By: Laura Brazak

200,000 people get their water from Skaneateles Lake. Less than 200 people showed up for a community forum on hydrofracking.

This was my third event and my first “community forum”. I applaud those who came out. Really. I appreciate you taking the time to be a good citizen. However, I did not appreciate the tone and demeanor of those whose job it is as elected public officials, to show up and listen. It was like they were doing us a huge favor. And those who weren’t elected…who were appointed or hired to DO THEIR JOB…had that same sort of condescending, patronizing tone. Like we can’t possibly grasp the complexities of the situation and to please just let them handle it. The whole evening was like bad theater. I especially liked how the one television camera man who bothered to cover the event, made a huge show of gathering up all his equipment and hauling it up the center aisle about 3 minutes after the event started…

This is about our water. Our water that comes out of the tap. The water that we drink.

It’s not about how many rules and regulations are on the books and it’s not about technology and it’s definitely not about jobs or road usage…

Everybody can be on the side of water, right? And as one lady stated: “You can’t drink money.”

We are blessed. Especially here in Syracuse where our water comes to us unfiltered. One of only 7 water systems in the whole United States where this happens. And there are already 100 parcels of land leased for drilling in the Skaneateles Lake Watershed? 18,000 acres of land IN ONONDAGA COUNTY are already leased. And the Onondaga county legislature wants a pat on the back for not allowing drilling on county land? What about all the other land??? So they move 100 feet to the left or the right? Really? Is that the best our elected public officials can do for us? There is the potential for multiple wells on parcels each needing millions of gallons of water to operate with no discussion of why we can afford to waste our water…or what happens to the 34,000 gallons per well that are left contaminated and radioactive.

The Oil and Gas Industry is exempt from compliance with regards to the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act and the Superfund, just to name a few. In 2005, Congress passed an energy bill that pretty much let this ONE industry off the hook. They can do what ever they want. Then the Supreme court said that corporations can act as individuals and make unlimited contributions to politicians. So what do you think is likely to happen??

I wish that all of those 200 CITIZENS would make an effort to inform family and friends of what is happening right here in our own back yards. We need to shake off our apathy and get informed. This is our water and our quality of life.
I hope that this note will inspire a few people to check out some of my links that I have posted or do your own research. This is important.

HydroFracking links:

* A review of Onondaga County records, only one-third complete, shows there are already more than 1,300 leases signed by landowners in the county…more than 18,000 acres.

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/10/environmentalists_meet_in_syra.html

* As of early December, oil and gas companies had bought drilling rights on almost 100 parcels of land in the Skaneateles watershed.

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/syracuse_urges_state_dec_to_ba.html

* In the 2005 Energy Policy Act, Congress exempted hydraulic fracturing from federal oversight.

http://www.governing.com/article/hydrofracking-natural-gas-worth-risk

* The “Halliburton loophole” exempts this practice from compliance with the Clean Water Drinking Act.
* In New Mexico, similar processes have leached toxic chemicals into the water table at 800 sites. Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Texas and Wyoming report similar problems.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Hydrofracking

* Pennsylvania’s oil and gas wells currently produce 9 millions gallons of wastewater a day.
* Tho in 2008 drilling brought 29,000 jobs and $240 million in state and local taxes to Pennsylvania.

http://www.propublica.org/feature/wastewater-from-gas-drilling-boom-may-threaten-monongahela-river

* As New York gears up for a massive expansion of gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale, state officials have made a potentially troubling discovery about the wastewater created by the process: It’s radioactive.

http://www.propublica.org/feature/is-the-marcellus-shale-too-hot-to-handle-1109

* New hydrofracking awareness group on Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=299066172191

* Fracking for Dummies by Laura Brazak – Everything you always wanted to know about Horizontal Hydraulic Fracturing but were afraid to ask.

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150092411965257

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Learn more about Laura Brazak here.