Concerns of North Fork residents are legitimate

Editor’s note: This letter was either edited for length in the print edition, or was not printed due to space restrictions.

Dear Editor:
In a Feb. 1 DCI article, “Group hopes drilling facts may calm North Fork fears,” written by Hank Lohmeyer, Barb Sharrow is quoted as saying that that “in the last six weeks we have seen that there is a lot of misinformation in the North Fork Valley, there are people who have literally put their houses on the market for sale because of their fear of drilling rigs.”

Ms. Sharrow does the residents of the North Fork a disservice with this comment, and I would counter that the residents are well informed. They have done their homework. They have observed how the introduction of the natural gas industry in other communities has drastically changed the character of those areas. They understand that with these changes land values decline as do sectors of the economy such as tourism. They listen to renowned scientists like Theo Colburn, who warn us of the dangers of the chemicals used in the drilling and fracking fluids and the known links between these chemicals and serious permanent neurological and other diseases. They have read about air pollution now plaguing areas of natural gas drilling in Wyoming, Utah and Colorado and how ground ozone levels are now sometimes approaching and exceeding EPA standards. They have also listened to reports about areas such as Pavilion, Wyo., where the EPA has found a link between contamination of a water well and the fracking fluid used nearby. They have heard news reports of seismic activity in Ohio and Oklahoma that geologists associate with natural gas drilling and reinjection wells, and they have made the logical extension that drilling around the coal mines may place miners in danger.

They also realize that regulations exist for the industry, but they haven’t forgotten that the industry still has exemptions from the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Resource and Conservation and Recovery Act, the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and the Super Fund Act. They also understand that many regulations appear after problems have occurred and that regulations are usually watered down due to the disproportionate influence the industry has on the regulatory process. If the intention of the Natural Gas Collaborative Group’s March 3 forum is to inform us that our concerns are groundless, they may find the residents not so easily convinced. As the natural gas drilling continues to expand across the country the evidence of the harm it is causing is mounting; the technology used in this industry has preceded without a clear and full understanding of its negative impacts on human health, water and air quality, and the environment. The concerns of North Fork residents are legitimate.

Danielle Carre’
Hotchkiss