From: Maureen Dill [maureendill@msn.com]
Sent: Sunday, July 06, 2014 3:54 PM
Subject: Home Rule!
Attachments: RD Jacobi Faults Map.docx; RD Jacobi Web of Criss-crossed
Faults.docx
On Tuesday, July 8, representing the will of the majority of Morris residents, town board official Marilyn Roveland is expected to introduce to fellow members of the Morris Town Board a motion calling for a ban on fracking in the Town of Morris. She will need your support at this meeting scheduled for 8 p.m. at Town Hall, Main Street in Morris. We ask you to make every effort to be on hand Tuesday to support Ms. Roveland’s appeal for protections for the community. Your presence and your voices are more important now than ever before since this week’s NY Court decision on Home Rule may open the door for the fracking industry in every NYS town that fails to enact protections against drilling.
A recent town-wide survey of the residents of Morris revealed that 70% of respondents are opposed to fracking. (Survey responses and tabulated results are on file with attorneys at the New York offices of the Natural Resources Defense Council.)
Community Environmental Defense Council attorney David Slottje is again extending his offer to provide pro bono (free) legal services to the Town of Morris in crafting its ban on fracking activities. In the past, Slottje’s offers of pro bono legal assistance had been rejected by town government. With this week’s NYS Court of Appeals decision in support of Home Rule and communities’ rights to ban fracking, the government of Morris has a green light to take immediate measures to protect the community and the welfare and safety of the people--not only against high volume horizontal hydrofracking and the potential for water and air pollution, but also against frack-related activities, including the dumping and/or storage of frack waste and chemicals on our lands, compressor stations and pipelines. As many of you may know, neighboring towns of Butternuts and New Lisbon have already instituted bans against fracking and it’s crucial that protections be put in place throughout the Butternut Valley watershed.
The men and women we elect to office have a duty and a moral obligation to put the health and safety of the people and the protection of our communities above any special interests, politics or personal profits. Everyone living in shale regions in every county should demand that their elected officials publicly and officially address these concerns. In response to the recent New York State Court of Appeals decision affirming Home Rule, NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer and Elected Officials to Protect New York coordinator Julie Huntsman, Town of Otsego councilwoman, released the following statement: "… the New York Court of Appeals reaffirmed the long-standing right of local communities to exercise control over land use decisions in order to shape their neighborhoods as they see fit." (Elected Officials to Protect New York is a non-partisan network of more than 800 current and former elected officials from all 62 New York State counties. Village of Morris elected officials were among the signatories to the organization’s appeal to the governor calling for a fracking ban.)
Reports of earthquake activity in the U.S. are increasing, including the states of Ohio, Oklahoma and California, often identified as related to fracking activities and wastewater injection wells. Studies of NYS geology conducted by Dr. Robert D. Jacobi, University of Buffalo’s Geology Department (see accompanying map and brief excerpt detailing faults, fractures and fissures across NYS from Jacobi’s 2002 report, “Basement Faults and Seismicity in the Appalachian Basin of New York State”) provide a clear picture of our potential risks—not only for seismic activity but also for infiltration of fracking chemicals into our wells, aquifers and other water resources. In Pennsylvania there is evidence today of increasing well casing failures—now estimated at 40%--and experts are predicting that most well casings will fail over time. With thousands of gas wells proposed statewide in NY, we must demand that our communities be protected.
If you care about your neighbors and the preservation of our communities, please come to the Morris Town Board meeting on Tuesday, July 8, at 8 p.m. If for any reason you’re unable to attend, please take time to write to Town of Morris Supervisor Lynn Joy, 93 Main Street, Morris 13808, expressing your support for a fracking ban.
ADVOCATES FOR MORRIS
PO Box 177
Morris NY 13808