EPA hearings on hydraulic fracturing moved from Binghamton to Syracuse

[deminks]

http://thedailyreview.com/news/epa-hearings-on-hydraulic-fracturing-moved-from-binghamton-to-syracuse-1.936906

A regional hearing to be held Thursday on a landmark Environmental Protection Agency study of hydraulic fracturing has been moved from Binghamton to Syracuse, N.Y., the agency announced Monday.

The hearings on the controversial natural gas drilling process, which are expected to draw as many as 8,000 participants and protestors, including many from Northeast Pennsylvania, will be held in the Exhibit Hall of the Oncenter Complex Convention Center in Syracuse, after the EPA and Binghamton University, the initial host site, disagreed on a venue.

The three, four-hour information sessions and hearings will be held at the same time they were originally scheduled: 8 a.m., 1 p.m., and 6 p.m. The 300 speaking slots at the event are full, but the agency expects slots will open up because of the venue change. It will open registration for those slots by phone and online beginning at 10 a.m. on Wednesday.

(snip)

Binghamton University released a statement Monday saying that the event is expected to involve 1,200 registered participants, but might have drawn 8,000 people to the campus. The university developed a price based on the expected crowd size "to ensure that the campus would remain cost neutral," it said.

Judith Enck, the administrator of EPA Region 2, criticized that price in a statement, saying it was "more than 500 percent higher than the University's original estimate" and "unacceptable." An EPA official familiar with the situation said the price increased from $6,000 to $40,000.

(end snip)

Interesting last minute venue change.

[bherrera]

1. why do the hold hearings?

I'm from Spain, why would they hold hearings about this topic?

[deminks]

2. Hydraulic fracturing is a very controversial method of extracting natural gas

Developed by Haliburton. Called "fracking"

See entries here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_fracturing

Also see recent documentary film here:

http://gaslandthemovie.com/

The debate is over the economic boom to the Marcellus Shale area of the northeastern US promoted by the oil and gas industry, versus severe environmental and health concerns raised by people living in areas close to current fracking areas. State legislatures are passing delays in fracking permits until the mess is sorted out. People living in fracking areas report that the gas and fracking chemicals are contaminating their drinking water to the point that it is flammable and causing disease. Fracking requires injection of huge amounts of trucked water and unidentified and often hazardous chemicals into the shale to make fractures to release the gas.

There were four hearings scheduled around the country.

[bherrera]

3. I'm not an expert, but it seems a little silly

It seems to me the practice of hydraulic fracturing is safe. The key seems to be to have the state regulatory authorities request the wells be constructed in such a solid fashion they can not allow the escape of gas into the fresh water zones. And also they should make sure the fluids produced by the wells are not disposed into the natural environment such as rivers or the ocean. Other than this, it seems to me these people are barking in the drong direction, because natural gas is a lot more benign greenhouse gas than other fuels. Or maybe these people in Syracuse can turn out the lights and not use anything?

[northernlights]

4. it seems safe...based on what?

"People living in fracking areas report that the gas and fracking chemicals are contaminating their drinking water to the point that it is flammable and causing disease. Fracking requires injection of huge amounts of trucked water and unidentified and often hazardous chemicals into the shale to make fractures to release the gas."

Fracking relies on hazardous chemicals injected into the shale. These chemicals leach into the ground water, contaminating the well water. I've read articles about livestock in the vicinity dying from it and people reporting they are sickened by it.

Those reports are "anecdotal;" that does not make them false. The EPA needs to seriously look at this and determine for a fact whether or not drinking water is contaminated and causing illness and death in surrounding areas.

[SpiralHawk]

5. It ain't safe at all

Sounds like you got a brain full of genetially modified 'food.' Leads to mutant thinking. You can trot out all the mutant republicorporate talking points you want, but there is no doubt that fracking amounts to 'f*ucking' the land that is essential for human survival, and the ground water, too.

Fracking is creating massive problems.