Gas heated panel session

Advocate and opponents have at it at shale drilling info session By Anya Tikka DINGMANS FERRY — Almost 100 people came to a property owners’ information meeting on shale drilling at the Delaware Township Municipal Building on Tuesday night. A panel conducted the session , consisting of Founder, Barbara Arrindel and Pat Carullo, of the drilling opponent activist organization, Damascus Citizens; Tracy Carluccio, of the Riverkeeper Network; Susan Beecher, of the Pike County Conservation District; Brian Hennessey, of Rutgers University Agricultural Program; Kittatinny Canoes & Camprounds business owner Dave Jones, and Denise Cook-Bauer from Strategic Planning and Community Outreach program for the National Park Service. Pennsylvania House Representative John Siproth also attended the event. No one spoke in favor of shale gas drilling (“fracking”) in the river basin except Jones. Energy companies were contacted, but none attended. “The gas companies didn’t want to come because they knew they would get a lot of hostility. This is all staged. These people were brought here,” Jones claimed. The public meeting was open and advertised in the local media, including the Courier. Jones, who owns about 800 acres of which he’s leased 300, said he’s third generation river side resident, and he loves the river, and besides, having a clean river is his business. “We fought against Tocks Island, but I’m for drilling,” he explained. “It will be good for the area.” Carluccio said that each drill site uses thousands of gallons of water which is mixed with sand and undisclosed chemicals and injected at high pressure through the aquifers to the gas-bearing shale underneath. She said the industry is exempt from the federal Clean Water Act. Hennessey said, “Don’t be fooled. This is a most critical issue. When they go beyond aquifers, no one knows what will happen.” Who’s overseeing all this “Not only is the environment threatened,” said Beecher, “but the costs to municipalities in human terms are large and mostly undocumented.” She went on to cite increased road traffic, emergency calls, demand for health care and schools, and rents that have tripled as a result of demand from people arriving to the area for the drilling, forcing locals out. “There are no waste water treatment regulations, no storm water discharge plans. There’s danger from soil erosion, illegal dumping, road building is not regulated by us anymore, and deforestation threatens the area.” She said what’s different in this is that the water used for fracking will not be recycled back to the watershed (due to contamination), a possibly catastrophic scenario for the river basin area’s pure water resources. About a year ago, Harrisburg ruled that we were no longer in charge of all land use review. Oil and gas companies are now excluded. Historically, conservation districts had always been involved. DEP has trained and hired their own inspectors, “but we, who have the years of experience, are left out,” Beecher said. Sixty-six PA conservation districts are lobbying Harrisburg, but the legislation is pushed back by the industry, she said. Responding to questions about that legislation Pike Rep. John Siproth said that he is for strict regulations . “We’ve got to keep on lobbying to the lawmakers for re-instatement of our agency’s inspection rights, and tough regulations. Siproth is one voice among many,” Beecher said Zoning is a way to keep gas drilling out of the area at local level, but Carullo said, “The gas industry is suing our town (Damascus) in federal court for basically standing up for our rights by issuing a stop work order.” Arrindel, Carullo, and Carluccio agreed that the future of the river is in the hands of the Delaware River Basin Commission, which intervened in the Tocks Island project in response to a public outcry, and is entrusted with ensuring water purity. In a recent meeting, the commission said it will give its ruling about gas industry regulations by late summer, and there will be one public hearing meeting prior to that ruling. Whose rights will prevail Jones saw it as individual’s choice. “This is America. We believe in private property laws, that’s why we’re fighting wars overseas. I’m living the American dream. Yes, I’m getting rich out of it, but I’m also paying a lot of taxes. Property values will go up as a result of the drilling. This will be a major economic boom for the area. This is the cleanest energy available, we’ll help clean up the greenhouse effect.” Arrindel disagreed, saying studies suggest fracking is in fact the dirtiest once you figure in all the hidden procedures. One member of the audience said most of the people in his county, Sullivan, PA, are farmers or live off the land. “This boom in employment you’re talking about, it won’t affect us. If the land is gone, we have nothing.” In response to an audience question about accidents in an unregulated industry, Jones conceded that accidents will happen as in any industry. “There are no guarantees.” “This area is the number one attraction in the whole of America, before the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone according to the PBS program last night,” said a 50-odd-year resident of the area, continuing, “I fought against Tocks Island, and I’m not going to give up fighting for this. If fracking takes place, the area would lose its scenic appeal, and a major source of tourism,” she argued. Several speakers voiced health, or water quality concerns, pointing to the reported sickness in humans and animals resulting from contaminated water after drilling. One speaker reminded, “We have a special responsibility because the American Conservation Movement started here, in Pike County.” Dimock resident Graig Sautner came to the meeting with his wife Julie, carrying a gallon jug full of nasty colored water he said came from his faucet after the drilling began in Dimock. “Anyone can mix up a gallon of water and bring it here,” said Jones as the audience jeered and moderators called for order. “There’s no documented contamination of well water from fracking.” “The gas company trucks in water every day now for us (after a group law suit against Cabot Oil was filed), and we cannot sell our house,” Sautner said. “The realtor said you cannot sell a house if the water is not good.”