February 11, 2014
Mr. Lynn Joy, Town Supervisor
Morris Town Board
Main Street
Morris NY 13808
Dear Mr. Joy and Members of the Morris
Town Board:
Following the recent elections and changes to the
Board’s composition, we want to take this opportunity to welcome the newly
elected members to the Board. Since 2009, concerned citizens of Morris have
appealed to the Town Board to address the known hazards associated with the
extreme energy extraction process of high volume horizontal hydrofracking known
as “fracking” and to present documented
evidence on the dangers of fracking. Carol Nealis and Dawn Sieck gave
impassioned pleas to the Board in 2009 asking for protections for our community
against fracking, and as growing
local and national concern increased over the dangers, concerned residents of
Morris eventually formed the citizens’ organization known as Advocates for Morris in 2011. In May 2011, Attorney Michele Kennedy urged
the Board to consider its rights and responsibilities under the law. In June 2011,
a signed petition proposing a local law banning fracking and a draft
Stand-Alone Prohibition against fracking were presented by Bob Thomas on behalf
of Advocates for Morris, followed by the Board’s formation of a gas drilling
committee.
With growing local and national concern over the
dangers of fracking, Advocates for Morris
formed affiliations with the Otsego
County Coalition Against Unsafe Drilling and New Yorkers Against Fracking, and retained the services of
attorneys from the Natural Resources
Defense Council (NRDC). The NRDC provides legal and policy assistance to
towns and local governments seeking protection from fracking through its
“Community Fracking Defense Project.”
Advocates
for Morris recently conducted a community-wide
opinion survey on fracking in an effort to poll local citizens. Survey mailing costs were underwritten by our
members and through a grant from Otsego 2000. The sole survey question—“Do you want to allow fracking for shale
gas in Morris?”— was mailed to every Morris household and generated responses from 462 Morris residents
over age 18. The unsolicited mailing
yielded a surprisingly good response rate of 33% and we would like to share the
survey results with the Board.
The majority of the respondents (71%) were opposed
to fracking in Morris. Those among the 29% minority of respondents who said
they favor fracking believed it would “provide economic stability and tax
relief to the area.” The survey
return-mail forms included direct comments from respondents that ranged from
“Thank you for taking the trouble to survey your neighbors,” to “Mind your own business.”
One resident urged officials to
“listen to the voices of your people,” adding that the “possibility of
poisoning or contamination of the water supply is not worth the risk.” Another stressed the importance of exploring
renewable energy sources. Several
expressed fears that property values might plummet if fracking were to be
permitted, with some saying they have delayed investing in property
improvements due to the threat of financial loss from fracking seen in other
areas of the country. Our recent survey
records will remain on file at the New York offices of NRDC, whose interest in
the survey returns is tied to the legal and strategic advice they are providing
to us in our campaign for good governance and protections against fracking.
While opinions may differ, growing numbers of
people are organizing nationally and internationally to protest fracking. It has been said “everyone lives
downstream,” yet who can really
say where upstream ends and downstream begins? Ultimately, every person is downstream from someone
else and potentially affected by the harmful actions of others. As other local towns have conceded, there is
too much at stake for the safety of our communities to consider the benefits
touted by the drilling industry for fracking in rural communities. From what is
known to the public, the drilling industry has very little to lose and
virtually no penalties to fear when failed wells, broken promises, financial
loss to landowners, water contamination and toxic waste are left in the wake
for innocent citizens and communities to endure and clean up. People are demanding
stringent governmental controls and accountability from the drilling industry
given the health and environmental risks associated with dangerous chemicals
used in the fracking process.
Public protest and
divided positions are clearly not limited to Morris or the efforts of Advocates for Morris. Our organization’s concerns simply mirror the
growing concerns voiced nationally and internationally. Because of those concerns, bans and moratoria
on fracking have already been enacted by many towns, counties, states and
countries to protect the health and welfare of their people. Throughout New
York State, there is growing hue and cry over the dangers of fracking and calls
for a statewide ban. (Elected Officials to Protect New York (EOPNY)
at nyelectedofficials.org has a resource page containing some good
reference material.)
Here in Otsego County, increasing numbers of
municipalities have implemented bans on fracking, including our two
neighboring towns—New Lisbon and Butternuts. Despite the bans in those neighboring towns,
residents still have concerns given their proximity to Morris. They question their
welfare in the event the government of Morris fails to implement similar
protective measures.
A number of Advocates for Morris members and
citizens of Morris have presented information on fracking to the Board during
privilege of the floor, requesting that the information be recorded in the meeting
minutes. The town’s records
contain volumes of written appeals from citizens and Advocates for Morris, as well as documented evidence concerning the
impacts of fracking to human health and the environment. Given this history, Advocates of Morris asks the Board and
its new members to conduct a retrospective review of this evidence by examining
the town’s records and meeting minutes in consideration of the many dangers
associated with fracking and how those dangers stand to harm our community and
citizens. While we
are encouraged by the results of our recent opinion survey and by the recent changes in the Morris Town Board, we once again call
upon members of this Board to meet their responsibility to ensure the safety
and welfare of the people by joining with our neighboring communities to enact
a ban against fracking in Morris.
Advocates
for Morris
PO Box
177
Morris NY
13808
Onceyouknow.morris@gmail.com
C. Natural Resources Defense Council
New Yorkers Against Fracking
Otsego County Coalition Against Unsafe
Drilling
