PUBLIC MEETINGS SET FOR DEVELOPING SCOPE OF ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW FOR
HORIZONTAL DRILLING IN THE MARCELLUS SHALE
Sessions in the Catskills and Southern Tier in November and December
Submitted by Master Admin on Wed, 09/17/2008 - 12:35pm.
Sep 15 2008 - 7:00pm
Sep 15 2008 - 9:00pm
FALL GARDENING SEMINAR
How to wrap up the season and prepare your garden for next year
[FERNDALE] – Sullivan Renaissance will hold a fall gardening seminar on Wednesday, October 15 at 7:00 p.m. at the CVI Building in Ferndale. The program will look at how gardeners can prepare for the winter while getting a jump start on the next growing season.
Why does this matter? Under Bush's Energy Policy Act, energy companies that propose projects within NIETCs can appeal to the federal government if the state rejects their project. At the federal level, the merit of these projects will be determined by FERC, a 6-person agency made up of ex-energy executives. NIETC designation provides MAJOR incentive to profiteering companies like NYRI, whose projects are so ill-conceived they probably wouldn't stand a chance at the state level alone.
The DOE held two New York hearings at which the public was allowed to comment on the NIETC proposal: one in New York City, which stands to BENEFIT from the designations, and one in Rochester, which would not be affected. The DOE held NO hearings within ANY of the communities that NYRI has proposed to build its power lines in. Why? We think the DOE is in bed with big energy. We think DOE is trying to stifle the record of opposition.
Don't let them.
If you haven't voiced your opposition to the DOE proposed corridors, you can still give them a piece of your mind--for the record.
Submitted by Master Admin on Fri, 06/20/2008 - 9:39am.
Jul 12 2008 - 10:00am
Pond Management Workshop July 12th, 10am-12pm - bring lunch:
Thinking about building your own pond? Join CFA and learn from another property owner about how they built their ponds. To register by 7/9/08 or for more information give us a call @ (845) 586-3054.
Submitted by Master Admin on Wed, 06/18/2008 - 3:21pm.
Jun 27 2008 - 7:00pm
Jun 27 2008 - 9:30pm
Catskill Mountainkeeper and Sullivan County Planning Department
Co-Sponsor Educational Forum on Natural Gas Drilling in the Catskills
Friday, June 27, 2008
7:00 pm
CVI Building, Liberty, NY
Submitted by Master Admin on Wed, 06/18/2008 - 3:20pm.
Jun 26 2008 - 7:00pm
Catskill Mountainkeeper Sponsors Educational Forum on Natural Gas Drilling in the Catskills
Thursday, June 26, 2008
7:00 pm
Walton Theatre, Walton, NY
Catskill Mountainkeeper will host a public educational forum on gas drilling in the Catskills on Thursday, June 26th. The forum will bring together regional and national experts to address the impacts of drilling on the environment, how gas leases should be written to protect the interests of property owners, and what regulations and land use approaches are either in place already, or are possible, in New York. This in-depth panel will be available to answer the questions arising over gas drilling, for land owners, municipals, and concerned community citizens alike. The forum will be held on Thursday, June 26th at 7:00 pm at the Walton Theatre in Walton, NY. For more information and directions contact Catskill Mountainkeeper at 845-482-5400 or visit www.catskillmountainkeeper.org.
The Friendly Fly or Government Fly or Flesh Fly, Sarcophaga aldrichi
These flies resemble, but are slightly larger than house flies but they belong to the family of flies known as flesh flies because they feed on the "flesh" of other insects and animals. They like to land on people, animals and food. These flies are most commonly found where heavy infestations of forest caterpillars have been observed in previous years. The public in these outbreak areas are often appalled and annoyed at the seemingly sudden appearance of huge numbers of flies. As a matter of fact, these flies are an important natural enemy of forest tent caterpillars. They are the natural response to the large populations of caterpillars they feed on.
Submitted by Master Admin on Fri, 06/06/2008 - 11:10am.
Jun 21 2008 - 4:00pm
Jun 21 2008 - 6:00pm
Sullivan Alliance for Sustainable Development invites you to its
1st Annual Benefit & Solstice Celebration of Sullivan County’s beauty, richness and potential
Come...
Listen to the Liberty Jazz Trio of Bethel Woods fame jam with local professional musicians
Submitted by Master Admin on Wed, 05/28/2008 - 12:47pm.
Jun 7 2008 - 9:00am
Jun 8 2008 - 5:00pm
''Spring in the Catskills,'' a hiking and camping trip at Woodland Valley State Park, near Phonecia, N.Y., will be held June 7-9. The cost is $175; $150 for members. Call 570-629-3061.
Submitted by Master Admin on Mon, 05/12/2008 - 3:56pm.
ULSTER COUNTY FAIR http://www.ulstercountyfair.com/
For more information call the Fair Office:
(845)-255-1380 or (845)-255-1707
ulstercountyfair@hvc.rr.com
Submitted by Master Admin on Mon, 05/05/2008 - 1:33pm.
May 11 2008 - 11:00am
May 11 2008 - 2:00pm
11:00 AM to 2:00 PM
Callicoon Creek Park
Audley Dorrer Drive near bridge over Delaware River to Pennsylvania.
For more information, visit www.sullivancountyfarmersmarkets.org
Submitted by Master Admin on Mon, 05/05/2008 - 11:46am.
WCOCA Spring Cleaning
WhenMay 6, 2008
WhereWoodstock Chamber Booth, Rock City Road, Woodstock, NY 12498 (map)
DescriptionWCOCA needs volunteers to come and help us clean the town. Tuesday May 6, 9 AM. Meet at Information booth to divide up territories in which we'll clean up Woodstock.
Submitted by Master Admin on Wed, 04/30/2008 - 10:21am.
An important public information forum on the impacts of Gas Drilling in PA and the Catskill will take place on Saturday, May 3 at the Delaware Youth Center, 8 Creamery Rd., Callicoon, NY at 7:00 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Call 845-887-5155 for driving directions. PUBLIC INFORMATION FORUM • SATURDAY, MAY 3, 7 P.M.
For additional information, visit DamascusCitizens.org. • Damascus Citizens, LLC • P.O. Box 147 • Milanville, PA 18443. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060
Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --
USS Catskill (1863-1901)
USS Catskill, a 1335-ton Passaic class monitor, was built at Greenpoint, New York. She was commissioned in late February 1863 and almost immediately sent to join the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron off Charleston, South Carolina. Catskill was damaged by Confederate gunfire during the 7 April 1863 attack on Fort Sumter that demonstrated both the strengths of well-defended fortifications and the limitations of monitor-type ironclads. The ship participated in renewed bombardments of Charleston's defenses in July-September and was again damaged. Her commanding officer, Captain George W. Rodgers, was killed in action on 17 August 1863 during one of these battles.
Wes Gillingham, program director for Catskill Mountainkeeper, gave a talk entitled “The Future of the Catskills: Can Catskill Mountainkeeper Help?”. The talk was held at 7 p.m. in the Strawbale House at Hartwick College’s Pine Lake Environmental Campus, as part of the Conversations at the Lake series. Gillingham discussed his work with Catskill Mountainkeeper and our mission to protect the ecological integrity of the Catskill Mountain range and the quality of life of all those who live here. The talk, which was free and open to the public, was sponsored by the Pine Lake Environmental Campus of Hartwick College. Conversations at the Lake is a series of informal talks on subjects relating to sustainability and the environment. Read more about this event in the Oneonta Daily Star.
Submitted by Master Admin on Mon, 04/28/2008 - 1:17pm.
Sep 27 2008 - 9:00am
Sep 27 2008 - 5:00pm
Celebrating farming, cooking and culture in the past, present and future of the Catskill Mountains. Believe it or not but cauliflower was a big crop up here in the mountains. With a strong history of dairy farming and fly fishing you may not know this. But the western Catskills are experience a wonderful resurgence in sustainable family farms from organic vegetables to meadow raised meats.
Submitted by Master Admin on Fri, 04/25/2008 - 2:45pm.
Apr 26 2008 - 10:00am
Apr 26 2008 - 2:00pm
Meet at 10am at the South Road Boat launch site with your canoe or KAYAK. Call Mike Medley at 754-0743 for details. Sponsored by the Basha Kill Area Association, the watchdog group for the Bashakill.
Submitted by Master Admin on Thu, 04/24/2008 - 11:00am.
Aug 2 2008 - 10:00am
Aug 3 2008 - 3:00am
DELHI _ Art & Soul of the Catskills, a two-day festival celebrating the arts, food and music of the Catskills, will fill Delhi's Main Street from historic Courthouse Square to SUNY Delhi on Aug. 2 and 3.
Submitted by Master Admin on Fri, 04/18/2008 - 9:35am.
Jun 14 2008 - 1:00pm
Jun 14 2008 - 4:00pm
The Trout Parade in Livingston Manor promises to be another very fishy event, with wacky marching bands, funny floats, processional puppets, musical performances and a whole lot of fun for those with and without gills, scales or fins.
Submitted by Master Admin on Thu, 04/17/2008 - 8:47am.
A Certificate Course for Urban and Rural Residents, Planners, Land Managers & Design Professionals. This training covers the fundamentals of ecological design, given by two of the country's most experienced permaculture instructors, and many local guests. Join us at a rural retreat center near Woodbourne, New York. Upon completion, course attendees will receive a Permaculture Design Trainee Certificate from the Permaculture Institute.
Submitted by Master Admin on Tue, 04/15/2008 - 9:37am.
Apr 26 2008 - 6:00pm
Join us to benefit Slow Food Upper Delaware River Valley at BridgeWater Mercantile
Complimentary NYS wines and hors d'oeuvres from leading local kitchens will be served, and you'll learn about upcoming events from the new local chapter of this fast-growing movement.
Submitted by Master Admin on Tue, 04/08/2008 - 1:37pm.
Program Director to Give Talk at Strawbale House
Thursday April 10th @ 7:00pm
Wes Gillingham, program director for Catskill Mountainkeeper, will give a talk entitled “The Future of the Catskills: Can Catskill Mountainkeeper Help?”. The talk will be held at 7 p.m. in the Strawbale House at Hartwick College’s Pine Lake Environmental Campus
WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST FEATURE: FUN FACTS ABOUT THE CATSKILLS If you have fun facts that you would like to add to our list you can either login and comment at the bottom of this page or send us an email
Down in Texas the big gas companies are talking about northeast Pennsylvania and New York as the place to be. The Catskills and the Delaware River Valley sit on top of Marcellus Shale. Marcellus Shale lies under much of northern Appalachia 6,000 to 8,000 feet below the surface; the pores in the shale contain large quantities of natural gas. The shale layer becomes thicker from west to east beginning at about 50 feet in Ohio to more than 100 feet thick in central PA and NY. Geologists have known about the gas here for years but now with the new technologies of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, recovering the gas is now the big new "Shale Play" as the industry refers to it. We are seeing the "land men" knocking on doors to obtain gas leases for various companies, with Chesapeake leading the charge in our area (mostly the Delaware River Valley in PA, Sullivan and Delaware counties). Community groups are forming on both sides of the issue from landowner associations to better negotiate a lease to groups fighting drilling altogether.
What does this all mean to the average resident? It means that landowners, towns, counties and regional organizations have a very short time to come up to speed with all the issues involved with gas exploration. As a new "shale play" we don't have a history in this particular formation but we certainly have a history with gas exploration and the complexity of the issues involved. Here are a few topics we all need to look closer at:
• Hydraulic Fracturing: "Fracking” as it is called within the industry involves injecting water, sand and special chemicals into the shale layer at extremely high pressure. This then separates the pores in the rock and the sand particles "hold" the cracks open so the gas can flow back to the drill bore. Some of the injected fluids remain trapped underground. A number of these fluids qualify as hazardous materials and carcinogens, and are toxic enough to contaminate groundwater resources. There are cases in the U.S. where hydraulic fracturing is the suspected source of impaired or polluted drinking water. In Alabama, Colorado, New Mexico, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming, incidents have been recorded by people who have gas wells near their homes. They have reported changes in water quality or quantity following fracturing operations. Most of these incidences involve coal-bed methane production, which is a much shallower drilling process, but it highlights how poorly the gas companies are protecting the communities they are working in.
• Regulatory Issues: After decades of deal making between government and the industry it has resulted in exemptions for the oil and gas companies from protections in the clean water act, the environmental response, compensation, and liability act (CERCLA also known as the Superfund law), the resource Conservation and recovery act, and the Safe Drinking Water Act. Also, the gas industry is not covered by public right to know provisions, which mean companies can withhold information about the chemicals they use in the "fracking” process.
• Pollution: The pollution from oil and gas exploration and production has involved known carcinogens, reproductive toxicants, and other toxic chemicals like arsenic, hydrogen sulfide, mercury and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) including benzene and xylene.
• Fragmentation: The Catskills and adjacent lands in Pennsylvania contain some of the largest contiguous forest blocks east of the Mississippi River. This area acts as an important species corridor between the Catskill Park, the Shawangunk Ridge, the Hudson Highlands and the Poconos. There are multiple species of either endangered or special concern and indicator species of healthy vibrant habitat found here. The number of roads and increased heavy truck traffic and cleared swaths for pipelines to connect the drilling pads to the millennium pipeline will dissect these important forest blocks and corridor.
• Air and Noise Pollution: Drilling for gas is a highly industrial undertaking which includes numerous truckloads of equipment, chemicals, sand and water along with generators, pumps, drilling rigs and hoists. All of which are running at all hours of the day producing noise and exhaust fumes. When gas is found there can be a release of the various gases in the formation.
• Normally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORMS): NORMS are found in many geological formations and can be brought to the surface on drilling equipment and in fluids. Once at the surface it can accumulate as sediments in holding tanks and ponds. This is an issue in the Barnett Shale, which are not the same rock. However, NORMS occur in NY at higher levels than in PA and have not been tested in the eastern part of the state.
• Development: Increased development in other rural areas of the country where there are productive Gas fields has resulted in large influxes of industry workers which will have multiple impacts to the respective communities.
• New York City's Watershed: On August 6, 2008 New York City officials demanded a ban on natural gas drilling near upstate reservoirs because they fear the drilling could contaminate the city's drinking water.
The Ashokan Reservoir is part of the city's Catskill water supply system. (Credit: Jim McKnight/AP Photo)
They've asked the state Department of Environmental Protection to establish a one-mile protective perimeter around each of the city's six major Catskill reservoirs and connecting infrastructure -- a buffer that would put at least half a million acres off-limits to drilling. They also want to wrest more regulatory control from Albany. New York is one of just four major cities in the United States with a special permit allowing its drinking water to go unfiltered, and that pristine water comes from a network of reservoirs and rivers in five upstate counties. If the special permit was revoked, the city would have to build a treatment facility that could cost nearly $10 billion, said Walter Mugden, a senior official at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. That's roughly what the state estimated it would earn from gas development over the next decade. In a letter (PDF) from the city Department of Environmental Protection to state officials, obtained by ProPublica, commissioner Emily Lloyd said she was not satisfied with the state's assurances that the environment would be protected from drilling in the Marcellus Shale, a layer of rock that dives up to 9,000 feet below much of the Appalachian east, including south central New York state and the 2000-square-mile watershed. Find out more at Propublica from Investigative Journalist Abrahm Lustgarten here
There are some excellent web sites out there covering these issues more in depth such as The Oil and Gas accountability project By Earthworks www.ogap.org. A very important document they have produced is Oil and Gas at Your Door? A landowner’s guide to oil and gas development.
Another great document put out by the Natural Resources Defense Council is: NRDC Natural Gas Drilling Fact Sheet: Drillng Down: Protecting Western Communities from the Health and Environmental Effects of Oil and Gas Production. (October, 2007 PDF)
Most of the National groups have information on this topic especially concerning public land and the Sierra Club's Atlantic Chapter and Trout Unlimited are actively involved in the issue here in the Catskills.
There are many community groups throughout the country faced with gas drilling that have websites. Here are two for example that offer valuable information; FWCANDO.ORG from Fort Worth Texas, which is in the Barnett shale Similar to Marcellus and Damascus Citizens for Sustainability at www.DamascusCitizens.org an organization based in Damascus PA dedicated to "preventing the dire effects of gas well drilling, such as polluted drinking water, carcinogens in the farmland and food chain, torn-up roads, risk of gas fires, plummeting real estate values, and screeching noise polution."
In the Catskills there are a number of groups that are now working on the gas drilling issue.
Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy is a newly formed grassroots organization specifically focused on the gas drilling issue and keep a calendar of important events related to drilling of the Catskills.
The Delaware Riverkeeper and the Hudson Riverkeeper are closely monitoring and informing the public about gas drilling and it's potential impacts on there respective wathersheds.
**all photo's above courtesy of the New York Times**
** The Marcellus shale maps, horizontal well art, photomicrograph and image captions below are used with permission of Geology.com. Do not reproduce, reprint or otherwise use this content without permission from Geology.com. **
Submitted by Master Admin on Thu, 10/04/2007 - 3:31pm.
OCTOBER FEST Austrian and German-American bands, Schuhplattler dancers, lots of vendors, puppet shows, jugglers, magicians, horse petting zoo, and food and drink. All in the majestic splendor of the beautiful northern Catskills in the autumn.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Thinking of life without the threat of power blackouts? So is the government, and it moved Tuesday to ensure a nonstop flow of electricity by designating large corridors of the Southwest and mid-Atlantic as critical to the nation's energy grid.
Catskill Mountainkeeper, a newly formed anti-casino organization based in Youngsville, put up this billboard on westbound Route 17, just east of Exit 116 in Bloomingburg.Times Herald-Record/MICHELE HASKELL
Wurtsboro — The newest casino billboard on Route 17 doesn't say "Casinos Mean Jobs!" "Jobs Now!" or any of the other slogans that pop up on glossy billboards on the way to Sullivan County.
Submitted by Master Admin on Mon, 07/30/2007 - 10:32pm.
Mountainkeeper Wes Gillingham Leads Students Mountain to Tap
Catskill Mountainkeeper Program Director Wes Gillingham is led a a three-week "Mountaintop to Tap" trek with six high school students from the Catskills and six from New York City. The group hiked and rowed from the Catskills to New York City along the aqueduct system.
click here to find out about more about the trek
Teens trek through Westchester on 150-mile environmental hike
By MARC EPSTEIN
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: July 28, 2007)
YONKERS - Twelve teenagers tracing the route of New York City's drinking water got a guided walk along the Croton Aqueduct yesterday on the next to last day of a 150-mile hike.
FROM OUR ALLIES AT STOPNYRI.COM
