Natural Gas Firms Cited for "Significant Non-Compliance With Auburn Sewer Use Law"

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Update

See: Christopher Caskey. "Rally planned against gas well water in Auburn." The Citizen. 2011-05-26.

See: Scott Rapp. "Auburn group hopes protest sways city to stop taking wastewater from natural gas drilling." The Post-Standard. 2011-05-29.

See: Editorial. "Our View: Moratorium, study needed on wastewater." The Citizen. 2011-05-29.

Email correspondence between William M. Foster, Auburn, NY and Fracking Resource Guide.  The public notice published in the Auburn Citizen on April 1, 2011 follows at the end of this post.

Hi Bill,

I saw your letter in the 5/17 Auburn Citizen and the group letter that had several signatories including Margaret Foster. I wanted to post these letters to Fracking Resource Guide, with you as the author. I looked for a picture of you online and couldn't find one.  I also looked for pictures of the plant.

Here:  http://ci.auburn.ny.us/Public_Documents/AuburnNY_Utilities/pollution

There are pictures of closups of various sump pumps, etc. not necessarily yours in Auburn here:

http://www.jwce.com/tag/economic/

Do you know where I can find or take a picture of the Auburn facility in close-up?
Here is what I found on the type of plant by Koester Industries.  It's called a gravity thickener...

Here is my search:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sugexp=ldymls&xhr=t&q=Gravity+Belt+Thickener+and+Belt+Filter+Press...

If the link breaks in the mail, here is the search in short form:

http://tinyurl.com/3l7kobg

If this does look like your plant, let me know.

Regards,

Neil

The email correspondence began with this:

william m foster sent a message using the contact form at
http://frack.mixplex.com/contact.

Dear Sirs - we are a recently formed group opposed to hydrofracking in
the finger lakes - we would like to distribute a copy of your report to
a number of organizations in cayuga county  - would this be ok with you?

Hello,
The Marcellus Accountability Project (MAP) is here:

http://www.tcgasmap.org/

It is run by Bill Podulka, an engineer at Cornell.

My site does not have the authority to re-distribute original content -
it serves as a digital library.  I write annotations for many of the
articles.  You are welcome to print, email and/or link to any of the
material in this collection, of which MAP is one of the articles.

I try to present information that is accurate, useful and inspired in my
choice of articles in the collection.  The issues of hydrofracking go
beyond the well sites and touch on larger environmental, health, and
legal concerns.

Since my mission is to curate and distribute, I welcome your inquiry and
wish you

Best Regards,
Neil Zusman
http://frack.mixplex.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Neil Zusman [mailto:info@frack.mixplex.com]
Sent: Monday, April 11, 2011 8:52 AM
To: morgan.foster@verizon.net
Subject: Re: [Info] marcellus accoutability project

On 4/11/11 11:01 AM, Morgan-Foster Agency wrote:
Dear Neil - thank you for responding to my request - I have contacted Mr. Podulka's group and hope he will give us a favorable reply. We came together after NY Times article indicating that Auburn's Treatment Plant "cleans" fracked water. We are going to next Thursday's 4:30 Auburn Council Meeting to try to put an end to this practice.  Bill Foster

-----Original Message-----
From: Neil Zusman [mailto:info@frack.mixplex.com] 
Sent: Monday, April 11, 2011 1:00 PM
To: Morgan-Foster Agency
Subject: Re: [Info] marcellus accoutability project

Hello Bill,

You might also wish to contact Water Hang of Toxics Targeting:

http://www.toxicstargeting.com/contact_us

Regards,

Neil

Neil - thanks - my niece has e-mailed a letter Mr. Hang sent to Gov Cuomo
concerning Auburn Plant. Will be an interesting Thursday.  Bill Foster

Letter from Auburn citizens to the City of Auburn, N.Y.

We are here tonight to speak about the public notice and article that appeared in the March 31st edition of The Citizen. The public notice lists eight companies that failed to comply with the city's wastewater treatment plant regulations. Six of those companies are natural gas drilling firms. The notice states that for all of 2010, many of these natural gas companies failed to submit quarterly self-monitoring reports.

The city called their attention to it a year later. Within that time frame , the city took in over 16 million gallons of gas drilling wastewater.

The notice mentions that the companies submitted required certification that the drilling water did not come from hydraulic fracturing , or hydrofracking , in the Marcellus Shale .

Can we verify this? How do we know that this is the case apart from taking natural gas companies at their word? Is that all it is--a certificate submitted a year after the fact that the city's plant did not take a radioactive toxic mix that no wastewater treatment plant is equipped to handle?

We have little faith in the integrity of the natural gas industry.

According to a March 1 article in the New York times, in Pennsylvania natural gas drilling companies aren't even required to track what they dispose or where they dispose their wastewater. Chesapeake Energy, one of the companies listed in the public notice for failure to comply, is hydrofracking in Pennsylvania. We have watched as natural gas executives blatantly lied to a congressional committee that the chemicals used in hydrofracking are safe .

Chemicals like benzene, toluene, methanol, formaldehyde--known carcinogens and neurotoxins.

The natural gas industry says there is no evidence that hydrofracking has contaminated drinking water while people in Colorado, Wyoming, Pennsylvania and other states can now light their tap water on fire and suffer from severe health issues.

Bluntly put, the natural gas industry has no incentive to tell the truth. They are free from federal and state laws that protect public health and prevent hazardous materials from entering public water . These companies have been exempt from any responsibility to disclose what chemicals they use…

...We say no more.

Beth Cuddy, Terry Cuddy, Patty Beer, Bill Foster, Taylor Price, Theresa Walsh, Ann Foster, David Foster, Walt Aikman, Roger Beer, Teresa Foster, Devon Roblee, Andy Roblee, Laura Coburn, Steve Gamba, Brian Landers, Marisol Landers, Bodhi Landers, Amy Chamberlain, Jesse Reich, Peter Cramer, Diane Sauso, Chris Sauso, Dia Carabajal, Lee Ballard, Matthias Ballard, Vera Carabajal, Nate Vitale, Julie Vitale, Vanessa Carpenter, Nick Diego, Lisa Hoff, Beth Ann McCarthy, Jennifer Balyszak Herbert, Laurel Ullyette, Jennifer Kulis Starr, Dustin Orofino, Kelly L. Woodman, Don Miller, James Cantu, Jessica Cantu, Jesse Kline, Tom Yaglowski, Chuck Mason, Steve Kline, Rob Morphy, Carrie Gregg, Lois Brazak, Bradley Molloy, Jaeseena Bertot, Thomas Tracy, Matthew Smith, Joan House, Susan Marteney, Doug Ward, Renee Ward, Ian Connerly, Barbara Moody, Blaine Moody, Stephen Stomps, Steve Coleman, Judy Coleman, Rhonda Miller, Dean Aversa , Mike Trapani, Joe Librandi-Cowan, Penny Pitman, Mary Nellenback, Anne Mlod, Janah Autovino, David Autovino, Margaret Foster, Tracy Crandall Herman, Jim Van Arsdale, and Betsy Alexander,...

See: Gas drilling figures are downright scary