I received this in my inbox from some friends that live in my region. I have gone to their home a few time as they have a little shop there where they sell some beautiful stones and crystals. This couple is very generous with their time and expertise at shows. Please take a minute and read what they have to say. I will mention that I have grave concerns about hydrofracking and off shore oil drilling. It seems like our energy policy talks out one side of its mouth about environmentally sound practices and safer technology in investing and producing energy but when it comes to actual practice, we drill baby drill, destroying our mountains, lakes and rivers.
Dave and I feel very strongly about this issue. Would you please read this and ACT.
I would like to ask for your help in something that is important to all of us and to our children and for many generations ahead. This thing of importance is our clean and habitable land, air, and water and the urgent need to protect them.
You may have already heard about the “Fracking” that has been going on around us and in Pennsylvania. This “Fracking” that I am referring to is hydrofracking, a process used to extract gas from the shale beds thousands of feet below our lands. New technology allows this extraction to be done deeper and in a horizontal fashion. High volumes of water must be used along with chemicals that are known to be hazardous to health and the environment to perform this type extraction. This hydrofracking process can also unleash radioactive material, brine, methane, heavy metals and other potentially hazardous materials. Currently, there is no safe way to dispose or treat the millions of gallons of toxic waste that is produced from this version of gas drilling.
Not long ago, my husband and I were approached by representatives of the gas drilling companies and asked to lease our land and mineral rights. We declined but, we were approached again and again. We were told that all of our neighbors had signed and we were not being very “Neighborly”. Each time we declined we were offered more and more money to lease. We refused. Not that it mattered because drilling can be done horizontally from a point on neighboring lands. For weeks testing and recording of data was done in my neighborhood and in towns and counties surrounding us. We were invaded by men in unmarked white vans and trucks. Helicopters flew over head for days with baskets suspended from them to drop explosives and recording devices to the heavily wooded grounds below. Orange colored cords that looked like super-long orange extension cords started to appear in the farmers fields, along the roadways and through the neighbor’s yards. It was like a segment from the Twilight Zone, here. Explosives of such a high volume were let off far below the Earth’s surface and with such force that it shook our home like an earthquake. That was just the beginning of the invasion. Since then we have seen wells drilled and capped off very close-by. We have heard of one local person that found gas in his water supply. You can actually set fire to the water that is flowing from this tap water.
Last fall we began to see an oily looking sludge appear in some of our ground water. We called the local health department and were referred to the DEC. The DEC, passed us around a few times, and then referred us to the company that was responsible for the drilling in our area. We live in a rural area located within the Town of Scott and our drinking water is obtained from a well on our property. We have concerns about our water being tainted. We have a stream running through our property that also extends the length of the road we live on. We are in very close proximity to two of our State’s Finger Lakes that we don’t wish to see become hazardous waste areas.
If our water and land is at risk of being destroyed from the exploration and extraction of natural gas, then we need to put an immediate halt to these processes. If Fracking is not being done in your neighborhood, it could very well be done in an area that is in close proximity to where lakes and streams could be affected and in areas that do produce your drinking water.
I would like to urge you to educate yourself about the hydrofracturing process. I urge you to be aware of the potential hazards that could be unleashed in addition to the contamination of our drinking water. Read about the impact Fracking has had on our neighbors in Pennsylvania.
Please sign the petition found here: www.thepetitionsite.com/1/NY-Statewide-Ban-On-Natural-Gas-Drilling
Websites available to you in Cortland and Tompkins County are:
http://gdacc.wordpress.com/http://www.shaleshock.org/Don’t wait until it is too late. Please write your government representatives, now.
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