Many at the meeting questioned whether a six-month moratorium was long enough. Some favored an outright ban on hydrofracking, at least until the issue is studied thoroughly.
Skaneateles, NY -- The Skaneateles town board tonight unanimously approved a six-month moratorium banning hydrofracking in the town.
About four dozen people squeezed into the meeting room in the town offices, and for an hour residents rose one after another to speak in favor of the ban. Most were town and village residents, but the meeting drew out-of-towners looking for information and offering suggestions.
No one spoke against imposing the moratorium.
The residents feared hydrofracking – injecting a sand-water-chemical mixture into underground shale rock to extract natural gas from the rock – could contaminate groundwater and damage the landscape.
Mary Menapace, of Coon Hill Road, urged the board to establish a citizens advisory committee to assist the town board in studying the issue.
Many at the meeting agreed with Menapace when she asked if a six-month moratorium was long enough. Some favored an outright ban on hydrofracking, at least until the issue is studied thoroughly.
Town officials said the moratorium could be extended, if necessary.
“I just don’t think we should expose our groundwater to any process that is not subject to the Clear Air and Water Act,” Mary Beth Carlberg, of Franklin Street, said. She noted that no one knows what to do with the wastes produced by the drilling.
Bill Hecht, a former Skaneateles resident who now lives in the village of Cayuga in Cayuga County, said the state doesn’t do even rudimentary geology before issuing drilling permits, and state legislators know little about the issue. He urged the residents to raise the issue with their state senator and assemblyman.
George Rossi, a Skaneateles native now living in Syracuse, wondered if local police could handle higher crime rates, if firefighters were trained to handle drilling-rig fires and if local roads could stand up to the heavy use by trucks carrying drilling equipment.
He also said gas-drilling will bring socio-economic changes to the town.
“Just think how life is going to change, because life will change if you guys let your hand off the wheel,” he said.
Paula Conan, of Greenfield Lane, said the board should study the issue carefully.
“Oil and gas isn’t going anywhere, and the money can wait,” she said. “But, the environment doesn’t come back if we make a big mistake.”
Reach John Stith at jstith@syracuse.com or 251-5718.