Finding Ulysses

What are the ethical considerations Earth Firsters ought to take into account in their anti-drilling activities in our area?

As Mayor of Trumansburg, John White would be in a position to lead the village into providing some of our water to natural gas drilling companies such as the one that holds a lease on his own property. It smells like a serious conflict of interest.

People in Ulysses who are concerned about coming drilling for natural gas in our town should take note: The Environmental Protection Agency has just started a tipline about illegal and generally suspicious activities taking place in association with drilling of the Marcellus Shale. If you see anything, you can call 877-919-4372 or email eyesondrilling@epa.gov .

Property owners like Doug Austic may see some profit – or they may just see drilling company trucks running roughshod over their land without a penny of income. However, these property owners have neighbors who aren’t choosing to go along with the natural gas drilling plans. Those neighbors most certainly won’t be seeing any profit, but their homes and land will be put at risk.

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!

Trumansburg Village Trustee announces a run for the Democratic nomination to become Town of Ulysses Supervisor. Also, Trumansburg dropouts increase, and a forum on protecting the community from the environmental impacts of natural gas drilling takes place tonight.

If Gillibrand continues to ignore the growing concerns of people living atop the Marcellus Shale, she may find herself surprised in 2010 by some upstate resistance to her effort to gain the Democratic Party nomination for New York’s junior U.S. Senate seat.

Congress has begun consideration of legislation to require the disclosure of toxic chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing in the process of drilling for natural gas.

The natural gas under Ulysses isn’t going anywhere. Will residents be willing to wait to sign leases until a new law provides them with more information about the substances that they, and their neighbors, may have to deal with?

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.