Citizens' Community Forum on Hydro-Fracking
Civic Event
February 10, 7:00 PM

Media Release

Citizens' Community Forum on Hydro-Fracking

Wednesday        February 10, 2010     7:00 – 9:00pm

Nottingham High School

3100 East Genesee St.

Syracuse, New York

 
Over 12,000 citizens and organizations wrote comments on the dSGEIS to NYS DEC. Untallied thousands wrote letters, made phone calls and signed petitions opposing hydro-fracking to NYS DEC, Governor David Paterson and government representatives.

There were no formal DEC Public Hearings on the dSGEIS in Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo and Utica. Hundreds of farmers and other land owners have leased their land to gas companies without being informed of the use of horizontal drilling and high volume hydro-fracking and its severe consequences.

There is a growing grassroots movement across NYS and the nation to ban hydro-fracking.

  
Within this context, citizens are creating a Citizens' Community Forum on Hydro-Fracking. We have invited a variety of local through federal representatives.

 
Confirmed Participants include:

Lee Macbeth, Syracuse Watershed Control Coordinator

Ken Lynch, Region 7 DEC Director

Dave Valesky, State Senator
Daniel Young, Regional Representative for Governor Paterson  
Mark Dunau, Northeast Organic Farmers Association and
Delaware County Farm Bureau

Local landowners who have signed leases

 
Representatives will open the event with brief comments.  Then there will be time for citizens to voice their concerns.

 
Concerns will go under the following categories:

Environmental

Human Health
Fossil Fuel versus green, sustainable energy

Climate Change

Economic
Agriculture and rural life

 
Contacts:

Stacey Smith   315-470-0778

Leyana Dessauer  315-470-0778

What local teenagers have to say about hydro-fracking:

Hydro-fracking isn't safe. Once the damage is done it can't be reversed.

Shay Resnick-Gertz, 8th grader at Manlius Pebble Hill

I'm worried about what all the chemicals will do to drinking water.

Hamish Gibbs, 8th grader at Manlius Pebble Hill

Once the damage is done the earth has to live with it.

Reena Tretler-Wirth, 10th grader at Fayetteville Manlius high school

It affects everyone. The future of our environment is in our hands. Government has a responsibility to protect people and make sure this doesn't happen in New York State. It's frustrating that so few people know about it and that the people in the government who know about it are doing so little.

Kate Montgomery  10th grader at Nottingham High School