Home Rule in Avon, NY: Anti-fracking Rally

Photo: Michael Johnson
Livingston County News

 

It was a cold, cold day in Geneseo, NY, on Monday.  Frigid cold.  We couldn't feel our fingers and toes after a while. But it was worth every minute to show our support for the Town of Avon and its decision to put a moratorium on fracking. We are awaiting the judge's decision.  Stay tuned.

Thank you, Yoko

 

 

 

Yoko Ono was one of many today who delivered more than 200,000 comments to the NY DEC about fracking and other concerns about the whole drilling process.  The day before, upwards of 2,000 gathered at the NY Capitol Building in Albany, the same day as Governor Cuomo's State of the State Address.  He never mentioned fracking.  The crowd which filled the entire concourse chanted for hours.  Ban fracking now!  Hey, hey, Cuomo!  Gas drilling has got to go!  It was a wonderful day of action.  Pete Seeger, Debra Winger, Sandra Steingraber, and other notables were there, too!

Division of Mineral Resources (NY) Documented Oil and Gas Problems

Walter Hang speaks. When Walter speaks, people listen! Watch this!

Walter Hang Challenges the NY DEC Over Uncapped Wells

Walter Hang of Ithaca-based environmental database firm, Toxics Targeting, on Wednesday released a set of documents he says indicate shortcomings in the state DEC's regulation of conventional oil and gas drilling, and lead to questions about whether the agency is equipped to regulate hydrofracking.  The documents were taken from 25 years of annual reports from the DEC's Division of Mineral Resources and show that the DEC has been trying to deal with a slew of uncapped wells left over from decades when regulations weren't as strict. Hang and others, including Binghamton's Mayor Ryan, are calling for a complete scrapping of the SGEIS (Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Study) which has been ongoing for the last 4 years.  Hang says that this document is completely inadequate. 

Read the Ithaca Journal article here.

New York records show history of oil, gas well problems: Click here.

Sandra Steingraber Testifies at NY Senate Committee in December 2011

Sandra Steingraber, Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Ithaca College, Environmental Biologist and author. NYS Public Hearing, Senate Standing Committee on Energy Conservation. Sponsored by NYS Senators Mark Grisanti and Patrick Gallivan to examine waste water produced by hydraulic fracturing. The Inn on the Lake, Canandaigua, NY December 12, 2011.

“So, imagine standing in front of the Niagara Falls for 35 hours. Now imagine that all the cascading water you see is radioactive and full of toxic chemicals, and your job is to figure out where to put it so that it won’t come in contact with any person or any other body or water or the soil or the air. Forever.”

Mic Check at DEC Hearings in Binghamton November 17

In Occupy Wall Street style, a citizen uses the Mic Check technique for his 3-minute comment. Note what the DEC rep said after the man was finished. It seems he did not approve of the presentation!