Friday, October 14, 2011

Welcome & Things You Can Do



Hydrofracking to be

Banned 
in New York State!
Announced December 17, 2014

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Hydrofracking officially 
Banned 
in New York State!
June 29, 2015


On December 17, 2014, under tremendous pressure from environmentalists, scientists, doctors, economists, etc.,  Gov. Cuomo announced that he would Ban hydrofracking in NY State.   On June 29, 2015, the Ban was made official with a Findings Statement  http://www.dec.ny.gov/press/102337.html  that declared hydrofracking dangerous to environment, human and animal health.  

In the meantime he and his DEC has allowed toxic fracking waste to be brought into NY State dumps, he has allowed gas and oil infrastructure to expand within the state with an eye to exporting gas and oil overseas, and he has allowed the gas and oil industry to store toxic gas and oil products on the shores of Seneca Lake, a source of drinking water for over 100,000 people.  It is so obviously outrageous, given the findings statement that came out June 29, 2015 which finalized the ban on fracking in NY State.  Though the State finally admits they know how bad fracking is for the environment and the health of people, animals, the real threat of fracking is alive and kicking in the State. 

Read the DEC's press release here: 

At the same time that the ban marks a culmination of an incredible campaign, it's also just a beginning. Many communities in NY are faced with dangerous, dirty natural gas infrastructure projects that must be stopped, including numerous pipelines, gas and LPG storage on Seneca Lake, compressor stations, and the proposed Port Ambrose LNG facility. Additionally, we need to work to advance renewable energy and efficiency -- the ultimate way to make fracking and natural gas obsolete.



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An excellent review 1-22-15 of challenges New Yorkers
now face, even with a Ban on Hydrofracking
by Catskill Citizens (get on their email list!)
click here

A letter from Sandra Steingraber:
Click Here



Anna Sears of R-Cause writes:
What a glorious moment this is for New York!!!  I for one sure slept better last night knowing that the drilling part of fracking is off the table thanks to you and the thousands of activists, lawyers, scientists, and health care professionals who've worked for years using every possible tactic to counter the powerful gas and oil industry. What an extraordinary victory!!!  

1. This beautiful 7 minute video of Sandra Steingraber after hearing the good news says it all (thank you Bob Nilsson of Frack Free Genesee): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsbMVW9wKbE&feature=youtu.be

2. If you didn't get a chance to hear/watch the Governor's cabinet meeting, the presentation and health report are available here thanks to TWC (notice the piles of reports on the table behind Dr. Zucker!)http://rochester.twcnews.com/content/news/793538/fracking-in-new-york--state-health--dec-officials-recommend-against/#full


4. Nice article in today's Democrat and Chronicle (note the timeline at the top)http://tinyurl.com/qj2c9ao

5. I particularly appreciate this article summarizing the amazing 7 or 8 year journey toward the state ban: http://thealbanyproject.kinja.com/how-smart-nys-fracktivists-beat-cuomo-and-won-the-frack-1672451297

6. What better holiday gift could there be (for those opposed to fracking)? But we must remain vigilant. As Sandra said in the video above "…our work has just begun." "We have the wind at our backs now." Let's direct our energy now to push even harder for renewable energy and stop the expansion of fracking infrastructure across the state: 
• 28 more people were arrested Wednesday outside the Crestwood Gas Storage Facility along Seneca Lake:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnFbViofX0Y&feature=youtu.be
• Bomb trains continue to roll through Rochester and across the state
• Fracking brine is still spread on the roads
• PA fracking waste is still accepted at NYS landfills
• Massive build out of gas pipelines and compressor stations is moving forward
• Withdrawal of NYS water for PA drilling continues
• Sand keeps coming into NY for PA drilling (that's the sand that causes silicosis) 

7. The above list is all the more reason to attend the Albany Rally January 7! Here's the link for the Buffalo-Rochester-Albany bus (reservations, $30, are required): http://act.foodandwaterwatch.org/site/Calendar?id=115221&view=Detail

… and finally:
8. Thank Governor Cuomo! Here's the number to his office: 518-474-8390, and his Email: http://www.governor.ny.gov/contact

Anna Sears, co-founder
R-CAUSE (Rochesterians Concerned About Unsafe Shale-gas Extraction)





Other Important Links related the Ban:
There is still SO much work to be done

http://catskillcitizens.org/updates/20141218.cfm/
Be sure to see the articles on 
Infrastructure
Port Ambrose
 (deepwater LNG port 
that would be constructed 
nineteen miles off the coast of 
Long Island)
We are Seneca Lake
Constitution Pipe Line


http://www.democracynow.org/
See December 19, 2014  program, 
interview with scientists
Sandra Steingraber and Tony Ingraffea 

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Keep writing and calling Governor Cuomo! 
Here's the number to his office: 518-474-8390, 
and his Email: http://www.governor.ny.gov/contact

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A note from Steven Foster I began this blog in October, 2011.  
Since then many powerful environments groups 
have formed coalitions that have been very successful 
at informing the greater public in NY State about: 

Hydrofracking
Liquified Natural Gas
Gas Infrastructure 
Trans Pacific Partnership


I highly recommend you look at the below list of websites, 
subscribe to them and keep up their updated infomation:

Community Environmental Defense Council 
http://www.democracynow.org/
http://billmoyers.com/
http://catskillcitizens.org
http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/
http://waterdefense.org/

Also see these more recent important articles and videos:

Why we should not frack NY State
http://www.nofrackingway.us/2014/02/03/binghamton-university-frack-busters-show-video/

When the Trans-Pacific Partnership Must Be Stopped
http://billmoyers.com/2014/01/09/fool-me-once-20-years-of-nafta-show-why-the-trans-pacific-partnership-must-be-stopped/

Potential Lawsuits to be charged agains NY State
  http://www.scribd.com/doc/119980103/Fracking-Regulation-Lawsuit

Transporting Fossil Fuels by Rail


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Important people to continue to follow:


Sandra Steingraber  click here
Tony Ingraffea  click here
Walter Hang, Toxics Targeting  click here
James Northrup  click here
Dr. Robert Howarth  click here
Bill McKibben  35o.org
Deborah Rogers, financial spin on hydrofracking  click here
Dr. Jannette Barth, economist  click here
Robert Oswald & Michelle Williams (impact on animals)  click here
Josh Fox, filmmaker & activist click here
Gov. Andrew Cuomo.  Call him!  Email him!  


!!!!! Important !!!!!!
New Yorkers: Write and call Governor Cuomo!  tell him 
Do not to put New Yorkers' health and the environment at risk with Hydrofracking and Liquified Natual Gas in NY State. 







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Note:
Below is the early beginning materials I used to start 
this website in October 2011.  Since then the 
Town of Canandaigua has created a full Ban on Hydrofracking
and related industrial processes.

Welcome to NoToHydrofracking


        Land Leased for natural gas drilling in the Finger Lakes (white areas=no info)
        Click twice on the map to get a closer look    Click here for Citizens Campaign Leased  
        Land map with 20,000 plots identified in 8 NY counties!  (long download time)

Please click on all red colored words in the text.  They are hyperlinked and will supply you with important added information.


Welcome!  I created this website in October, 2011 with my wife Gloria to support those who want to see Canandaigua, the Finger Lakes area, and all of New York State remain an environmentally clean and healthy place to live and visit.  This website contains important information about hydraulic fracturing and suggestions of things you can do to protect yourself and the environment from this dangerous industrial gas drilling process proposed to be used in NY State to access natural gas from our states shale rock formations.  Click on these two links to learn about High Volume Hydraulic Fracturing  more commonly referred to as Hydrofracking    This process poses a very serious threat to our health, our beautiful landscape, our lakes, water sheds, clean air, vineyards, organic farming, tourism, the value of our houses and personal property, and in general the culture we have known and loved in Canandaigua and the Finger Lakes Area.  We must work together to stop hydrofracking in all of New York State, but especially the Finger Lakes Arera.   
  
Things You Can Do:

1) Become informed about the dangers, lies and flawed thinking about  Hydrofracking.   Click on the titles below and any other colored hyperlinks you find in any of the texts.  You can click on the page titles in the Blog Archive (see above, top of the page, right column, below the flying birds).  The list of titled links below, for example, are from the Archive, and are highly recomended:   See everything at the top of this blog page; it is the most recent information available.  

2) Write and Call Gov. Cuomo  & keep doing it!  Don't Stop!!!
            Call toll free, email, or write Gov. Cuomo  Phone:  (518) 474-8390
            http://www.governor.ny.gov/contact/GovernorContactForm.php
         

3) Attend City and Town Board Hearings to support them as they prepare protective moratoriums and zoning laws  against Hydrofracking. 

                       
4) Contact all your friends and ask them to: a) sign Walter Hang's Coalition Letter   b) attend Town Board meetings; c) Attend the Jan 23 Hydrofracking Day of action in Albany (see above).   The more people who participate in standing up to the political, economic, health and environmental abuse that the State Government's desire to allow Hydrofracking represents, the more possible it will be to stall the process.  A moratorium will give us time to find safer and more responsible solutions to getting access to the natural gas in New York State than are presently available; and d) send this blog and other information you have about hydrofracking to your friends and others.  The bigger the network of concerned and informed people the better.     


         

There are hundreds of professional and scientific testimonies (by PhysiciansScholarsScientistsEconomistsEnvironmental Specialists, and more) regarding the huge number of dangers, flaws and hidden or unknown costs in the Hydrofracking process and the current SGEIS report.  I have supplied in this website lots of ways to inform yourselves about these things, including Hearing Testimonies, videos, websites, articles, etc.


If you have other information and links you'd like me to consider adding to the website please contact me at  sf@uwm.edu   Thank you so much.
                                                                    
Steven and Gloria Foster
3906 Chatham Lane
Canandaigua, NY  14424
sf@uwm.edu




Steven and Gloria Foster moved to Canandaigua in July, 2008.  They have two children.  One lives in Milwaukee, the other lives in Rochester, NY.
     
Steven Foster is a visual artist and a retired professor of fine art photography.  Please  visit his photography website click here.   In 2007  Steven began a project (which anticipated this website) entitled The Departing Landscape, a visual - poetic meditation on the dissolution of Man's relationship to the Natural World.  To see images and texts for this project click here.   Steven has also created a new series of hydrofracking photographs for this website.  Please visit The Hydrofracking Suite 
     
Gloria Foster is a gardener, social activist, ceramicist and retired school social worker.


Gloria first made Steven aware of the dangers of Hydrofracking.  This website reflects their shared love and concern for this beautiful land and water and its people.  


Rainbow over Canandaigua meadow,  October 14, 2011 - the morning I started this site
         
                                                                                                                                                                     

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Hydrofracking Suite:  four photography projects by Steven D. Foster: http://thedepartinglandscape.blogspot.com/2010/11/hydrofracking-suite.html


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    Coming Events



    WXXI AM 1370 Rochester, NY 
    Sunday evenings at 9PM July 1 through August 5: 

    ABOUT FRACKING:

    1.  Gas Planet: The Impact of the Natural Gas Boom on Climate

    Sun, 07/01/2012 - 9:00pm
    Gas Planet looks at whether natural gas drilling, and fracking, can help or hinder efforts to solve climate change. Innovation Trail, a collaboration of six upstate New York public media outlets led by WXXI, is pleased to present Gas Planet: The Impact of the Natural Gas Boom on Climate on Sunday, July 1, 2012 at 9 p.m. on AM 1370/FM-HD91.5-2. After filing several stories on hydraulic fracturing, Innovation Trail, which provides in-depth reports about the innovative technologies, businesses, and policies that are helping rebuild the region’s economy, brings you this one-hour special that looks at how new ways of drilling for natural gas could influence climate change. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has unlocked vast reserves of natural gas once thought unreachable. The drilling industry touts natural gas as a cleaner fuel that can reduce carbon emissions. But new research questions this assumption, calling it ‘dirtier than coal’. 
    Gas Planet is a special hour of radio from the Innovation Trail and the Allegheny Front.


    2.  Intelligence Squared US: No Fracking Way: The Natural Gas Boom is Doing More Harm Than Good

    Sun, 07/15/2012 - 9:00pm
    Pictured: John Donvan
    Communities across the country are weighing the merits of natural gas against the harmful effects of fracking. Touted for its environmental, economic, and national security benefits, natural gas is often considered a “bridge” in our transition from fossil fuels to renewables. Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” uses millions of gallons of water, sand and undisclosed chemicals. The process threatens drinking water and is linked to earthquakes.  Intelligence Squared joins the Aspen Ideas Festival for a debate with top thought leaders, airing Sunday, July 15, 2012 at 9 p.m. on AM 1370/FM-HD91.5-2.
    For:
    Deborah Goldberg
    , Managing Attorney at Earthjustice and nationally recognized expert on the environmental impacts of natural gas development
    Katherine Hudson, Watershed Program Director at Riverkeeper, dedicated to protecting the drinking water supply of 9 million New Yorkers
     Against:
    Joe Nocera
    , op-ed columnist for The New York Times, who promotes responsible natural gas extraction
    Sue Tierney, a Managing Principal at Analysis Group, is an expert on energy economics and environmental issues, focusing on the electric and gas industries
    The Moderator
    John Donvan is an author and correspondent for ABC News. He has served as ABC’s White House Correspondent, along with postings in Moscow, London, Jerusalem and Amman. He is currently writing a book on the history of autism to be published by Crown in 2013.
    http://interactive.wxxi.org/highlights/2012/06/intelligence-squared-us-no-fracking-way-natural-gas-boom-doing-more-harm-good

    ABOUT WATER: 

    Sun, 07/08/2012 - 9:00pm
    The world's population is growing, and with it, the demand for water. This month, America Abroad examines global issues related to water, from dams on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, to droughts and floods in Queensland, Australia.
    Airing on Sunday, July 8 at 9 p.m. on AM 1370/FM-HD 91.5-2, we'll also discuss solutions from water-related I.T. in the developing world to solar-powered purification after the Haiti earthquake.


    4-6.  RISE: Climate Change and Coastal Communities

    Sun, July 22, July 29 and August 5, 2012 - 9:00pm
    Image by: Jan Sturmann 
    Rising water levels are changing the lives and landscapes of the San Francisco Bay area. RISE: Climate Change and Coastal Communities, a three-part series premiering Sunday, July 22, 2012 at 9 p.m. on AM 1370/FM-HD91.5-2, features issues with rising sea levels and high tides specifically in the San Francisco Bay area. Extreme weather events are causing rivers to flood. It is no longer possible to halt all the impacts of climate change. RISE: Climate Change and Coastal Communities shows how our responses will alter our lives, livelihoods and the communities we live in.
    RISE: Climate Change and Coastal Communities looks to the San Francisco Bay Area for answers beginning Sunday. These are the stories of men and women living along the water’s edge – a fisherman, a farmer, a developer – and their families. As they grapple with the consequences of climate change to their way of life, scientists map the challenges that lie ahead and propose solutions. These stories reveal the tension around planning for the future when values differ between individuals, institutions and governments.
    Rise: Sounding the Waters airs Sunday, July 22 at 9 p.m. Listeners will take a journey of the San Francisco Bay, detailing the impact of sea level rise and extreme weather as scientists and planners figure out how to fix this corner of the world. 
    Rise: Facing the Rising Tide airs Sunday, July 29at 9 p.m. Ttwo families on opposite ends of the Bay as they face rising waters – but dismiss warnings of danger. 
    Rise: Chuey’s Story airs Sunday, August 5 at 9 p.m. This program takes place in the tiny hamlet of Alviso, where Chuey Cazares’ large Chicano family faces the risk of flooding from both the creeks above and the Bay below. Restoring the shoreline to wetlands could save this town, but the solution may be bittersweet for Chuey’s family.

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