Highland is the latest town to ban fracking

ELDRED — The Town of Highland on July 11 passed a local law to ban hydraulic fracturing, joining other Delaware River towns to form a bulwark against the controversial gas drilling method.

Highland joins the towns of Tusten and Bethel to the north, and Lumberland to the south, to ban fracking within their borders. In February, two State Supreme Court judges, in separate decisions, upheld the rule that allows towns to pass fracking bans.

Some hunting club members in Highland opposed the ban, saying it robbed them of their mineral rights and their right to make money from their property.

But Supervisor Andy Boyar, a longtime member of one of the hunting clubs, said the clubs inherited their land from the previous generation, and were morally obliged to preserve them for the next. He said he was saddened and distressed that his support for the law had lost him some friends.

But, he said, he found the prospect of polluting water, the world's most precious commodity, "repugnant." People can survive without natural gas, he said, but they can't survive without water.

It takes from 3 to 5 millions of gallons of water to frack a well, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. This water use is "consumptive," which means it cannot be recycled.

Highland residents overwhelmingly supported the ban at public hearings and in written comments. As she expressed her support for the law Tuesday night, Councilwoman Amanda Scully said the few people in town who want make money should not be allowed to compromise the welfare of everyone else.

Councilman James Gutekunst said he was moved by the written comment sent by a Vietnam veteran, who compared the unknowns health effects of fracking to Agent Orange, whose deleterious effects became evident only many years after its widespread use.

Highland's draft law was recently revised to take out language that some residents and town board members said prohibited more than just hydrofracking.

The revised law passed unanimously Tuesday night. A grateful public gave the town board a standing ovation.

By Pamela Chergotis