The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) currently has a moratorium on shale gas drilling in the Delaware River watershed where Honesdale is located in northeast Pennsylvania. However, in late Fall 2011 the DRBC will likely lift the moratorium without waiting for cumulative impact studies; the agency is on a politically fixed fast-track. When the flag is dropped by the DRBC, we will see a 21st century version of the whooping and hollering homesteaders of the 1889 Oklahoma Land Rush sweep through the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River watershed as gas drillers bring in equipment on diesel trucks to build hundreds of gas wells, commencing a wave of industrialization of this rural countryside that will continue for the next 30 years (according to DRBC Executive Director Carol Collier).
Click here to see "Prep Honesdale" flyer
Honesdale is largely a pro-drilling community, swayed by the lure of drilling-related jobs, economic benefits and gas lease cash (which will benefit not only farmers and other property owners but the many banks, insurance companies and attorneys who make their home in Honesdale, the County seat), so the best we can do here, for now, is prepare for drilling's impacts before it starts.
Looking west to PA counties where the industrialization of shale gas drilling has already been underway for several years, with hundreds of noisy, smelly, light-polluting, air-polluting and sometimes water-polluting well rigs, intrusive and habitat-disrupting pipelines, noisy compressor stations, open-air waste water pits that stink up neighborhoods, heavy traffic (and even convoys) of frack trucks emitting diesel exhaust fumes, as well as community changes of increased crime and increased rents, we can see the future coming towards us -- and it's coming fast.
Learning that Honesdale Borough Council had not made preparations in a number of areas, particularly zoning regulations which have not been reviewed in 34 years, we launched an effort to urge Borough authorities to act.
Updated zoning is vital to be sure drilling pads are not located in inappropriate places. Honesdale is quite small geographically, so not a lot of drilling is expected here – but there could be some. For example, the Borough owns a 50-acre parcel of park land on a prominent hill overlooking the valley of Honesdale. Gas companies have already sought to lease gas drilling rights on that land and the Borough has said “No” -- so far. When the Borough has a budget crisis someday and needs cash, they could easily say “Yes.” Certain well-crafted land use restrictions and setbacks might effectively prohibit drilling (or placement of pipelines, compressor stations etc) on the Borough-owned park hilltop and other areas of Honesdale. These zoning rules have to be instituted now before drillers walk in the door asking for permits to drill on private land and before the Borough relents on leasing its public land.
Zoning is under the aegis of Honesdale Borough but other issues are not so clear cut. Still, we viewed Honesdale Borough, the smallest and closest governmental authority to the individual citizen, as a good place to start (* see more on this below). At the very least the Borough can act as a kind of “originating coordinator” to be pro-active to get ahead of the curve and coordinate with other levels and agencies at county, state and federal levels to get the job done in vital areas. There’s a lot to do to protect Honesdale’s environment, drinking water, air, and social fabric before gas drilling starts in late Fall 2011.
In particular, we asked the Borough Council and Planning Commission to pay heed to air pollution which could become a serious problem due to expected heavy frack truck traffic through the bottleneck of Honesdale which lies in a shallow valley where diesel exhaust fumes could accumulate over time, unable to be blown away, eventually potentially causing health effects for Honesdalians and visitors. Thus we urged an effort to find an alternate truck route circumventing Honesdale and if such a route cannot be found (or built), then to monitor air quality periodically and pro-actively alert the EPA and DEP should near-toxic levels be noted.
Honesdale citizen Jane Prettyman (that's me) submitted questions to the Borough Council in several areas. These included zoning review; planning for increased crime and increased rents secondary to influx of out-of-town gas drilling workers; baseline testing and periodic monitoring for potential air and water pollution; and exploring an alternate truck route around Honesdale. These questions (at risk of boring you with township details) were then referred by the Council to Borough engineer Stephen J. Knash who provided suggested "answers" which were read aloud at the 1-10-11 meeting. Both documents were referred to the Planning Commission for further review and planning, to begin with the Feb 2, 2011 meeting. I was not allowed to respond to Mr Knash and so will be presenting my responses at the Feb 2 Planning Commission meeting (copied back to Borough Council). [UPDATE: Feb 2 meeting snowed out, next meeting Mar 2)
Mr Knash was skeptical there was any “proof” of potential increased crime and increased rents with influx of out-of-town (mostly male) drilling workers. However, there have been multiple news reports from counties in western PA where high-volume gas drilling has been underway for several years and these reports were presented to the Planning Commission.
Look west to see the future coming towards us.
We have proposed a local rent control system ("renter protection program") to meet the threat of rent gouging (affecting not only low income but middle income people as well) by allowing reasonable increases in line with inflation and landlord improvements, to avoid tearing apart the social fabric of the town.
Respected local newspaper The River Reporter of Narrowsburg NY ran an editorial yesterday on the “Prep Honesdale” project that nicely argues the case for the pro-active approach to preparing Honesdale for shale gas drilling. It is entitled "How things get done." The author, Anne Willard, happens to be my niece but people who know Anne know she has a mind of her own. I did not influence her in writing the editorial and obviously her being my niece should not detract from its sensible logic. Excerpts from the editorial set up the frame for how we view the task of this project to "Prep Honesdale" for effects of gas drilling.
"How things get done"
. . . Many of Knash’s responses were to the effect that the Borough had no control of the matters listed, because other agencies or levels of government had jurisdiction. . .
It is important to understand, however, the fact that some party may not have direct jurisdiction over something does not mean that there is nothing they can do. The identification of the parties who do have jurisdiction is the beginning, not the end, of the game. Armed with that information, the Council can now start the process of preparing the Borough for natural gas drilling’s impact on air quality, crime, traffic and other aspects of life that are critical to the wellbeing of Honesdale’s inhabitants.
In fact, the way government works in this country is that smaller, more local entities—starting with individual voters—can get help on matters that they do not directly control by appealing to higher levels of government. Individuals don’t have the jurisdiction to stop their neighbors from putting a garbage dump on the property next door, but they can appeal to zoning officials to put a stop to it. . . .
The next step is for planning officials to sit down and analyze the potential problems posed in each area, and then make contact, by phone, mail or email, with the officials at the appropriate agencies and work on finding solutions with their help and cooperation. . . .
In short, “it’s not in our jurisdiction” is not a reason to sit back and do nothing. It’s the start of a process of conversation, negotiation and cooperation with the parties who do have such jurisdiction, or anyone else who can help. In some cases, the process will fail. But with issues like the physical health and social fabric of the Borough at stake, the one option that should not be on the table is to fail to even try.
We offer the example of Honesdale as an option for other small communities to replicate in situations where a ban on drilling cannot be achieved -- at least in the short term -- and preparations must be made.
* One cautionary note: In some counties, the gas industry has set up an "Oil and Gas Task Force" with a panel of industry-friendly persons to facilitate entry of gas drilling operations into the community. This is a cunning (somewhat Orwellian) community outreach (marketing) effort by industry to smooth ruffled feathers of local citizens alarmed by potential water and air contamination and other worries to which the Task Force panelists reply with finely tuned (and often misleading) PR talking points such as "Fracking has never been known to contaminate drinking water" when in fact there are numerous documented cases showing this PR not to be true. The Oil and Gas Task Force bends over backwards to make people feel warmly assured that shale gas drilling is nothing but beneficial with no downsides. The Oil and Gas Task Force presents the gas industry as a socio-economic God-send, speaking optimistically of jobs and training for young people to drive trucks and work on gas rigs, etc, making glowing predictions of boosting the economic fortunes of farmers and other desperate victims of a desperate rural economy.
The point here is that some counties, such as Wayne County PA where Honesdale is, have been "captured" by an Oil and Gas Task Force, an industry-dominated group with strong corporate ties unelected by the community, to which the County Commissioners defer on issues related to gas drilling, citing its "expertise." The closest analogy might be Jane Hamsher's notion of "veal pens" into which community citizens are gathered, appeased and misled before slaughter. They seem designed to do nothing except serve as a conduit for "education" from industry spinners. Their "expertise" is corporate brainwashing.
Here's an excerpt from a news report 1-28-11 in Scranton Times-Trib which gives an example (emphasis mine):
HARRISBURG, PA 1-28-11 - Two Energy trade associations are launching a public education arm on Marcellus Shale issues headed by a former state senator.
At a kickoff event Wednesday at the state Capitol, the American Petroleum Institute and the Pennsylvania Independent Oil and Gas Association announced the formation of the Keystone Energy Forum.
The forum considers itself an education association and not an advocacy group, said director Bill Stewart, a one-time lawmaker from Johnstown.
One of the forum's goals is to make industry experts on methane gas and water use issues available to county-level natural gas task forces that have been established in the drilling boom areas, he said.
Honesdale Borough, the smallest circle of our democracy around here, seems not to be under the spell of the Oil and Gas Task Force to the same degree as Wayne County which is one reason we've focused our efforts on the Borough level rather than the County. The shale gas industry are sharp cookies. They're pushing local communities right up to the edge of our democracy. Local townships and boroughs (those whose leaders have not leased to gas drillers) can be seen as the last bastions of elected democracy responsive more to the people than to corporate interests.
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Preparation for gas drilling is not really good enough, let's be honest. A ban on drilling is the best way to prepare Honesdale in some direct impacts of drilling inside the township but we would still get hit by frack truck traffic from out of town, air and water pollution plus increased crime and increased rents. Gradually, over the next 20 or 30 years of this boondoggle, we can resist by de-electing and replacing pro-drilling public officials (on local, county, state and federal levels) with officials who will prohibit shale gas drilling to save not only our environment, drinking water, air, health and social fabric but our democracy.