Lois Gibbs, Environmental Health & Justice Activist, to Speak in Lockport

                      Photo: James Neiss

Lois Gibbs, the former Niagara Falls resident who led the fight for evacuation of the Love Canal neighborhood plagued by toxic chemical pollution 40 years ago, will return for a speaking engagement and panel discussion.

Gibbs will speak on Saturday, November 3 at the Cornell Cooperative Extension, 4487 Lake Ave., Lockport [Map], for a discussion on local environmental issues. She will hold a meet-and-greet at 9 AM, a news conference at 9:30 and a panel discussion at 10 AM. The event is sponsored by the Niagara County Democratic Committee and is free and open to the public.
 
Lois Gibbs was critical in the creation of the Superfund, a federal government program designed to fund the cleanup of toxic wastes. Gibbs is the founder of the Center for Health, Environment and Justice and lives in Virginia.

The discussion panel will include:

• Lois Gibbs, Exec. Director of the Center for Health, Environment, and Justice

• Richard Lipsitz, WNY ALF President

• Russ Quarantello, IBEW 237 Business Manager

• Diane Lemanski, Babcock Neighborhood Organizer (Clean Air Coalition)

• Bev Kinney, Grand Island Town Councilwoman

• Representative for Citizens for Responsible Government  

FRACKING NEWS

Families sick from fracking exposure turn to concerned scientists | The Inquirer

Like people in other regions transformed by the shale energy boom, residents of Washington County, Pennsylvania have complained of headaches, nosebleeds and skin rashes. But because there are no comprehensive studies about the health impacts of natural gas drilling, it's hard to determine if their problems are linked to the gas wells and other production facilities that have sprung up around them.

A group of scientists from Pennsylvania and neighboring states have stepped in to fill this gap by forming a nonprofit—apparently the first of its kind in the United States—that provides free health consultations to local families near drilling sites. Instead of waiting years or even decades for long-term studies to emerge, the Southwest Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project (SWPA-EHP) is using the best available science to help people deal with their ailments.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection—which oversees the oil and gas industry—has no ongoing or planned health studies, though it is researching air and water quality at certain sites. None of the hundreds of millions of dollars in impact fees the state has collected from the industry since 2011 has gone to state or local health departments.

A governor-appointed commission recommended in 2011 that a health registry be created to track Pennsylvanians living near drilling sites. But no registry has been established. In June, the news organization StateImpact Pennsylvania reported that two former employees of the health department were told to avoid talking about Marcellus shale activity, and to stop returning phone calls from people concerned about drilling impacts.

Read the full report here.

Major Scientific Document Shows Why New York Fracking Moratorium Is Imperative | EcoWatch

Many New Yorkers continue to rally and push for a statewide fracking moratorium. In this vein, Concerned Health Professionals of New York (CHPNY) released a major resource to the public, including public officials, researchers and journalists—the Compendium of Scientific, Medical and Media Findings Demonstrating Risks and Harms of Fracking.

“This compilation of findings brings together data from many fields of study and reveals the diversity of the problems with fracking—from increased flood risks to increased crime risks, from earthquakes to methane leaks,” said Sandra Steingraber, PhD. “What this multitude of threats all has in common is the ability to harm public health. That’s our message to Governor Cuomo and Acting Health Commissioner Zucker.”

As mounting evidence continues to find more costs than benefits to fracking, the compendium explains the motivation for compiling and making public the scientific, medical and media findings:
Despite this emerging body of knowledge, industry secrecy and government inaction continue to thwart scientific inquiry, leaving many potential problems—especially cumulative, long-term risks—unidentified, unmonitored and largely unexplored.

This problem is compounded by non-disclosure agreements, sealed court records and legal settlements that prevent families (and their doctors) from discussing injuries. As a result, no comprehensive inventory of human hazards yet exists.

The compendium covers in detail 15 dangers, risks and associated trends created by the fracking process.

In light of these findings, referenced with more than 300 citations, and remaining fundamental data gaps, CHPNY considers a fracking moratorium “the only appropriate and ethical course of action while scientific and medical knowledge on the impacts of fracking continues to emerge.”

The full report is here.

The compendium of dangers is current through June 30, 2014  and is available to download here.

EPA Draft Fracking Wastewater Guidance Suggests Closer Scrutiny for Treatment Plants | DeSmog

One of the most intractable problems related to fracking is that each well drilled creates millions of gallons of radioactive and toxic wastewater.

For the past several years, the Environmental Protection Agency has faced enormous public pressure to ensure this dangerous waste stops ending up dumped in rivers or causing contamination in other ways.

But the drilling boom has proceeded at such an accelerated pace in the United States that regulators have struggled to keep up, to control or even track where the oil and gas industry is disposing of this radioactive waste. As a consequence, hundreds of millions of gallons of partially treated waste have ended up in the rivers from which millions of Americans get their drinking water.

An internal draft EPA document leaked to DeSmog gives a small window into how, after a full decade since the start of the drilling boom, the agency is responding.

The document, dated March 7, 2014, is titled “National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permitting and Pretreatment for Shale Gas Extraction Wastewaters: Frequently Asked Questions.”
It's revealing for what it shows about how EPA staff are taking the hazards of fracking wastewater more seriously — and also how little things have changed.

The document, intended as a guide for local regulators on how the Clean Water Act should be interpreted and applied, is impressive in many ways.

The EPA's new draft document now lists almost two dozen individual substances — like benzene, radium, and arsenic — that it says have been found at high enough levels in shale wastewater to cause concern. By contrast, the 2011 version focused mostly on the high levels of salts found in the waste.

The new document also explains that the substances it lists are not the only potential pollutants that must be removed before water can be considered fully treated and ready to enter rivers and streams. It explains that each treatment plant can only take wastewater once regulators are satisfied that they know what is actually in it.

Read the full report here.

Download the draft EPA document here.

GAO Report: Drinking Water at Risk from Underground Fracking Waste Injection | EcoWatch 

According to U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), this study was conducted because:

Every day in the U.S. at least 2 billion gallons of fluids are injected into more than 172,000 wells to enhance oil and gas production, or to dispose of fluids brought to the surface during the extraction of oil and gas resources. These wells are subject to regulation to protect drinking water sources under EPA’s UIC class II program and approved state class II programs. Because much of the population relies on underground sources for drinking water, these wells have raised concerns about the safety of the nation’s drinking water.

“The federal government’s watchdog (GAO) is saying what communities across the country have known for years: fracking is putting Americans at risk,” said Amy Mall, senior policy analyst at the Natural Resources Defense Council. ”From drinking water contamination to man-made earthquakes, the reckless way oil and gas companies deal with their waste is a big problem. Outdated rules and insufficient enforcement are largely to blame. EPA needs to rein in this industry run amok.”

Read the full report here.

Fracking’s methane problem: Study finds new, unconventional wells leak more than old ones | Salon

Controversial new research identifies defects in Pennsylvania's gas wells

Fracking in Pennsylvania’s natural gas-rich Marcellus shale has a major methane problem, a new study finds. Analyzing the data from more than 75,000 state inspections going back to 2000, a team of four researchers concluded that gas wells are leaking the chemical, a potent greenhouse gas with a long-term effect on global warming greater even than CO2′s, at an alarming rate.

The research, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was led by Cornell University’s Anthony Ingraffea, a vocal opponent of fracking. The leaks, according to the study, might be due to problems in the wells’ cement casings. Basically, explained Ingraffea, “Something is coming out of it that shouldn’t, in a place that it shouldn’t.”

The crux of his findings, via the Associated Press:

• Overall, older wells — those drilled before 2009 — had a leak rate of about 1 percent. Most were traditional wells, drilling straight down. Unconventional wells — those drilled horizontally and commonly referred to as fracking — didn’t come on the scene until 2006 and quickly took over.

• Newer traditional wells drilled after 2009 had a leak rate of about 2 percent; the rate for unconventional wells was about 6 percent, the study found.

• The leak rate reached as high as nearly 10 percent horizontally drilled wells for before and after 2009 in the northeastern part of the state, where drilling is hot and heavy.

The full report is here.

The significance, abstract and link to the paper by Ingraffea et al. published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is here.

FRACKING NEWS

REPORT - Disclosing the Facts: Transparency and Risk in Hydraulic Fracturing Operations
Companies across the board are failing to report reductions of their impacts on communities and the environment from hydraulic fracturing.

The oil & gas production industry is consistently failing to report measurable reductions of its impacts on communities and the environment from hydraulic fracturing operations, according to a scorecard report released by As You Sow, Boston Common Asset Management, Green Century Capital Management, and the Investor Environmental Health Network.

The report, Disclosing the Facts: Transparency and Risk in Hydraulic Fracturing Operations, benchmarks 24 companies engaged in hydraulic fracturing against investor needs for disclosure of operational impacts and mitigation efforts.

While scores varied, no firm succeeded in disclosing information on even half of the selected 32 indicators related to management of toxic chemicals, water and waste, air emissions, community impacts, and governance. Even the highest scoring company, Encana Corporation (ECA) provided sufficient disclosure on just 14 of the 32 indicators. The lowest scoring companies were: BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) (2 of out 32 indicators); BP plc (BP) (2 out of 32 indicators); Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) (2 out of 32 indicators); Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) (2 out of 32 indicators); Southwestern Energy Co. (SWN) (2 out of 32 indicators); and, in last place, QEP Resources, Inc. (QEP) (1 out of 32 indicators).

The report notes that measurement and disclosure of best management practices and impacts is the primary means by which investors can assess how companies are managing the impacts of their hydraulic fracturing operations on communities and the environment.

Institutional investors have been pressing oil and gas companies since 2009 for greater disclosure of their risk management practices. Investors have engaged over two dozen companies, filing nearly 40 shareholder proposals on these issues to date. The shareholder proposals have led to improved disclosures at many of the companies, but the scorecard report notes that much of this disclosure is narrative and qualitative in form, while quantifiable data are lacking. 

Read the full report here.


In Fracking Fight, a Worry About How Best to Measure Health Threats
In Pennsylvania, opponents of gas drilling say regulators are slow and unprepared in responding to air quality complaints.

There are more than 6,000 active gas wells in Pennsylvania. And every week, those drilling sites generate scores of complaints from the state’s residents, including many about terrible odors and contaminated water.

How the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection handles those complaints has worsened the already raw and angry divide between fearful residents and the state regulators charged with overseeing the burgeoning gas drilling industry.

 For instance, the agency’s own manual for dealing with complaints is explicit about what to do if someone reports concerns about a noxious odor, but is not at that very moment experiencing the smell: “DO NOT REGISTER THE COMPLAINT.”

When a resident does report a real-time alarm about the air quality in or around their home, the agency typically has two weeks to conduct an investigation. If no odor is detected when investigators arrive on the scene, the case is closed.

Read the full report here.

Finger Lakes Winemakers to Cuomo: Ban Fracking in New York
The dangers of fracking are becoming increasingly well-known as study after study shows how it contaminates water -- a critical resource for our industries.

Fracking would jeopardize the safety of the water we rely on for producing our wine -- the same water relied upon by the beer industry and other farm-based beverage industries.

States have confirmed water contamination resulting from fracking, and recent scientific studies by three major American universities -- from three different states that permit fracking -- substantiate those dangers to water supplies.

That simply doesn't mix with brewing beer, producing wine or other beverages.

Read the full article here.


Fracking Exports Will Leave U.S. Communities in the Dark

Last month, thirty Senate Democrats -- members of the "climate caucus" -- stayed Up All Night on the Senate floor to speak out about climate change. This was an important moment to highlight the most critical environmental issue of our time.

What was not mentioned however, was the massive threat to our planet posed by exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) extracted through the increasingly controversial process known as "fracking." Yet legislation authored by one of their own -- Senator Mark Udall (D-CO) and a House bill by Congressman Cory Gardner (R-CO), would tear down barriers to the export of LNG, potentially spurring a massive increase in fracking, exacerbating the problems the senators spoke out against.

Read more here.


Toward a better understanding and quantification of methane emissions from shale gas development

Significance: We identified a significant regional flux of methane over a large area of shale gas wells in southwestern Pennsylvania in the Marcellus formation and further identified several pads with high methane emissions. These shale gas pads were identified as in the drilling process, a preproduction stage not previously associated with high methane emissions. This work emphasizes the need for top-down identification and component level and event driven measurements of methane leaks to properly inventory the combined methane emissions of natural gas extraction and combustion to better define the impacts of our nation’s increasing reliance on natural gas to meet our energy needs.

Read the publication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Public Meeting: Amherst Town Board Proposes Fracking Ban

WHEN: Monday, April 28, 2014 at 7:00 pm
WHERE: Town of Amherst Municipal Bldg., 5583 Main St., Williamsville
MAP: Click Here

The Town Board of Amherst will propose a resolution that could lead to a local ban on fracking, disposal of fracking waste, and road spreading of brine in the town at their next meeting. We need you there to make sure that it passes! 

Amherst and area residents are encouraged to attend to show your support for an Amherst-wide ban on dangerous fracking and the toxic waste it creates. We need to PACK THE ROOM because your presence encourages the board to vote the right way on the resolution.

You may also prepare 3-minutes of testimony to read in favor of a ban on fracking/fracking waste in Amherst. Be sure to emphasize how these things could impact Amherst residents. Non-Amherst residents are also allowed to testify. Speaking is optional and those wishing to speak should arrive 15 minutes early to sign up.

The town board of Amherst, NY must pass a local ban to safeguard our natural resources and health from the contamination that fracking brings to communities. A ban on fracking & fracking waste disposal (including road spreading) in Amherst would protect residents from exposure to harmful chemicals, airborne carcinogens, and contaminated water. 

For more information or to get involved, contact Rita at ryelda@fwwatch.org
Join the Facebook event & invite friends: http://bit.ly/amherst01

Amherst Fracking Ban Coordinating Meeting

WHEN: March 25, 2014 at 6:00 PM

WHERE: Williamsville Public Library, 5571 Main St. Williamsville

The town board of Amherst, NY must pass a local ban to safeguard our natural resources and health from the contamination that fracking brings to communities. A ban on fracking & fracking waste disposal (including road spreading) in Amherst would protect residents from exposure to harmful chemicals, airborne carcinogens, and contaminated water.

But the only way to get the town board to pass a local ban is by making it happen ourselves -- which is possible and is something that over 150 municipalities across NY have done!

All Amherst and Amherst-area residents are encouraged to join this coordinating meeting so we can map out the campaign and brainstorm next steps.

For more information contact Rita at ryelda@fwwatch.org.
Join the Facebook event & invite friends: https://www.facebook.com/events/640467722685100/

Ban Fracking and Its Toxic Waste in Amherst

AMHERST FRACKING BAN COORDINATING MEETING
Tuesday, February 18, at 7:00pm
Spot Coffee, 5330 Main St., Williamsville [Map] 

We plan to urge the town board of Amherst, NY to pass a local fracking ban to safeguard our natural resources and health from the contamination that fracking brings to communities. A ban on fracking as well as on fracking waste disposal and road spreading would protect Amherst residents from exposure to harmful chemicals, airborne carcinogens, and contaminated water.

But the only way to get the town board to pass a local ban is by making it happen ourselves -- which is possible and is something that over 150 municipalities across NY have done! All Amherst and Amherst-area residents are encouraged to join this coordinating meeting so we can map out the campaign and brainstorm next steps. 

For more information contact Rita at ryelda@fwwatch.org.

Invite friends on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/564065520356825

HydroFracking News Briefs

For Pennsylvania's Doctors, a Gag Order on Fracking Chemicals
A new provision could forbid the state’s doctors from sharing information with patients exposed to toxic fracking solutions.
Under a new law, doctors in Pennsylvania can access information about chemicals used in natural gas extraction—but they won't be able to share it with their patients. A provision buried in a law passed last month is drawing scrutiny from the public health and environmental community, who argue that it will "gag" doctors who want to raise concerns related to oil and gas extraction with the people they treat and the general public.

Possible health risk tied to ‘fracking’ emissions
"Emissions from the wells include methane and volatile organic compounds that react with heat and sunlight to form ozone," according to a health scientist who is studying air quality near gas wells in Texas.
Non-cancer health impacts from air emissions due to natural- gas development is greater for residents living closer to wells,” according to a statement. “We also calculated higher cancer risks for residents living nearer to the wells.” 

New York environmental groups join to form coalition to work for hydrofracking ban
On Monday, a New York State Assembly proposal for an independent health impact study of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas was dropped during budget negotiations. Numerous physicians and environmental groups criticized Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos for blocking the $100,000 Assembly appropriation for a health study. 
Cuomo has said a decision on whether to permit fracking in New York is likely in several months.
Sandra Steingraber, a biologist and environmental writer who recently won the Heinz Award for her work on how chemical contaminants in air, water and food endanger human health, said she'll donate much of her $100,000 prize money to start the anti-fracking coalition, New Yorkers Against Fracking.

Niagara Falls City Council Safeguards Water Supply By Rita Yelda
Prevents Region from Becoming NY's Science Experiment
On March 5th, Niagara Falls went on record against fracking, and against treating wastewater from fracking.  Elected officials said they don't want the city that endured the Love Canal toxic waste crisis to be exposed to the fallout from gas drilling operations. The City Council approved an ordinance prohibiting natural gas extraction in Niagara Falls, as well as the "storage, transfer, treatment or disposal of natural gas exploration and production wastes."
It would have been irresponsible and dangerous for the Niagara Falls Water Board to move forward with this proposal, given all of the unanswered questions relating to our health, safety and environmental concerns.

Water Board won’t sue city on ‘fracking’ issue
The city’s Water Board on Thursday decided not to file a legal challenge against a city law banning treatment of water from hydraulic fracturing at its wastewater treatment plant. But it does not prevent a legal challenge to the law should the state this year set specific guidelines for treatment of the water.

Mark Ruffalo, the Incredible Hunk - Actor and Anti-Fracking Activist
When Bruce Banner gets angry, he turns into the rampaging green superhero known as the Incredible Hulk. The charming 44-year-old actor Mark Ruffalo, who portrays Banner in the upcoming film The Avengers, isn't quite so quick to act out. But his inner Hulk emerges when he talks about hydraulic fracturing, a technology whose advances have triggered a boom of gas drilling and environmental backlash in shale regions—including the part of upstate New York where Ruffalo relocated his family from Los Angeles about three years ago.

Look for Mark Ruffalo on The Colbert Report on Wednesday night at 11:30pm, or on TV re-runs Thursday, or online anytime after that. Ruffalo's group, Water Defense, is part of the NY coalition working for a fracking ban, described above.

Vigil held to protest hydrofracking 
Protesters gathered for a candlelight vigil outside the Buffalo office of Senator Mark Grisanti, chair of the NY State Environmental Conservation Committee. They're hoping to pressure him to support a bill that would ban fracking in NY. Senator Grisanti's office tells WIVB News the senator still has not made up his mind about hydrofracking in NY. 

Gas Industry Spin Can't Cover Up Air Problems Associated with Fracking
At a Wall Street Journal conference last week, Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon told attendees: “I don’t know of any problem with air pollution from fracking in Fort Worth” Texas.  McClendon peevishly referred to air pollution concerns raised by Hudson Riverkeeper President Paul Gallay [whom McClendon refused to share the stage with] as “environmental nonsense.”  Since then, industry-sponsored posts argue against links between fracking and air pollution. Well, read on. Then decide who’s spouting “nonsense”.
 

State and Federal Agencies Evaluating Impacts of Shale-Gas Fracking

Protecting Drinking Water is the Highest Priority

The NY state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is in the process of drafting regulations on shale-gas drilling using the controversial process of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. A six month drilling moratorium is currently in effect.

The DEC and officials in the areas of health and energy are looking at the experiences in other states that permit fracking. In nearby northern Pennsylvania, gas drilling has been linked to well water contamination in several towns.

Acting DEC head Joe Martens said, "As I think the governor has said...we won't undertake drilling until we're confident it can be done safely. And protecting water supplies is, at the essence, our highest priority."

DEC regulations proposed earlier had received about 13,000 public comments, most of which the DEC says have been addressed in updated regulations in a draft document to be completed in June or thereabouts. The draft will then be subject to another 30-day public comment period before final regulations are issued.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently issued a draft plan to study the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources in the U.S.. The plan will be reviewed by an independent Scientific Advisory Board on March 7-8, 2011. Stakeholders and the public will have an opportunity to provide comments during this review.

The EPA plans to study the hydraulic fracturing water lifecycle--from water acquisition to wastewater treatment and disposal--and the potential drinking water issues at each stage of the process.

The fundamental research questions that will be examined are:

• Water acquisition: How might large volume water withdrawals from ground and surface water impact drinking water resources?

• Chemical mixing: What are the possible impacts of releases of hydraulic fracturing fluids on drinking water resources?

• Well injection: What are the possible impacts of the injection and fracturing process on drinking water resources?

• Flowback and produced water: What are the possible impacts of releases of flowback and produced water on drinking water resources?

• Wastewater treatment and waste disposal: What are the possible impacts of inadequate treatment of hydraulic fracturing wastewaters on drinking water resources?

The EPA will revise the study plan in response to the Scientific Advisory Board's comments and then begin the actual study. Initial research results are expected by the end of 2012, with a goal for a report in 2014.

The EPA draft plan is described in a 140 page document and is available here.

More information about the NY DEC study is available at WallStreetJournal.com.

Concerned Citizens Take Action on Shale-Gas Fracking

Buffalo Bans Fracking -- Other Towns are Taking Action

Despite repeated industry claims shale-gas drilling is safe, the public is aware that there are many instances where drinking water has been contaminated following drilling using the controversial method of hydraulic fracturing or fracking. The photo shows an example of contaminated well water from the town of Dimock in northeastern Pennsylvania following nearby fracking.

Fracking and tainted wastewater have been linked to impacts on well water, human health and welfare, air, land and waterways. Evidence abounds in the award-winning documentary film GASLAND (Trailer here), investigative CNN reports (Video here), and testimony of affected landowners in several states at hearings sponsored by the EPA. Landowners and state officials have filed lawsuits against drilling companies because of drinking water contamination.

Concerned citizens are not waiting for the results of studies on fracking by the NY Dept. of Environmental Conservation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In fact, residents of some towns have urged their local governments to ban fracking.

Following a public hearing, the Common Council of Buffalo voted unanimously to ban fracking and any form of natural gas extraction in the city. The Buffalo law also bars the disposal of drilling wastewater or other production wastes within city limits. This is important since huge volumes of water used in fracking contain a myriad of unknown and toxic chemicals, and testing for these is not done. Fracking wastewater disposal in Lake Erie and the Niagara River is a matter for great concern.

Earlier, Pittsburgh instituted a ban on fracking in the city limits. However, Pennsylvania still allows dumping of fracking wastewater into its rivers. Wastewater is only partially treated for harmful substances, then dumped into waterways from which communities get their drinking water. Also, illegal dumping has been observed on dirt and gravel roads and detected in streams near drilling sites.

In Wales NY, town officials and residents have expressed concern about contamination of their water wells if the gas drilling process were to be permitted, and the Wales Town Board plans to ban fracking.

Citizens in other towns are taking action to become better informed about the issues associated with shale-gas extraction by fracking.

Concerned residents of Aurora, Elma, West Falls and Holland are holding a community discussion about fracking on Sunday, February 20, with documentary film excerpts, and presentations by a gas drilling task force member and former legislator, and also by an environmental attorney addressing how landowners can protect themselves.

The League of Women Voters and UB Green are holding a screening of the GASLAND documentary film as well as a discussion with a gas industry representative on March 19 in Hamburg, NY.

To get a feel for the public outrage about fracking, and what can happen to our water as a result of lax regulation and monitoring of drilling and waste disposal, listen to the testimony of Mark Ruffalo, an activist and movie actor who lives in upstate NY in a pristine area on the Marcellus Shale that is coveted by the gas industry.



This video was recorded in the NY State Capitol building and can also be viewed on the NY State Senate channel at YouTube.

More information is available at BuffaloNews.com.

Seven of NY's Biggest Polluters are Local

Western New York is home to seven of the state's biggest polluters, according to The Buffalo News analysis of the Toxics Release Inventory of 2009 recently made available by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The Toxics Release Inventory Program compiles data on toxic chemical releases and waste management activities reported annually by certain industries and federal facilities and makes it available through online database tools.

The local companies are listed below according to their rank in New York's Top 25 Polluters:

7. CWM Chemical Services, Lewiston and Porter
8. Huntley Station, Town of Tonawanda
14. 3M Company, Town of Tonawanda
16. AES Somerset, Somerset
18. DuPont Yerkes plant, Town of Tonawanda
19. Niagara Generation, Niagara Falls
21. Cooper Power Systems, Olean

CWM is the area's largest polluter, releasing 765,544 pounds of waste, 99% which is burried in its landfill.

A CWM spokesperson called the EPA's methodology "misleading and counterintuitive", stating that "What is in fact an activity that provides a high level of community protection is inappropriately reported as a 'release' to the environment." See the full report at BuffaloNews.com.

It is not surprising that CWM does not consider their land as part of the environment? Industrial toxic waste present in the Love Canal community was always part of the environment, both when it was buried underground as well as after it leaked from the burial site and became a public health emergency.

The EPA monitors releases of toxic pollution into air, water and land, both on- and off-site, to ensure a high level of community protection, now and into the future.

Please note that The Buffalo News ranking is based on the quantity of chemical waste released, not on the toxicity of the specific chemicals. Also, the EPA data do not reflect what exposure there may be to the public from the chemicals released.

The EPA's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) provides communities with information about chemical releases and waste management activities in order to support informed decision making at all levels by industry, government, non-governmental organizations, and the public. Online access to the TRI is provided here.

Water Fouled by Gas Drilling Triggers Lawsuits

The shale gas drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has already been blamed for the contamination of drinking water in several states, including Pennsylvania. In the northern tier of PA bordering New York, the once clean water wells of residents are now contaminated by methane gas and toxic chemicals after nearby drilling began in the the Marcellus Shale.

Well water contamination is attributed to extensive fracking, in which multiple horizontal channels are drilled in each mile-deep vertical well and the underground shale is fractured under pressure using millions of gallons of water containing sand and toxic chemicals.

Residents are forced to live with polluted well water for drinking, washing dishes and clothes, and bathing. Some are suffering from illnesses attributed to the polluted water. Their wells and land are spoiled, making their homes practically worthless and impossible to sell. Many now feel like prisoners in their own home. Tragic!

Lawsuits have been filed. Fifteen residents of Dimock PA have sued the Houston based Cabot Oil and Gas Company, claiming the company has allowed methane and metals to seep into drinking water wells, failed to uphold terms of its contracts with landowners, and acted fraudulently when it said that the drilling process, including the chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing, could not contaminate groundwater and posed no harm to the people who live there.

"We've been lied to, we've been pushed around, and enough is enough," said Julie Sautner, whose drinking water began showing high levels of methane, iron and aluminum and who is receiving fresh water deliveries from Cabot. "We need to push back."

The lawsuit, filed by the New York City-based law firm Jacob D. Fuchsberg and two other firms based in Philadelphia, Pa., and Buffalo, N.Y., did not specify what monetary damages would be sought from Cabot.

Pennsylvania's top environmental regulator says the state will sue Cabot Oil & Gas unless it agrees to pay nearly $12 million to extend a public water line to at least 18 residents whose water wells have been contaminated with methane gas.

Environmental Secretary John Hanger accused Cabot of reneging on its promises to the residents of Dimock, a small town in Susquehanna County, where tainted wells have raised concerns nationwide about the environmental and health consequences of gas drilling.

"We have had people here in Pennsylvania ... without safe drinking water for close to two years. That is totally, totally unacceptable. It is reprehensible," Hanger told a news conference packed with residents and media. "We're going to take decisive action now because we cannot possibly wait any longer."

Another lawsuit was filed against the Houston-based Southwestern Energy Co. claiming that a faulty gas well they drilled leaked toxic fracking fluid into local groundwater in northeastern Pennsylvania's Susquehanna County, exposing residents to dangerous chemicals and sickening a child.

The lawsuit—one of the first in the nation to link hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to tainted groundwater—said the well's cement casing was defective. It also cites spills of industrial waste, diesel fuel and other hazardous substances. Water wells became contaminated with high levels of barium, manganese and strontium. The contaminated water wells are less than 2,000 feet from the gas well.

The plaintiffs seek monetary damages, environmental cleanup and medical monitoring. The suit said the child who has been sickened has shown neurological symptoms "consistent with toxic exposure to heavy metals."

Fortunately, the New York state senate passed a suspension of fracking permits in a bill sponsored by Sen. Antoine Thompson. It awaits approval by the Assembly and the Governor. To take action, contact Assembly Speaker Silver and your Assembly member by clicking here.

To a Pennsylvania resident who had explosive levels of natural gas in his house from well contamination, and now lives with a huge water tank out front, New York's delay is a good thing. "I used to think you weren't very smart in New York, waiting like you did," he said. "But I think you're the smart ones now."
Watch an excellent segment of the PBS program, Need to Know, entitled "The Price of Gas", below, to get a feel of the problems arising from fracking elsewhere, to learn about the "Halliburton loophole" which in 2005 exempted fracking from federal regulations imposed by the Safe Drinking Water Act despite earlier concerns raised by an EPA whistleblower, to see how poorly the process is regulated by some states and how harmful this can be to local residents.