WHAT IS HYDROFRACKING?

(The following is quoted from www.un-naturalgas.org)

Hydraulic fracturing, as used for natural gas extraction, is the process by which water, frequently mixed with proppants and chemicals, is forced down a well bore at extremely high pressure in order to create or expand fractures to release gas from the rock formation in which it is trapped. Proppants are small particles such as sand or synthetic beads, that hold open the newly-created fractures so that released gas can flow towards the well. The process is also known as fracking, hydrofracking, or any of several other variants.

Various forms of hydraulic fracturing have been developed for differing circumstances. The one now causing intense concern here in New York is known as ‘high-volume hydraulic fracturing’ (HVHF), and ‘slick water fracturing.’ In this method, millions of gallons of initially clean water per well are intentionally contaminated with the addition of a wide range and large volume of very toxic chemical additives. This technique combines "water with a friction-reducing chemical additive which allows the water to be pumped faster into the formation."

WHAT IS THE PROBLEM WITH FRACKING?

Fracking will effect not just landowners, but every New Yorker. If you are a landowner and don't want fracking on your property, New York State's Compulsory Integration law can force you to participate. (They can also seize your land for pipelines.)

Fracking affects ALL of us. It affects our health, our water we drink, our air that we breathe, our peace of mind, the very beauty of our surroundings in this beautiful community we live in. Fracking potentially will turn NYS into a poisoned industrial wasteland. It will no longer be the place you call home.

Consider these facts:

Chemicals used in fracking are known to cause cancers, leukemia, hepatitis, nervous disorders, brain lesions, fatigue, nausea, confusion, impairment of hearing, speaking and seeing, bone marrow diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, anemia, immune system dysfunction, liver and kidney disease, and asthma - to name a few.
Due to federal legislation, fracking is exempted from the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act. Companies using fracking chemicals are also not required to disclose what chemicals they use.
Fracking fluids have shown up in water supplies 28 miles from the nearest well. The water supplies of whole communities have been polluted. Widespread fracking will inevitably poison the wells, lakes, streams, aquifers, and reservoirs of our state.
Each frack of a well consumes 5-6 million gallons of fresh water, sand, and fracking fluids, then regurgitates millions of gallons of waste water, containing not only fracking poisons, but radon, radioactivity, and methane, which water is then stored in air polluting lagoons or in containers until it gets trucked somewhere. That somewhere is a continuing problem. No one is quite sure what to do with this toxic, radioactive waste.
Well pad construction and drilling of the first well requires about 1,355 truckloads of material. But well pads will contain up to 10 wells (and over 100,000 of these pads are planned. So for just one pad, 1,355x10 = 13, 550 trucks each weighing 80,000 pounds, rolilng 24 hours a day past your home, over city, village, town, and county roads, pulverizing them, weakening culverts and bridges. And the state government provides no funds for local infrastructure repair. They leave it to local taxpayers.
At least 10 area banks plus HUD refuse to issue mortgages for properties containing fracking wells or for adjoining properties! You will not be able to sell your property.

What it boils down to is that hydrofracking will rob you of your health, your tranquility, a beautiful and safe environment including drinkable water and breathable air, your hard-earned money, and your property rights -- while local real estate values will plummet, and local business such as agriculture, recreation, and tourism will shrivel, along with your wallet. All to put money in the pockets of a few landowners, and billions upon billions of dollars into the pockets of the big energy companies behind the whole thing.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO STOP FRACKING IN OUR COMMUNITIES?

There is a lot we CAN do!

The powers-that-be aim to induce a sense of helplessness in us, the belief that "Its coming and you can't stop it so you might as well join it." Don't get suckered into that. Yes, we CAN stop it. If you are a property owner, JUST SAY NO. Why? Despite the unconstitutional Compulsory Integration, in order to forcibly integrate you, frackers have to own or have leased at least 60% of the properties in a designated fracking block. If they can't show that, then they can't drill. Say NO! Don't give them their 60%.
Educate yourself and pass you understanding on to friends. Maybe 1 person in 10 has any idea what hydrofracking is all about, and how it will destroy life in NYS as we currently know it. Smooth-talking, dishonest, "landmen" are counting on our ignorance. Get on the internet, there is tons of information there. Check out our links and resources below.
Contact your Town, City, and County representatives, your State and Federal representatives, and very importantly, the Governor. Voice your opinion repeatedly with letters, phone, and email.
You can put up yard signs to help spread awareness.
You can sign and help circulate petitions.
The comment period to the DEC's RdSGEIS on High Volume Fracturing will begin shortly. It is extremely important for you to comment. The DEC submission for will be on-line, or you can do it by letter.

This is our community and our health and welfare that we are talking about. Do not let big energy companies come in and take that away. There is no price to be put on clean drinking water. There is no price that can be put on our environment. And no one should be allowed to come in here and rob us of our community, our land, our precious resources, as we know them today.