Residents of Allegany County, NY and elsewhere are opposing plans to
expand the Hyland Landfill in Angelica, NY to take more radioactive gas
drilling wastes and further contaminate our water and air.
The Hyland
Facility in Angelica is applying to the NYS DEC for a permit to EXPAND
their tonnage intake of waste. The first comment to submit is that the June 21st deadline (extended from the original June 7 deadline) is not enough time.
Please visit the fallowing link and comment on two permit applications by the
Hyland Landfill currently before the NYS DEC.
Hydrofracking foes win in Dryden and Middlefield: New York appellate court rules towns can ban drilling
A New York state appeals court ruled today that towns can ban gas drilling, including hydrofracking, within their borders. In two related decisions, the Third Appellate Division in Albany
ruled that the Tompkins County town of Dryden and the Otsego County town
of Middlefield had the right to ban drilling when they enacted their
ordinances in 2011. The rulings upheld decisions by lower courts, and rejected arguments by drillers and landowners that only the state could say where gas drilling can take place. Read More Here
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Jail time in Schuyler, Chemung doesn't daunt spirits of Inergy protesters
Sandra Steingraber of Trumansburg, Michael Dineen of Ovid and Melissa
Chipman of Hector told a cheering crowd of about 60 supporters in
Watkins Glen that eight days in jail did nothing to change their minds
about the danger of explosion, increased air pollution and other
industrially related issues posed by the project.“I
came out of jail re-forged for the fight,” Steingraber said. “We should
not be the proving grounds for this industrial experiment.”
Sandra Steingraber's Moving Letter: From Jail on Earth Day
Steingraber issued a letter from Chemung County Jail in Elmira, New York after being jailed for civil disobedience.
....Stingray is my inspiration. How can I use my time here – separated from
the whole human race by the layers of steel and concrete – to speak
loudly and defiantly about the business plans of a company called Inergy
that seeks to turn my Finger Lakes home into a transportation and
storage hub for fossil fuel gases? It is wrong to compress and bury
explosive gases in salt caverns beside and beneath a lake – Seneca –
that serves as a source of drinking water for 100,000 people. It is
wrong to construct a flare stack on the banks of this lake, which will
contribute hazardous air pollutants, including death-dealing ozone, into
the air. It is wrong for DEC and EPA and FERC to turn a blind eye to a
company that has, for the last 12 quarters, exceeded its permitted
discharge of chemicals into this lake. It is wrong for a company to
claim that basic geological knowledge about the bedrock itself, is a
proprietary trade secret and hide it from the public and from the
scientific community. It is wrong to deepen our dependency on fossil
fuels in a time of climate emergency...
Tim DeChristopher Speaks Out After 21 Months in Prison for Disrupting Oil Bid
Friday, April 19, 2013
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Three Local Residents Sent to Jail for Defending Their Homes and Families
More than 150 people packed the Town of Reading (NY) Court on Wednesday, April 17 to witness what
they believe is a shocking miscarriage of justice.
Three members of a group dubbed the “Seneca Lake 12” — massage therapist Melissa Chapman of
Schuyler County, farm owner Michael Dineen of Seneca County, and Sandra Steingraber, PhD, author,
biologist, and distinguished scholar at Ithaca College — were sentenced to jail terms for their resistance
to the heavy industrialization of the peaceful rural region they call home.
“What has happened to civil society?” asked a stunned Helen Savich when she saw her hero Sandra
Steingraber hauled off to jail.
On March 18, Steingraber and 10 fellow residents of the Seneca Lake region, in a peaceful act of civil
disobedience, blockaded a gas compressor station site run by Missouri-‐based Inergy, LLP, on Seneca Lake.
They did so to demonstrate their opposition to Inergy’s planned heavy industrialization of the Finger Lakes
region, renowned for its natural beauty, vineyards, and tourism-‐ and agriculture-‐based economy.
Inergy’s gas storage and transportation project in the Town of Reading, right on Seneca Lake, threatens the
water supply for 100,000 people.
All 11 protesters, along with a legal liaison, were arrested and charged with trespassing.
On April 17, Judge Raymond Berry of the Town of Reading imposed a fine of $375 for trespassing for
Chipman, Dineen, and Steingraber, the three people appearing that evening. All three refused to pay (their
statements are attached), and the judge ordered that each spend 15 days in jail.
“I think this is an unusually harsh sentence,” said Maura Stephens of the Coalition to Protect New York, “as it
forces working people to give up income, lose time working on the land in this critical springtime, and
sacrifice time with their families.”
Supporters of the defendants were shocked at the judgment, and concerned for the health and safety of
their friends being sentenced to jail.
“Sandra was sobbing and hugging her family and us in that room off the hallway,” said Jan Quarles, wife
of Michael Dineen. “I've never seen Sandra break down like that before, and I've known her for a very
long time.”
Dr. Steingraber is respected worldwide for her scientific knowledge, eloquence, and commitment to
everyone’s right to clean water, air, and secure food supply.
“If even someone of Sandra’s stature and fame can be thrown into jail because of her reasonable and
deeply held convictions, can there be justice for any one of us?” asked Jack Ossont, a fellow Seneca Lake
12 protester who had appeared in court two weeks earlier with two fellow defendants. Ossont and
others paid their imposed $375 fine with the help of community supporters.
Steingraber, Dineen, and Chipman are in jail now, but fellow activists will be holding vigils each evening
from 6:00 to 8:00 PM at their places of incarceration. The vigils will continue until they are released.
Steingraber is a featured guest on an upcoming episode of PBS’s Moyers & Company; see a short video
Thursday, April 11, 2013
First California Fracking Challenge Is Defeat for U.S.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management violated an
environmental law by failing to take the necessary “hard look” at the
impact of hydraulic fracturing when it sold oil and gas leases in California, a federal judge said.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Grewal in San Jose,
California, said the BLM violated the National Environmental Policy Act
by relying on outdated reviews, conducted before the extraction process
known as fracking spurred massive development of energy deposits, when
the U.S. sold four leases in 2011 for 2,700 acres of federal land in
Monterey and Fresno counties. Read More Here
Cantabria becomes first region in Spain to ban fracking
"Those scavengers are bleeding the Earth." That is how Manuel López
describes his battle against energy companies involved in fracking in
Cantabria. The controversial hydraulic fracturing technique, to obtain
gas from depths of over 2,000 meters, has been denounced by
environmentalists all over the world because of its possible health
consequences on people in surrounding communities.
López, an environmental technician from Santander, has joined forces
with Daniel González, a public works engineer who lives in the
Cabuérniga valley, and Ángel Saiz, the mayor of the town of
Villacarriedo, to stop fracking in their northern region, as well as
throughout Spain. Read More Here
Saturday, March 23, 2013
NY court hears arguments on town fracking bans
ALBANY, N.Y. —
Backers of natural gas drilling and environmental advocates wrangled
Thursday over whether New York’s towns have the legal right to ban oil
and gas development in a fight that could ultimately be decided by the
state’s highest court.
A four-judge appellate panel heard arguments over the local bans in
Dryden and Middlefield, two central New York towns among dozens in the
state that have passed zoning laws prohibiting drilling. Opponents argue
state rules supersede such local restrictions. Read more here
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Judge Rules In Favor Of Journalists, Unseals Fracking Court Records
Harrisburg, PA —
A judge ruled today in favor of journalists seeking access to information about a fracking pollution court case. Judge Debbie O’Dell-Seneca reversed an order by a Washington County
court sealing the record in a case in which a Pennsylvania family sued
several gas companies over property damage and health impacts related to
air and water pollution from nearby natural gas operations. Read more here
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Judge upholds Avon fracking moratorium, rules against Lenape
A Livingston County Judge has issued a summary judgement dismissing the
lawsuit filed against the Town of Avon by Lenape Resources, and
upholding the Town's controversial moratorium against hydrofracking....
• WHERE: Rush Pavilion (near Rush
Town Hall/Library building, at southwest corner of Route 251 and Route
15A. The Pavilion is across the parking lot from the Rush Library. Park
in either the Town Hall lot off of Rte. 15A or in the Library lot off of
Rte. 251)
Monday, March 18, 2013
Arrests at Blockade of “Dirty Inergy” Facility at Watkins Glen, as Protesters Protect Finger Lakes
As of 11:04 AM today, the last three resisters — including Sandra
Steingraber — blocking Inergy, a company insisting on using hotly
debated salt caverns near the Finger Lakes to store fracked gas (a
practice that has led to leaked gas, health problems, and subsidence
problems elsewhere), faced arrest during a protest at Watkins Glen, New
York. read more here...
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Groundbreaking new study proposes New York's energy to be produced from 100% sustainable sources
Stanford University Professor Mark Z. Jacobson, who explores and
analyzes air quality, global warming and large-scale renewable energy
solutions through elegant mathematical models, has already connected the
eco-economic dots that Obama omitted. Jacobson, director of Stanford's
Atmosphere/Energy Program and a senior fellow at the Stanford Woods
Institute for the Environment and the Precourt Institute for Energy, is
motivated by the findings of his recent report,
which reveal, he says, "the technical and economic feasibility of
repowering an individual state for all purposes primarily with wind,
water and sun (WWS)."
Jacobson co-authored the report, entitled, "Examining the Feasibility of Converting New York State's All-Purpose Energy Infrastructure to One Using Wind, Water and Sunlight"
with Cornell University Professor of Engineering, Anthony Ingraffea,
Cornell Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Robert W. Howarth
and University of California at Davis scientist Mark Delucchi, among
others. Their findings are published in the Journal Energy Policy.
Jenny
Lisak, co-director of the Pennsylvania Alliance for Clean Water and
Air, maintains a list of people claiming to be harmed by hydraulic
fracturing or related processes, called theList of the Harmed. This
version of the list, last updated on February 23, 2013, has 822 people
thought to be negatively impacted by the industry, with symptoms ranging
from headaches and rashes to death. FracTracker now has mapped these
sites in an interactive map here: http://www.fractracker.org/2013/03/pacwas-list-of-the-harmed-now-mapped-by-fractracker/
Saturday, March 2, 2013
AP: NY fracking held as Cuomo, RFK Jr. talk health
The turning point, which could delay a decision for up to a year or
longer, came in a series of phone calls with Kennedy. The two discussed a
new health study on the hydraulic fracturing drilling method that could
be thorough enough to trump all others in a debate that has split New
York for five years. "I think the issue suddenly got simple for him," Kennedy told the AP,
then went on to paraphrase Cuomo in their discussions: "'If it's causing
health problems, I really don't want it in New York state. And if it's
not causing health problems, we should figure out a way we can do it."
Seneca Supervisors committee: Request alternate LPG site
WATERLOO
— Several weeks ago, state Sen. Michael Nozzolio, R-54 of Fayette,
urged state officials to help Inergy Midstream LLC find an alternate
location for the underground storage of liquefied petroleum gas.
Nozzolio
expressed concern about the safety and possible negative impacts of the
LPG storage and transportation hub proposed for the western shore of
Seneca Lake in the Schuyler County town of Reading.
Nozzolio received support Tuesday night from the Environmental Affairs Committee of the Seneca County Board of Supervisors.
Committee
chairman Stephen Churchill, D-Seneca Falls, said Seneca County has
jurisdiction over most of Seneca Lake and he joins Nozzolio in being
concerned about a reported cave collapse in a salt mine where Inergy
wants to store propane and butane.
“There
have been salt leaks as well. This is a high-risk venture for Seneca
Lake’s quality. Storing LPG in these caves is not a good idea,”
Churchill said. “We share Sen. Nozzolio’s concerns, and I’m proposing we
make the same request that the DEC work with Inergy to find another
site.”
Churchill
cited an abundance of information on the LPG project on the Internet
and strong opposition research by Gas Free Seneca.
“We recently made Route 414 a scenic byway and across the lake people will see this operation,” he added.
Committee
member Keith Kubasik, R-Waterloo, questioned why anyone would be
allowed to threaten the lake, given its importance as a drinking water
source and other purposes.
A motion to ask the DEC to find an alternate site was approved by a 5-0 vote. It now goes to the full board March 12.
'Fracklash': Colorado Governor Threatens to Sue Over Fracking Bans
Pro-fracking Governor John Hickenlooper aims to smash democratic moves by cities
- Lauren McCauley, staff writer
One week after members of the Fort Collins city council voted
to ban the polluting oil and gas extraction process of hydraulic
fracturing within city limits, former oilman and Colorado Governor John
Hickenlooper declared he will sue any city that enacts a fracking ban.
"Heard owls last night and a woodpecker this morning. No rain today, it's nice.
A poem:
From tar sands oil, fracking gas, and
mountaintop removal coal
It's hard to believe these exec's still got souls
They say that there's no other way to live
but think about what the world could give
If I can survive up here in a tree
I think there's hope for you and me
If they can make computers the size of a hand
Then I think we can still save this land."
-A journal entry sent from Gifford Pinchot in the trees on Day 5 of the
tree sit blockade halting construction for the Tennessee Gas Pipeline
here in beautiful northeast Pennsylvania
...So when Gov. Andrew Cuomo
faced down the bullies in the oil and gas industry who had been pushing
and pushing him to release final regulations on fracking in advance of a
manipulated deadline — even though the state Department of Health hasn't yet completed its limited and insufficient review — I knew I had a teachable moment. "You
see," I said to my son and daughter over breakfast, "the governor is
being gutsy. By granting the health commissioner more time to study the
human health effects of fracking, he's telling the gas industry to
back off."... Read More Here
Strictly Business: A volley in the LPG battle of Seneca Lake
On Thursday, Deborah Greenberg, managing attorney of Earthjustice’s New
York office, and office campaign manager Kathleen Sutcliffe met with
representatives of Gas Free Seneca to tour the site of the project and
discuss strategies for continuing the struggle against it. That initial
meeting was followed later that evening with a reception for the
environmental attorneys held at Damiani Wine Cellars in Hector.
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