Gas drilling wake-up call - by Mary Ann Barr

First published in the Ithaca Times - October 28, 2009

I got a wake-up call the other day about the drilling on the Marcellus Shale. Large gas and drilling companies have leased land (public and private) to access the Shale for gas. At first I thought I should lease some land to the companies and ease my financial burden. A well here and there couldn't be too detrimental.

Then I saw a map at http://tcgasmap.org showing land leased by the gas and drilling companies. Leased land covers a third of the map; a huge amount of land to be controlled by big business. Potentially every resident who lives above the Marcellus Shale could see and/or experience the industrial-looking drilling sites from their own front (or back) door. Pictures of existing well-heads reveal their lack of beauty. Five to fifteen acres are cleared to bare dirt, large trucks (14, 16-wheelers), rumble back and forth every day during drilling and after drilling, well-pumps churn with noise all day, every day (24/7).

Then, there is hydro-fracking. Chemically loaded water (toxic chemicals) pumped into the shale releases the gas. Some chemical-leaden water gets into the ground water. If there is an accidents all the chemicals disperse into the water table. This is something I do not want near where I live. I concluded I would not lease land to anyone, and would urge everyone to learn all they can about drilling and hydro-fracking.

We need to send a wake-up call to our legislators, the DEC and everyone responsible. And we need to request an extension for response-time to the DEC's environmental impact statement, the SGEIS. If we don't act now all of us in Central New York will have some sort of drilling within view of our homes, or threats to our water. Web sites - most notably Shaleshock.org - and other articles have good information, and the DEC and other organizations are holding public meetings about drilling on the Marcellus Shale. All residents should inform themselves, then help send wake-up calls to protect our water and beautiful country-side.

For more detailed information about drilling for Marcellus Shale check out Catskill Mountainkeepr