1-Groton Town Board 4/10/12

The Groton Resource Awareness Coalition (GRAC) presents the Groton town board with the results of their petition to ban hydrofracking. Video in part 1 starts with privilege of the floor, followed by presentation of petitions. Dyan L Lombardi, first speaker, details how she was enticed by a landsman for Anschutz into signing a lease and what that has brought –”a check so small its not worth driving to Ithaca to cash…a revolving lease with no end that is next to impossible to cancel”…and, despite a lease addendum regarding surface rights,” a (possible) storage depot for all type of equipment and all manner of chemicals. The board hears from other resisdents and supporters of a ban, followed by a 15-minute presentation by GRAC. The lack of any town public hearing on this issue is expressed, along with many speaking in support of a ban with well constructed arguments. Following Privilege of the floor Joe Packard reads the group’s statement which refers to the many presentations in the past few months before the town board and in the town by experts including Bill Kapel, Sandra Steingraber, Deborah Rogers, Bill Podulka, and Don Barber on “the serious negative environmental, economic, and public health impacts that un-conventional gas extraction will bring to Groton”. The statement continues “Though we have learned much about the process of gas extraction, we have not yet discussed how the people of Graoton feel about the industrialization of this town”. Thus GRAC …