SUNY Campuses Sign Natural Gas Drilling Contract

via Buff State Protest; Alex Bornemisza

Five SUNY campuses in western New York started receiving natural gas last Sunday through pipelines from Pennsylvania in what is a $22 million contract SUNY signed with EnergyMark, LLC, a local natural gas drilling company. What's questionable, is that SUNY told EnergyMark not to disclose any information in their press release that the gas was received from hydraulically fractured wells, more commonly referrred to as "fracked" wells.

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a highly controversial method used to obtain natural gas from shale deposits because it relies on a highly contaminated mixture of chemicals (over 500) and water rapidly pumped into the ground to break up rock formations allowing quick access to the gas wells. Josh Fox in the movie, Gasland, brought national attention to the fracking process and its effects on local communities and the environment. Numerous reports suggest fracking contaminates local water supplies and drinking water to where tap water actually lights on fire. There is also widespread speculation that recent earthquakes in places like Alabama, Ohio, and even Pennsylvania, where SUNY's gas is now coming from, are attributed to fracking.

All of that sounds bad enough, but there's the question as to why SUNY requested EnergyMark, LLC not disclose the fact that the gas being pumped to the schools would come from a fracked well. Clearly, SUNY is aware of the controversial and dangerous consequences of hydraulic fracturing and wanted to keep this issue away from the people, students, and citizens concerned. Anti-fracking protests were scheduled on campus Thursday, April 19th in participation with Occupy Buffalo.

Ban Fracking in New York

Credo Action is taking a stand against fracking in New York State and they have a new email blast urging their followers to call Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office telling him to ban fracking statewide. Follow the link to make your call.

Fracking: EPA's Dimrock Announcement

The EPA released preliminary results of a 60 home study in Dimrock, Pennsylvania over the contamination of the town's water supply, specifically homes who have leased out their land to Cabot Oil & Gas. Residents say the company's fracking has contaminated their drinking water with such things as methane, arsenic, and sodium, among other chemicals. The issue with this report from the EPA is that they have only so far tested 11 homes, a fraction of the total they plan to test. Activists wonder why the EPA is releasing such preliminary results at this time and if this is to suggest Cabot is not responsible for the contamination.

"The EPA completed only a fraction of the testing it plans to do in Dimock, but industry groups and mainstream media outlets quickly jumped on the preliminary announcement as if it were proof that fracking was not to blame for Dimock's water troubles. Reuters, for example, ran a headline declaring that "fracking did not pollute water near homes" even though the EPA has not released the actual test results or drawn any conclusions from a study that has yet to be completed..." continue reading here.

Fracking: Truthout's Fracking Expose, Part 2

Here's part 2 of Truthout.org's fracking expose examining the claims from the industry and even President Obama's administration that fracking does not have as detrimental consequences for the environment and health as being reported. However, any objective observer knows otherwise.

"The natural gas industry defends hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking, as safe and efficient. Thomas J. Pyle, president of the Institute for Energy Research, a pro-industry non-profit organization, claims fracking has been “a widely deployed as safe extraction technique,” dating back to 1949. What he doesn’t say is that until recently energy companies had used low-pressure methods to extract natural gas from fields closer to the surface than the current high-pressure technology that extracts more gas, but uses significantly more water, chemicals, and elements..." continue reading here.

I find this article particularly interesting because it delves into the change in the industry over the last few years to switch from low-pressure drilling to these high-pressure techniques that have shown to contaminate well water in towns, rivers and streams, to the point where people can light their tap water on fire, as well as a major contributor to recent seismic activity (earthquakes) in such states as Alabama, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. The rhetorical question is: why did they need to switch to this new technique? Money, money, money...

Fracking: Truthout's Fracking Expose, Part 1

Truthout.org has started a 3-part expose on the dangers of horizontal hydraulic fracturing, otherwise known as fracking in the industry. Here's part 1:

"A new Pennsylvania law endangers public health by forbidding health care professionals from sharing information they learn about certain chemicals and procedures used in high volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing. The procedure is commonly known as fracking..." continue reading here.

I'd also note that Rick Santorum is from Pennsylvania. Something tells me he'd be okay with all of this.