JARED SCHICKLING: although i agree that the quarry would be a disaster for inwr, there are some things worth mentioning in response to the rationale you lay out here for opposing the quarry. it's not clear what you mean by “the state dec has never turned down a mining permit"--that seems hard to believe in light of all the declined applications to frack in recent years. perhaps it's a technicality, where permit apps never get approved but aren't rejected outright, as a brief online perusal of permits issued by the dec suggests. and this gets to a main artery of your piece, that we should expect frontier to try and extract the natural gas present in the water under inwr, once it's flowing into the quarry, and that the deis' silence on the presence of this suggests frontier's intent here--except that right now the trend in the state is definitely not toward developing natural gas extraction, with drillers selling their land and trying to get out of the state. nys is hotile turf for natural gas development. regarding why the company would need so much legal help, and particularly from persons close to life in Shelby, well, that's s.o.p. with complicated bureaucratic processes like this.
RESPONSE:
Jared, thank-you for playing devil's advocate and starting the conversation. My thoughts on a couple of your points:
1. the state dec has never turned down a mining permit.
This one's certainly my fault and a point of sloppy "journalism."
Good catch. However, I'm not making the claim. It's in the list summary of
published reports on the issue, which are all linked to at the end. The summary's
also placed within the article in as distant a place as possible from natural
gas. And you're correct, none have ever been disapproved because of delays.
Having been an activist, I know this is a long haul and nothing is ever what it
seems in the moment. There's always confusion and intrigue. It was good of you
to check this fact and point it out this way. Indeed, there's been much success
in stopping these projects, which means there's no reason for defeatism or
cynicism.
2. in light of all the declined applications to frack in recent years.
I was
hoping no one would confuse the uproar over fracking with other forms of
natural gas extraction. I should have anticipated this while writing and made
clear that fracking is not an issue, nor is any other form of natural gas
extraction in "this project," at least I've seen no evidence to
suggest it is, other than Helert's reported public comments, in which he mentioned
the presence of "salt brine, dissolved natural gas
and hydrogen sulfide…"
Why were they testing for it? And if it was part of standard tests, why weren't the results published? Why did they have to be asked about it? I guess
if I weren't feeling so rushed because of the impending state deadlines I would
have pointed that out. And yes, bigger corporations have sold property and left
New York state, and that will undoubtedly be something Republicans will try to
exploit. Meanwhile, "local" corporations have mysteriously deep
pockets to keep things alive until the floodgate opens, which it likely will.
This piece's biggest weakness, I readily admit, is that I heard none of these
comments myself. My sources are second-hand, with the exception of data so far gleaned from the DEIS itself. I encourage everyone to be like
Jared: doubt, question and investigate. Don't believe anybody, including me. This article's by a person who's entered
the game late. I'm only trying to share all the best information I've been able to
gather at this point, while being completely open about where I stand on the
issue. I'm subjective. Look things up for yourself.
3. silence on the presence of this suggests frontier’s
intent here – except that right now the trend in the state is definitely not
towards developing natural gas extraction, with drillers selling their land and
trying to get out of the state. nys is hostile turf for natural gas development.
No. The
silence of its presence seems a cover up. Continental Placer tested for it and
found it, or, more accurately, its CEO said, only when asked, that natural gas was found in test wells
on the site. Again, why wasn't this in the DEIS? Also, they've already been working on it for a decade. They [I'd
say "Frontier Stone" but I suspect things, and prefer to refer to it
as "they"] hired a former local DA to smooth over the backroom
dealings on the local level. Also, reported "trends" must be taken
with a grain of salt. The real deal is simply private enrichment via
manipulated supply and demand by way of propaganda, smoke and mirrors. What's
difficult for people like us to swallow is how simple their public calculations
are: 1+1=2, as opposed to something a bit more complex. They only concern
themselves with that which they can quantify, as they should being purely
economic entities. You know the old saying: "Know the cost of everything
and the value of nothing." It's an election year and Cuomo's a snake. One
big gesture he's liable to make will be a major sell-out and defeat for
environmentalists: A ban on fracking while loosening restrictions on other
forms of natural gas extraction. And so it goes. Activism is Sisyphean in
nature, and if one's serious about an issue it's like marriage. You're in it
for the long haul and lots of it won't be fun. But you get up every morning and
give it your best shot. You might even end up in jail for something you feel
strongly about. You might also just as well end up in bed with someone you love at the end of the day. That's how it always seems to play
out in one form or another.
And if you want to know why natural gas
extraction is like adding WMD to shock and awe, think pipelines, etc. A whole
new infrastructure that would create the jobs and "local" economic
benefit that Mahar projects [by "local," of course, I mean those who
live here and secretly went about business against their neighbors' wishes;
beyond these individuals, there will be no local benefits…"Frontier
Stone" will likely get huge tax breaks while its profits go elsewhere].
So, the nightmare scenario is that "This
project," if approved, will have dissolved natural gas in the water
it's pumping from the quarry. It would be Frontier's responsibility as a
corporate person to profit from it. And everyone will approve, as the mine will
already be in place. But people will then have a fit that natural gas is being
dumped into Oak Orchard Creek [among other things]. People will be outraged
that NYS doesn't regulate such waste. Frontier Stone will swoop in and solve
the problem…it will be a PR coup with the payoff the owners planned all along. It's
the only way "this" project makes sense. I mean, why the hell is the
ex-DA on board?One other thing just occurred to me. The uproar over a lack of regulations about dissolved natural gas might create enough political pressure on the state, again manipulated by private interests, for the state to actually require natural gas extraction from such projects. Cuomo's Wall Street's boy, after all.
I'm not paranoid. That's how these things work. I think the key is to if not shift this evolutionary process from natural to artificial selection, at least introduce humane selection into the mix. Rather than letting Nature work on her own, allowing whatever to evolve, we might try getting involved by selecting our own preferences. And it's not a selection without taking action. We can evolve dogs for a livable planet, or let nature take her course. She will anyway, just like we're all going to die. But this is about this life. We're up against those who've surrendered to Hobbes' Leviathan [and worse].
To me, what matters most is loving life enough to accept its struggle and never surrender, especially because of the horror I've personally experienced.
Well, I guess that's it. I need to take a few days off to work on other things. By June 1 I'll post my letter to the DEC and a review of the DEIS re: the effects of blasting on wildlife habitat.
But Jared's fundamental point is right: The first step is to stop the quarry as it's now proposed. It's a horror as it is. What I'm providing, I hope, is a larger, long-term perspective, as I'm just starting and I'm in it until the end.
Please check out the links below and do your own research. Don't trust me. Correct me where I'm wrong. And please share your findings and opinions by June 9 with the Regional Permit Administrator Scott Sheeley at the DEC’s Region 8 Office, 6274 East Avon-Lima Road, Avon, NY 14414.
Also, please send opinions via e-mail to frontierstone@gw.dec.state.ny.us.
View the Draft Environmental Impact Statement and permit application materials at continentalplacer.com.
Sources & Further Reading:
http://continentalplacer.com/pdf%20mar%202014/Volume%203web.pdf 321-page report on Frontier Stone's proposal.
http://www.frontierstonewny.com/about-us
http://www.freewebs.com/stopthequarry/
http://www.harrisbeach.com/about
http://www.thedailynewsonline.com/news/article_6929ee66-d021-11e3-8a36-0019bb2963f4.html
Fontier Stone's environmental impact study: http://www.continentalplacer.com/
http://www.thedailynewsonline.com/news/article_e2ac14f0-c6a6-11e3-88d4-001a4bcf887a.html
http://www.thedailynewsonline.com/news/article_c4b3a9d0-d660-11e3-a75b-0019bb2963f4.html
