Highland Twshp. Public Hearing About Gas Drilling

A HIghland township resident asked me to pass along that there will be a public hearing in Highland Township on June 24th at 6:30PM at the Highland Township hall. It appears that Highland Township may be considering a moratorium on gas drilling until more information can be gathered about the potential impact on gas drilling in the township. The person asking me to post this didn't include the address for the town hall. If someone has that, could you add that as a comment.

Comments

[Nest Dweller]

Highland Town Hall is located at 2 Proctor Road in Eldred. It right across from Peck's Supermarket in "downtown" Eldred where County Routes 32/33 meet State Route 55.

[cee pee]

What's wrong with making a few bucks?

cee pee

At:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2008-05-20-natural-gas_N.htm

Landowners get windfalls from natural gas drilling

Pastor Elvis Bowman by a sign advertising natural gas production on property owned by his church, which will make thousands of dollars a month.

USA TODAY
FORT WORTH — Pastor Elvis Bowman of the Greater Mount Tabor Christian Center, an aging, homespun church in a low-income neighborhood here, has a new title: energy mogul.

By letting Chesapeake Energy drill wells and pump natural gas from beneath its 50 acres, the church has pocketed tens of thousands of dollars and stands to clear tens of thousands more in royalties each month after drilling begins. The money will help pay for a new $8 million church and performance center, a $12 million mixed-use development nearby and a slate of community programs to help the less fortunate.

"It's been an unexpected treasure," says Bowman, a preacher with a gravelly voice and infectious cackle. "I know without a doubt it was divine." {article continues}

[Alex Trebek]

Friday Quiz.

Who said the following -

*********************************************
"With every passing day, the specter of an energy crisis in this country looms larger and larger. The privately owned sector of this country’s energy industry states flatly that there is a problem, that it is continuing to worsen and that the nation will soon be on a collision course with a major energy shortage. Despite claims by some environmentalists that the industry sources are over-emphasizing the problem, there is now general agreement that domestic supplies of natural gas will begin running out in ten years, oil in thirty years, and uranium-235, the basic fuel for nuclear power, in thirty years. When this happens, the United States will become totally dependent upon foreign sources for these fuels. We would be at the mercy of foreign powers who would be in a position to jeopardize our way of life, our industries and our national security."
****************************************

[J]

Gas Drilling Info Website

http://www.chenangogreens.org/home/

Information posts can be found under menu item "GAS DRILLING."

And, under menu item "FORUM" there's a "Gas Drilling" discussion board, at which comments concerning gas drilling can be posted and/or responded to.

[concerned citizens of tusten and highland]

Cee Pee: There is actually a LOT wrong with "making a few bucks." While the landowners and the gas companies might profit, the neighbors and the communities will suffer in a big way. This is a dangerous, messy industry that is unregulated because of industry-advocated exemptions from the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Right to Know Act.... which means they have the right to pollute our air and our water (not to mention destroy our infrastructure, quality of life and property values) and we don't get to ask any questions. If you live anywhere near a drill site, you will see right away what's very wrong with "making a few bucks."

If you want to learn about the real downside to this industry, and the damage it has wrought on Pennsylvania and other areas, check out:

http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080608/NEWS01/806080359/1001

And also check out this site for more information:

http://www.damascuscitizens.org/

If you're a resident of Highland or Tusten, advocate for a 1-year moratorium by signing this petition:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/GASDRILLING/

Get educated. Don't buy the industry lies. Protect our communities.

[concerned citizens of tusten and highland]

Cee Pee: There is actually a LOT wrong with "making a few bucks." While the landowners and the gas companies might profit, the neighbors and the communities will suffer in a big way. This is a dangerous, messy industry that is unregulated because of industry-advocated exemptions from the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Right to Know Act.... which means they have the right to pollute our air and our water (not to mention destroy our infrastructure, quality of life and property values) and we don't get to ask any questions. If you live anywhere near a drill site, you will see right away what's very wrong with "making a few bucks."

If you want to learn about the real downside to this industry, and the damage it has wrought on Pennsylvania and other areas, check out:

http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080608/NEWS01/806080359/1001

And also check out this site for more information:

http://www.damascuscitizens.org/

If you're a resident of Highland or Tusten, advocate for a 1-year moratorium by signing this petition:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/GASDRILLING/

Get educated. Don't buy the industry lies. Protect our communities.

[ranger dick]

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THERE WILL BE GAS!
=======================

http://www.tenmilerivertrader.com/blog/

April 5, 2008
Natural Gas Extraction at TMR
by billmul @ 5:37 pm. Filed under Uncategorized
Found this on the web earlier today.

Bob Madson announced at tonight’s GNYC Camping Committee meeting that they
have a preliminary offer from a firm to extract natural gas from T.M.R.
property. GNYC is guarenteed $3 million to sign the contract and about $1 millon
per year in income over the next 40+ years if gas is found. The operation
would place 30-40 wells at locations all over TMR but away from the operating
camps. A gas pipe would be buried below the Schiff Trail and connect with the
natural gas pipeline which already crosses TMR property near the south end
of Lake Nianque.

Bob said that if this took place it would virtually guarentee that no T.M.R.
property would be sold over the next 40 years.

Here is a bit of background from the River Reporter a local Sullivan County newspaper. Seems there has been a lot of activity on the PA side too.

These independent contractors are asking property owners to sign leases that will allow gas companies to explore for natural gas, which is believed to be beneath the local land mass in large deposits.

According to the experts, there are three main reasons why this is happening.

First, the cost of oil has been steadily rising over the last few years, reaching the unheard of price of $100 a barrel. By contrast, the cost of natural gas from a local well is much cheaper.

Second, geologists are telling the industry that there is evidence that very large deposits of gas are contained in a geological formation called the Marcellus Shale, which extends from Tennessee northward into central and northeastern Pennsylvania, including Wayne County, and the Southern Tier of New York State, including Sullivan County.

Third, new drilling techniques, principally developed by Halliburton, called horizontal drilling, can now recover gas deposits that were unrecoverable a short time ago.

If this pans out (to mix metaphors), it would help to maintain the camp for years to come.

[SM]

This gas drilling in these areas is still pretty new and doesn't have much history behind it. I will bet as gas drilling progresses and more land owners sign on there will be disastrous consequences for all of us to pay. The gas companies use a secret mixture of chemicals to extract the gas, where do you think these chemicals end up? You don't know it yet but as more water wells continue to get poisoned, there will be tons of litigation in courts between neighbors. You can not sue the gas companies b/c of their high powered attorneys and their LEGAL poisonous chemical mixtures, so neighbors will have no choice but to sue each other. So the end result is contaminated land and water and not to mention paying back all drilling royalties/income back.
Don't be tempted by these gas companies, its all frivolous. Instead consider leases of windmills and solar panels on your land, you would be helping to reduce energy costs and most importantly you will be saving your health!