of hydraulic fracturing to produce natural gas. These reasons include concerns about human health, infant mortality, memory loss and related diseases, neurotoxic poisoning, environmental damage that may be permanent, devaluation of real property and the subsequent effects on county tax revenues, disruption of quality of life, extensive road and surface damage and numerous other concerns that cost us a lot of agony and money for teh financial profits of the oil and gas industry and their investors who are isolated from the direct effects of their actions.
Just this morning, a natural gas explosion in Allentown, Pennsylvania wiped out numerous homes, damaged others many blocks away and killed at least three people (at least two are still unaccounted for) in the latest such tragedy related to natural gas. Last year, the same thing in San Bruno, California killed 8 people, and other such stories have been widely reported by local and national media. here is a link to the Allentown story on CNN On-line: http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/02/10/pennsylvania.explosion/index.html?hpt=T2.
The largest domestic natural gas drilling boom in history is sweeping across the United States. This new source of gas offers the promise of helping wean the United States off of coal and oil. But, as with ALL fossil fuels, the available supply is diminishing and it is nothing more than a “bridge” fuel between where we are now and clean, sustainable, renewable fuel sources to provide the energy we need for our daily lives.
However, the natural gas industry has secured exemptions from federal law, including the Safe Drinking Water Act, Clean Air Act and many other federal regulations designed to protect our health, and is not required to disclose what toxic chemicals it is injecting into the ground, often near drinking water sources. Some unscrupulous operators have left a legacy of pollution and damage, and no states are prepared to properly regulate this gas boom or respond to emergencies resulting from accidents, spills or water source contamination.
I urge you to support the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals (FRAC) Act because it would subject natural gas production to the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. This is a critical step toward protecting our communities and our environment. Contact yout US Senators and US Representative demanding that THEY support the FRAC Act.
I also urge repeal of ALL exemptions from federal environmental laws that were granted in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, and return protection of our air, water, soil and health to the roles of elected officials, environmental agencies and others whose responsibility it is to protect us from harmful business practices that threaten our very existence.
I urge you to consider these unchallengable facts:
(1) The world lived for 200-400,000 years without oil and gas production until around 1860;
(2) Clean air and clean water are essential for the existence of 100% of ALL living things on this planet;
(3) Of all the water on earth only 3% is fresh water and only 0.03% is surface fresh water;
(4) Hydraulic fracturing uses between 1 and 9 million gallons of fresh water for every frac job (and some wells are frac’ed as many as 18-20 times during their life cycle) that can never again be used by mankind, animals or plants due to the toxic, neurotixic and carcinogenic nature of its pollution;
(5) MANY major US cities are facing potential critical shortages of fresh water supplies between now and 2025, and many more are having to ration water during drought periods because of a lack of available fresh water;
(6) There is NO substitute for clean, fresh water, and none will be found – our bodies are composed 70% of water;
(7) Hydraulic fracturing is estimated to use between 50 and 500 BILLION gallons of fresh water PER YEAR by 2012;
(8) We, The People of the United States of America, have an absolute right to know what is being put into our water and how our water is being used by for-profit corporations who take our natural resources for their own use without considering the consequences upon us all.
Your very own children, grandchildren and great grandchildren WILL suffer immensely, and many of them WILL die an early death, from illnesses and diseases caused by the injection of toxic, neurotoxic and carcinogenic chemicals into our ground, especially in the near vicinity of water tables and aquifers.
It is time to stop supporting pollution and start supporting your own family members by supporting the FRAC Act and demanding that those who use hydraulic fracturing to produce natural gas do so in a way that is not damaging to the environment.
We only have one environment – when we destroy it, then we become extinct as a species. Not a single person can survive without clean water and clean air! That includes YOU and YOUR FAMILY!
If protecting the air, water and soil that are essential for the survival of you, your family, friends, neighbors and every living thing on this planet is important to you, then I urge you to get off the sidelines, educate yourselves about the TRUE facts of natural gas production and get involved in the fight against this insidious industry that destroys everything in its path in pursuit of corporate profits and shareholder equity.
Please add my name (and my husband’s) to whatever petitions ban fracking or ban
processes that could be necessary for fracking.
Barbara LeGendre, Robert Meade
9669 Rt. 89
Trumansburg 14886
You can find the petition at BackToDemocracy.org.
Certainly an impressive showing and hard to argue with the facts. One question: is anyone really making a serious argument in favor of allowing this process/technology in our town?