|
To All SLPWA Members and all Supporters of Seneca Lake February 2010 Message to Members Seneca Lake Pure Waters Association continues its effort to work towards state regulations and oversight that supports environmentally and fiscally responsible drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale of New York State as we stated in our comments to the DEC in the draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (dSGEIS). The comments we made to the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation are linked below this message. When the comments were issued, we received some feedback asking us “What are your minimum requirements for “environmentally and fiscally responsible drilling for natural gas”. Our Marcellus Shale committee picked up the challenge and prepared the document linked below and shared it with those we had sent our original dSGEIS comments to in late November including members of our Federal, and State representatives, Governor Paterson, DEC Commissioner Grannis, and Administrators Jackson and Enck of the EPA. Just when the committee thought they could take a breather, word came from one of our members regarding a proposal by Chesapeake Appalachia to get a permit to use a injection well in the Town of Pulteney, Steuben County to “dispose of” (read, “hide”), waste water from gas well drilling operations in Pennsylvania and New York. Again, the committee sprang into action letting local, state and federal representatives our displeasure with this idea and the negative impact this well will undoubtedly have on our watershed. A proposal for a monofill landfill and injection well to dispose of leachate from the landfill was proposed by Scepter Inc. connected with their aluminum recycling operation in the Town of Varick in Seneca County. Documentation from SLPWA regarding these issues can be found on this website. Two points come from this: first, we need to remain ever vigilant in the protection of our watershed and second, you, our members, are our eyes and ears to bring these “local” issues to our attention. Please continue to do so – we can be reached at slpwa@senecalake.org. In January, our Board of Directors approved an initial funding for two programs at Finger Lakes Institute to further the educational and research goals of our mission to protect the lake and out watershed. The funding will be used to begin development of a Seneca Lake focused watershed curricula to be used by watershed elementary and middle schools and to expand the collection of water quality data on Seneca Lake. As these programs take shape we will feature them in updates on this website and future issues of our LakeWatch newsletter. We are also planning a Spring Watershed Educational program for members and supporters of Seneca Lake. Look for news on this program as details are finalized. To continue our programs and to effectively act as stewards of our Seneca Lake and watershed we have two needs. As with any independent charitable organization we need your financial support to continue our programs including this website, our newsletter and our educational and research programs we are beginning to fund with Finger Lakes Institute. As a result we will be running an SLPWA Annual Fund raising appeal this Spring and begin to actively seek grant monies in support of our programs. Our second need is for your time. We need volunteers:
Thank you for your continued support! Phil Cianciotto, President, Seneca Lake Pure Waters Association ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SLPWA's Minimum Requirements for Environmentally and Fiscally Responsible Drilling for Natural Gas SLPWA Comments on Marcelus Shale dSGEIS to NYS DEC November 2009 |