The intensity of feelings that the prospect of natural gas drilling has raised is illustrated by the formation of a new branch of Earth First in our area. “No drilling! No compromise!” is the motto of Finger Lakes Earth First, which refers to its activities as a kind of “defense” of our local ecosystems.

From the logo used by Finger Lakes Earth First, it seems pretty clear that at least some of the group’s “defense” could include monkeywrenching – protest through sabotage.

With something as literally explosive as natural gas, monkeywrenching against natural gas drilling could become dangerous. What are the ethical considerations Earth Firsters ought to take into account in their anti-drilling activities in our area?

Families give support to other families here when it’s needed, and that’s especially important when children are in their first years of life, especially dependent on adults for their well-being. For mothers, a formal extension of our community’s support network can be found through La Leche League, an organization dedicated to supporting mothers as they breastfeed.

The La Leche League meets on the 3rd Thursday of every month at the Ulysses Philomathic Library, at 7:00 in the evening. Pregnant women and mothers of breastfeeding chilren are encouraged to attend.

For more information, call local leaders Wendy (387-6618) and Sue 387-5494, or visit the local La Leche League site.

“Dear Friends and Neighbors:

You may have heard about the prospect of drilling for natural gas in Tompkins County. In fact, you have a very good chance of living on or near land that has already been leased to gas companies since close to half of the County has already signed up.

Many of us heat our homes with natural gas because it is generally considered to be the “cleanest” fossil fuel available and will doubtlessly be a mainstay of the American energy generation system for the next several decades as we make the slow shift to more renewable and sensible sources. Is it ethically and morally defensible to heat your house with natural gas and fight to prevent companies from drilling in your neighbor’s adjacent fields?

You bet it is. It’s okay to be a NIMBY on this issue. There are trillions of cubic feet of natural gas beneath American soil. Currently natural gas prices are at multi-year lows because supply is so plentiful. We are NOT in a natural gas crisis in this country. There is no earthly reason to drill for natural gas in Tompkins County except greed. But we are inviting a health crisis in Tompkins county and other residential and agricultural areas where natural gas companies are gobbling up land leases if we don’t attempt to regulate natural gas drilling now!

WHY IS THIS A PROBLEM?
Halliburton and other energy companies have developed a means of siphoning natural gas from the Marcellus shale which lies under much of New York State and northeastern Pennsylvania with a technique called hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking). This involves drilling wells into the shale (six to eight thousand feet below the surface of the earth) and forcing a poisonous mixture of water and unknown chemicals under pressure into the holes to force out the gas. The wells are drilled vertically but can run horizontally for miles beneath our homes, our wells, our water supplies, our children…well you get the picture. What is so bad about fracking fluid? Nobody knows except Halliburton and other gas drillers because they claim the fluid they use is proprietary and patent protected. More than a 1000 documented incidents of water contamination have occurred in New Mexico, Ohio, Alabama and other places where fracking fluid has been inserted into the water supplies of local communities. Recent information from Texas which is riddled with hydrofracked wells suggests that the technique may precipitate earthquakes. People and animals have died as a result of exposure to hydrofracking fluid but the extent of the danger is unknown at the moment. And even when a drilling process is proceeding as it should, the activity involved in working each well involves delivery of millions of gallons of water weekly and constant and deafening drilling and pumping of fracking fluid as long as the well is active. Would you want one in your backyard or across the street? And where would natural gas companies get these untold millions of gallons of water? From OUR water supplies and Lake Cayuga itself.

AREN’T THERE FEDERAL AND LOCAL LAWS PROTECTING OUR WATER SUPPLIES?
Yes, the Safe Drinking Water Act is a Federal mandate designed to do just what its name implies, namely insure safe drinking water for Americans. But in 2005 working with a Bush administration friendly to their goals the natural gas industry succeeded in exempting hydrofracking operations from governance by the Safe Drinking Water Act. But wait! Just because the Federal government has abdicated its responsibility to protect our water supplies, what about our State and Local governments and agencies? Unfortunately after defanging the Federal mandate incredibly the gas industry was also successful in pushing through NY State Environmental Conservation Law Article 23 which in effect prevents local town and county governments from regulating gas drilling activity within their jurisdictions. And as for the DEC that presumably protects New York State citizens from activities hazardous to health and/or the environment…well, the DEC is the agency that hands out gas drilling permits to gas companies and in fact has opened up some State forests to this activity…so far.

SO WHAT CAN YOU DO?
Look into the mirror! It is up to each of us to get concerned, involved and active NOW if there is any hope at all of stemming this developing environmental tragedy. At this writing, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce is considering a bill that would repeal the exemption that gas drilling currently enjoys from the Safe Drinking Water Act. If you care about this problem, please write to the officials on this Committee and urge them to recommend the legislation for Congressional deliberation. And towards that end, please write to your New York State Congressional representations and our Senators and to the State DEC. Some sample letters and relevant addresses follow. Please help us win this battle for our families and the lifestyle we enjoy in what is currently a fairly placid rural environment. If hydrofracking is allowed in Tompkins County that will certainly change!

Thank you,

Ken Zeserson and Judy Abrams on behalf of
Concerned Citizens of Ulysses (CCU)

There are concerns about the impact this activity will have upon groundwater quality in the Town of Ulysses. Drilling for natural gas involves hydraulic fracturing, frequently referred to simply as “fracking”, in order to get a well started. Fracking requires the use of large amounts of fresh water, usually taken from local sources. Much of that water, contaminated by toxic chemicals, remains in the ground. The rest has to be recaptured and then disposed of as industrial waste.

Residents of Ulysses naturally have many questions about how these, and other heavy-impact aspects of natural gas drilling on their neighbors’ lands, will affect their lives. Tompkins Weekly has a good introductory article on the issue this week.

Shaleshock offers Drilling 101 for additional information.

Back to Democracy also offers a number of resources on drilling for natural gas.

The TCSDF is not the same thing as the Trumansburg Central School District. TCSDF does not administer the schools, but exists as a separate non-profit organization with the mission of supporting education in the Trumansburg Schools. Think of it as an educational boosters group. They offer grants to teachers and administrators and work through a New Technology Initiatives to support the best use of technology in the classrooms.

There is already an impressive collection of people behind the Trumansburg Central School District Foundation, but the group is by no means closed. The Foundation is looking for people to help them in their work, by volunteering, through donations, and by spreading the word about the work of the Foundation.

It’s now or never!THIS TUESDAY (1/15) is the deadline for submitting comments to NYS Parks about their proposed plans for the Black Diamond Trail. 

We are assured that ALL MESSAGES WILL BE READ by Parks officials. Then ALL substantive comments will be summarized in a report that must be considered before the Master Plan can be approved. This summary report will also be made available to the public.

This is your LAST CHANCE to get your opinions into that summary! You’re not writing to a black hole. Parks staff WILL read your letters.

Send letters to:Daniel.Davis@oprhp.state.ny.usThomas.Lyons@oprhp.state.ny.us AND we’d love to post your letter on our website to inform and inspire others to write, so if you’re willing, please cc:info@blackdiamondtrail.org with your letter.

WONDERING WHAT TO WRITE?  For example:

How do you hope to use the trail? Do you want snowmobiles and horses on the trail? Do you want the trail to be as narrow as possible? Do you live near a trail now, and if so, has it been a bonus or a headache for you? Do you want Parks to construct and repair all the bridges first so that we can walk the whole stretch as soon as possible?

A sample of the letters that have already been written in support of the Black Diamond Trail is available at the Black Diamond Trail web site.

“The Black Diamond Trail’s BIG MOMENT has arrived! NYState Office of Parks has announced PUBLIC HEARINGS on the adoption and implementation of the Master Plan for the trail. This is a MILESTONE. We’ve been waiting 30 years for this day. Please mark your calendars and make it a personal priority to show up for one of the hearings:Wed Dec. 5 in the Borg Warner Room of Tompkins County Public Library.Thurs Dec. 6 in the Franziska Racker Center cafeteria, 3226 Wilkins Road, Ithaca (Ulysses).Information Sessions: 5:30-6:45 p.m.Public Hearings: 7:00 p.m.The purpose of the INFORMATION SESSIONS is to offer an opportunity for the public to become more familiar with the Draft Master Plan/Draft Environmental Impact Statement.The purpose of the HEARINGS is to let the general public comment orally or in writing. Be sure to sign in for the 7:00 public hearings—that’s where your support will be registered.WHY SHOULD YOU ATTEND? Don’t assume there is no opposition to the trail. If supporters don’t turn out in large numbers, we risk having the trail put back on hold (it was first proposed 30 years ago!). Similar trail projects have been crushed by opponents. Supporters must attend these hearings in great numbers to make sure the Black Diamond Trail project moves forward.

To find out more about the effort to formally establish the Black Diamond Trail, visit the Black Diamond Trail web site

The Main Street Project has brought new life to T’burg’s
Main Street. The new sidewalks encourage walking and wagon
pulling. The wonderful new children’s park has become a
gathering place for all ages. The memory bricks bring a
sense of history and family to the village. We are so
fortunate to have a community where so many people worked so
hard to make the Main Street Project a reality.
Now we need to look to the next step – routine maintenance
and cleaning of the Main Street area.
This is an invitation to everyone who cares about T’burg
to think about signing up for a few hours one or two days a year to work
with a group of neighbors to pull the weeds between the
bricks, weed around the trees, and pick up trash.
Please consider joining this team! Call Karen Powers
(387-4058) or email her at kpower01@icsd.k12.ny.us with any
questions or to add your name to the Takin’Care of
T’burg list.
We will keep your time commitment to a minimum. We will set
up a master schedule so you will know dates and times and
the neighbors you will be working with.
We live in a great community and Takin’ Care of T’burg
will give us an opportunity to easily take care of our
community.

Please join us for our first work session – Saturday,
September 8 from 8-11 AM. Meet at the Kids’ Village next
to the bridge and stay for whatever length of time works for
you. Together we’ll be Takin’ Care of T’burg!

APOLOGIES– This event has been postponed… debate about the war in Iraq has made it impossible for Mike to leave the capitol.

The Honorable Michael Arcuri, U.S. House of Representatives
Friday, May 25, 2007, 639 Midline Rd., Freeville

4:30-6:30 pm

A fund-raiser and report-back event: Contributions to benefit the Tompkins County Democratic Committee

RSVP Irene Stein 266-7579 or make your check out to Tompkins County Democratic Committee and mail to:

101 Brandywine Drive, Ithaca, NY 14850

Directions from Ithaca to event:

Rt. 79 S to Slaterville Springs, left on Midline. Continue 2 mi. to fork. Look for paired mailboxes on left 637/639. Take right up driveway, take left fork to the top
The fundraiser is likely to be a Democrat-themed party…. but, citizens of all political persuasions should certainly feel free to visit with Mike’s staff and speak their mind or get their questions addressed….. and do please tell others, post info to appropriate lists, etc.

Right now, there’s a call to contact governmental representatives (call Barbara Lifton at 607-277-8030), some news about a display of information about the trail at Eastern Mountain Sports down on Meadow Street in Ithaca, and a lot of good background information about the trail, including a map. You’ll notice that the map shows the Trumansburg portion of the trail only as a dotted line. Well, first things first.

The events of the last year have shown that there are a lot of dedicated people willing to turn out to do hard work on the trail. The Black Diamond Trail could be a completed reality before too long, if it gets the necessary support from state and local government.

These petitions will be making the rounds in a door-to-door campaign for which Back To Democracy is seeking volunteers – email Allen Carstensen or call him at 273-2186 to offer your help. The petitions will also be available to sign at every meeting of Back to Democracy.

One of those meetings is being tonight at 7:00, at the Fire Hall here in Trumansburg. The meeting features a showing of the film Big Easy to Big Empty, which examines the impact of Hurricane Katrina.

Next bottle drive: March 18
Next color guard competition in Trumansburg: March 24

Is there no controversy in the Color Guard? Well, it’s high school, so there’s got to be some, but I could only find the following tidbits in the official history: