4 News Stories, 1 Call to Action
RDA - Responsible Drilling Alliance
Farmers hurt by Marcellus “boom”
Natural gas drilling has tapped into the pockets of cash-strapped
dairy farmers who are now being charged additional fees to transport
their milk. Because of competition for truck drivers, milk companies now
have to compete with gas companies to keep drivers and dairy farmers
are being asked to pay the extra costs. Claims one farmer, “The
Marcellus Shale has upset the free-market economy … we’ve got to do
something to help the farmers. To me, it seems unethical and it’s
unfortunately the farmers who have to carry the burden.”
(Source: The Evening Tribune – article by Justin Head)
Houses for shale
Property owners with gas leases may find their property can’t be financed for a new mortgage.
Broker Lori Rudalavage, who owns LA Mortgage in Clarks Summit, has
been trying to sort out the policies being put into place at major
banks. It hasn’t been easy, and it concerns her. “When it comes down to
obtaining a mortgage on leased properties, more and more of [the banks]
are saying, ‘No, No, No.’”
Rudalavage has been told that Wells Fargo would not be inclined to lend money on a property with a gas lease. In a memo, a top executive at that bank writes it would be “…very difficult to obtain financing due to the potential hazard.”
(Source: Pike County Courier)
MARC1 – A precedent-setting pipeline – SPEAK OUT!
Although the official comment period has closed, Earthjustice
Managing Attorney Deborah Goldberg suggests that area residents who have
not already done so should send comments to the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (FERC) on the MARC1 pipeline project planned by
CYNOG for the Rt. 220 corridor from NW Lycoming County, through Sullivan
and into Bradford Counties.
For a refresher on the MARC1 project, refer to the October 25th issue of the RDA newsletter by clicking here.
Attorney Goldberg’s suggestions include:
- Don’t just vent anger/frustration. You need to give FERC reasons why the pipeline should not be built.
- ALL environmental and socioeconomic impacts are relevant:
- community character
- aesthetics
- recreation (hunting, fishing, hiking, swimming, etc.)
- agriculture timber
- all other environmental and socioeconomic concerns
- You can provide information. Factual information should be about impacts you have personally observed or can document from academic studies. Research studies are readily available on the web. Send the relevant studies to FERC and ask that they be considered. (Do NOT use advocacy materials; refer only to studies completed by those with scientific credentials.) Impacts from pipelines are best; cumulative impacts from pipelines and other facilities are also useful.
- You can pose specific questions and ask FERC for information.
- Read what already has been submitted by CYNOG. If you can find errors, based on personal knowledge or scientific study, point these out to FERC.
Attorney Goldberg is looking for people who really know the area and are willing to do a bit of reading to see if the pipeline company’s claims are accurate. Anyone interested, please email: ra...@responsibledrillingalliance.org
You must first register to submit comments to FERC.
Click here to go to the FERC website.
Select “eComment” from the list of online applications. Once you
have completed this section, you will receive an email with a link to
use for your comments.
Follow that link and enter this docket number in the window: CP10-480
Click the blue + to select.
Enter your comments.
Note: If your text is more than 6000 characters in length, it
will error out and you will lose everything you typed. Suggestion:
First type your comments in a Word Doc. Copy and paste onto FERC’s
comment field. If there is an error – you will have your original and
can resubmit.
Truck muck
Gas drilling wastewater dumped into Susquehanna River
“By the time it is discharged into the Susquehanna River, it will
look like spring water”, says Norm Zellers, operations support manager
for Sunbury Generation LP, referring to fracking fluid from trucks
bearing the sign "residual waste”. Sunbury Generation can treat and dump
up to 80,000 gallons of drilling fluid a day, authorized to do so since
November 2008 by the state Department of Environmental Protection.
Zellers is adamant that what Sunbury Generation treats isn't polluting the Susquehanna River. "I've heard the stories about cancer-causing agents and harmful chemicals," he said. "We've analyzed and analyzed (these fluids) and I don't see it."
Area physician William L. Yingling, MD, disagrees, stating, “Mr. Zeller’s assurance that what’s going in the river isn’t polluting it is misinformed, willingly ignorant or downright deceptive.” Dr. Yingling notes that one of the largest databanks on frackwater includes those chemicals that Mr. Zellers doesn’t test for and cannot extract from the water he supposedly cleanses. “These chemicals are endocrine disrupters and they are having a disastrous effect on many species including humans, “ says Dr. Yingling.
Additional information on endocrine disruptors found in frackwater is available at these web sites:
http://www.endocrinedisruption.com/chemicals.introduction.php
http://www.endocrinedisruption.com/files/HouseEC-Birnbaum-ED-FinalClearedWrittenTestimony.pdf
http://search.niehs.nih.gov/query.html?col=&qt=Endocrine+disrupters&submit=GO
(Source: The Daily Item – article by Evamarie Socha, reply by William Yingling, MD)
Drilling violations lack feedback loop
A Scripps Howard News Service investigation reports that Pennsylvania has issued 8,309 violation notices to gas drilling companies since 2007. However, DEP officials cautioned investigators that their files include thousands of violations that have no date of being fixed and cannot be trusted as accurate. Instead of keeping the books up-to-date, inspectors are devoting their limited manpower in the field rather than completing paperwork.
(Source: Scripps Howard News Service)