To the Editor:
(Brookfield, NY – July 2013
) Recently, there have been a multitude of misrepresentations and emotional overreactions to the issue of local natural gas. While each of these should be addressed, I will focus on just two points at this juncture.
First is a point of law. The cases in Dryden and Middlefield concern Home Rule in New York state; as such, they deal with state law and New York state courts.
The legal protection to be pursued would be a federal civil class action in Federal District Court. The question of law being: Do the citizens of a town have the right to seize other citizens’ access to their private property without compensation?
This is a currently debated legal question and a very pertinent response considering, the effect of a [hydraulic fracturing] ban on privately held natural gas.
The second point I will attempt to address is farmland preservation. As a member of the Madison County Farmland Preservation Board, I fully appreciate the importance of protecting our agricultural land base. This is another compelling reason to support energy development in Brookfield and the rest of New York state.
In the 23 years my wife and I have resided in Brookfield, we have seen hundreds of acres of farms rendered useless for agriculture by subdivision.
At the root of subdivision lies the issue of profitability. When grandpa no longer has the strength to milk the cows or when a better offer than working 365 days a year for less than minimum wage starts to grow in its appeal, the cows go down the road.
As anyone who pays attention realizes, more often than not, the writing is on the wall: Who can afford to hold on to the family farm?
What if there are a couple of gas wells on grandpa’s place? Grandma won’t be forced to sell, the kids who work in town won’t be forced to sell, and the land can remain open and productive. Everyone loves the farms, and here is a way to halt the steady erosion of farms and the agricultural environment we all enjoy.
I know personally a Pennsylvania dairy farmer who has signed a drilling lease for more than a million dollars. He built another barn to put on some Brown Swiss cows for his wife.
The prospect of farming with money instead of for it is a much more viable long term economic plan; enough lip service: Do something for your local dairy farming neighbors and support responsible energy development.
Jonathan Haar, Brookfield
It’s a gamble, Mr. Haar. Your millionaire friend is apparently one of the lucky ones. The fact is that 5% of cement casings fail. So let’s look at Beaver Hill as an example.
I superimposed a grid of drilling units centering over your farm. In an area from Button Creek to Leonardsville, extending Northwest over the haml;et of Brookfield I projected 9 drilling units, each 2 miles long by 1.2 mile wide. Each drilling unit will have 12 wells (Could be more or less, that’s an average today.)
So in those 9 units over the top of Beaver Hill will have approximately 162 wells. At a failure rate of 5%, that means on Beaver Hill, there is likely to be 8 leaks. If one of those leaks in on a hill above your farm, you may find yourself buying water for your family and animals. One small farmer in PA did this for a year or two at $1000 per month. That was drinkable water, not the ‘blue’ water the gas company provided as remediation.
When you get beyond being able to pay for that, when you animals and children are sick, you will want to sell and move. But, it will be difficult for you to find a buyer.
You may be able to find a mobile home you can afford somewhere but you will probably have to give up your animals.
Is this a risk you really want to take? Did you come to beautiful, pristine Brookfield to take a chance on screwing it up for good? Brookfield has always been hard and rugged. It takes special character to struggle with it in order to enjoy the benefits. if you want an easy way out, perhaps you should find an easier place to farm and earn gas royalties. I hear there are plenty of places for sale in PA, cheap.
You won’t have ANY individual freedom against the power of gas companies, none of us have individual freedom from them. Have you considered what you will do if you end up with contamination? Remember 5% equals 8 cases of contamination between your farm, Leonardsville, and the greater extent of the area of Brookfield hamlet.
The reason New York has a moratorium is that we have visited and learned from PA. We have listened to the scientists and examined leaked from records from gas companies themselves.
Remember too that in 2005, Congress passed an Energy Act that included (thanks to meddling by former Halliburton CEO Dick Cheney) an exemption for high volume, slick water hydraulic fracturing from the protections of the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Clean Air Act. It’s called the “Halliburton loophole”. And THAT allows for the industry to take away all your rights to clean air and clean water.
Too all you poor tired farmers who are ready to quit and looking for a windfall …. good luck with that. A better idea would be to sell now and GO. And leave Brookfield clean. We’ll be fine without you.
Corrections to typos above: Drilling units are generally 2 miles long by one half mile wide. Well pads have an average 18 wells per which is how I derived above numbers. If they come, it won’t be a couple of wells. They will horizontally drill every last square acre, or approximately 18 wells per square mile.