Category Archives: Steuben

CPNY is sponsoring a series of public forums to explore how to ensure that citizen voices are heard by elected officials and appointed board members that determine public policy. The first forum will be held at the Steele Memorial Library in Elmira, NY.The presenters will be citizens who have been prevented from accessing public information or have been prevented from addressing their concerns at public meetings. Also included will be attorneys familiar with public access law, along with an elected official who feels that citizen access should be expanded.

The forum panel will include:

 Wayne Wells and Tim Hargrave of Cameron Mills, Steuben County are long time advocates for seeking safer ways of liquid waste disposal coming from water treatment plants, CAFO agriculture and most recently the Oil and Gas Industry.

David Slottje,Esq. half of the legal team at Community Environmental Defense Council, Inc. (his wife Helen is the other half) has been a pivotal player in the formulation of legal strategies that have effectively guarded localities from unwanted gas drilling. Currently about 150 NY municipalities have sought legal protections. 

Rachel Treichler, Esq. has been an equally tireless advocate for protecting the state’s water resources and is currently working to ensure adequate supplies of water will remain in the public domain. She is currently engaged in challenging  the tentatively approved up to 1.5 million gallons per day withdrawal from the Painted Post area aquifer.

Jane Russell is the Supervisor of the Town of Pulteney in Steuben County and is one of 600 elected officials in NY who have petitioned the Governor to reconsider the adequacy of the proposed set of regulations called the sGEIS, which  may soon be the guiding document for unconventional gas extraction in NY.

The forum moderator for the evening will be former Yates County Legislator, Jack Ossont. 

8:00 AM                Horseheads Town Hall, 150 Wygant Road, Horseheads

If you are Reed’s constituent, you might want to give him your response to this story, which appeared in the January 28 edition of Ithaca Journal:

Reed looks to fracking for ‘manufacturing renaissance’

The documentary “Patriocracy”, a nonpartisan examination of dysfunction in Washington, D.C., will be shown by the League of Women Voters of Steuben County. Discussion to follow.

WHAT: “In Their Own Words: Shale Gas Economics”
WHO: Financial analyst, former venture capitalist, member of the Advisory Committee of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, and entrepreneur Deborah Rogers of Fort Worth
WHEN 1: Friday, April 27. 2012, 7:00 p.m.
WHERE 1:

WHERE 2: Saturday, April 28, 2012, 2:00 p.m.
WHERE 2: Spencer-Van Etten, Spencer Town Hall, 79 East Tioga Street

WHEN 3: Saturday, April 28, 2012, 6:30 p.m.
WHERE: Owego, Tioga County Office Building, 56 Main Street

WHEN 4: Sunday, April 29, 2012, Time TBA
WHERE: Lansing, Place TBA

WHY: We’ve been promised a whole lot of riches by the gas drilling industry but have heard only one side of the story. We need to hear from a professional financial analyst — not just industry insiders.

On Saturday, April 28, Tioga County citizens groups will host financial analyst and entrepreneur Deborah Rogers for two presentations. At 2:00 in Spencer-Van Etten and again at 6:30 in Owego, following an appearance in Horseheads on Friday and preceding one in Lansing on Sunday, Rogers will present “In Their Own Words: Shale-Gas Economics.” Both events are free and open to the public, and town and planning board members are especially encouraged to attend, along with leaseholders.

Rogers’ family has a long history in oil and gas (her great-great-grandfather was among the first U.S. wildcatters). She began her financial career in investment banking as a venture capitalist. She then spent nearly a decade as a financial consultant for major Wall Street firms including Merrill Lynch and Smith Barney. In 2003 she launched Deborah’s Farmstead, an artisanal goat-cheese operation. She quickly established it as one of the premiere artisanal cheese dairies in the country, known for innovative farming techniques and garnering national media acclaim.

Rogers served on the Advisory Committee for the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas from 2008 to 2011. She joined a regional steering committee for the Oil and Gas Accountability Project (OGAP) in 2011. She founded Energy Policy Forum, where scientists and finance experts educate each other about the economic anomalies and environmental dangers inherent in shale gas drilling. EPF is not dedicated to the interests of an industry.

Rogers began studying natural gas when she learned that a company planned 12 high-impact wells next to her property and pastures. Thanks to her persistence, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) began extensive testing of gas operations, reporting, “Gas production facilities can, and in some cases do, emit contaminants that can be deemed unsafe.” The City of Fort Worth commissioned a test that concluded 94% of sites tested had detectable emissions of benzene (a known human carcinogen), as well as other toxic compounds, and called for mitigation processes that Rogers had been publicly recommending since 2009.

With the severe economic downturn and collapse of natural gas prices, Rogers questioned the ongoing drilling frenzy. She examined the financial records of various gas drilling companies, finding many discrepancies in their public reporting.

Since 2009 she has been presenting countrywide on shale gas economics. She was featured prominently in a June 2011 New York Times article and in Rolling Stone in 2012 on the questionable economics of shale gas. She uses industry’s own words and her own expertise and experience to shed light on the real economics of this industry that would transform our region into a vastly different place—more like her native Texas.

The Tioga County events are sponsored by Spencer-Van Etten residents, RAFT, and Coalition to Protect New York. Contact: Maura Stephens, maura@coalitiontoprotectnewyork; 607-351-3766.