Protecting our water from toxic waste and toxic special interests

Chesapeake Energy, a gas-drilling company, would like to turn Pulteney, NY into a toxic waste dump.  This company is already engaging in hydrofracturing in Pennsylvania and they would like to take the toxic waste from that site and put it in an abandoned gas well about a half mile from Keuka Lake in Pulteney.  Let me be very clear about my opinion on this issue: I am absolutely opposed to this proposal and I will do everything in my power to prevent it from happening. As soon as we allow Big Oil and Gas special interests to put a toxic waste dump right next to one of our precious Finger Lakes, we have lost everything.

If this proposal goes through, we will have placed the future of our land and the health of our children on the line for the short term profits of a predatory corporation. Financially, this move would almost instantaneously destroy the property value of the homes on the lake as well.

How will it do so?  Hydrofracturing or “Hydrofracking” is a process where millions of gallons of water are combined with hundreds of toxic chemicals, such as benzene and 4-nitroquinoline-N-oxide (both of which are known carcinogens). This water is then blasted under incredibly high pressure through injection holes to fracture the shale and release natural gas. This poses a significant risk to the safety of our groundwater, aquifers, and lakes - period. When you take millions of gallons of water, combine it with poison and then blast it into the ground, there are going to be problems. When a well is hydrofracked, about 80 percent of the contaminated water stays in the ground and about 20 percent comes back up. It is this fracked water that returns to the surface which Chesapeake would like to truck up here and store next to Keuka Lake.

There are several troublesome issues here. First off, do we really want to get into the business of importing toxic waste from Pennsylvania? Second, because this well is right next to and topographically above one of our precious lakes, I think there are immediate toxic runoff concerns which pose a clear and present danger to the families and the wildlife of Keuka Lake.  Economically, the damage done to the local wineries and tourism industry would be immense. 

The huge trucks that would be shipping in toxic waste could also destroy one of America’s most beautiful scenic highways.

This toxic waste dump issue is the most immediate and most imminent hydrofracking crisis facing the 29th Congressional District at the moment, but the overall issue of whether we will allow hydrofracking in our backyard is still up in the air. In the New York City area, the Department of Environmental Conservation has included very strict controls over drilling in their draft regulations proposal. I think the citizens in Upstate New York deserve the same level of protection as the citizens of Downstate and New York City. New York City knows that hydrofracking has led to absolute environmental disasters in Pennsylvania and that’s why they are protecting their citizens from it.

If you need any more convincing, I suggest that you google “hydrofrack Dimock” to read stories about people getting sick, contaminated drinking water, and methane explosions.
The line in the sand is drawn.

I will use the full weight of this Congressional office to protect our Finger Lakes, our children, our economy, and our land. Those politicians that stand with the gas lobbyists are on the wrong side of history and I encourage all of you to join me in our fight for the future.