Public Meeting: Plan to treat Fracking Waste at Niagara Falls

Guest post by Rita Yelda, WNY Drilling Defense, and Food & Water Watch

In July, the Niagara Falls Water Board was reported to be exploring the possibility of treating wastewater containing toxic chemicals resulting from the unconventional shale gas drilling known as fracking. Yet there is little evidence that the Niagara Falls Water Treatment Plant can filter out the radiation or the chemicals found in fracking wastewater, and no analysis of the possible impacts of treating this wastewater has been shared with the public.

Fracking fluid consists primarily of water, sand and a cocktail of chemicals that includes many toxins and known carcinogens: methanol, ethylene glycol, formaldehyde, napthalene, benzene, toluene and xylene. To date, 600+ chemicals have been used in fracking fluid. The fracking process has also been known to release radioactive elements into the waste, such as radon and uranium. The New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) figures show 6.6 billion gallons of fracking waste would have to be disposed of each year.

Niagara Falls is the first location in New York to state their desire to treat this waste. A report issued in September indicated that an outside firm has completed a feasibility study and that the Water Board is moving forward with the plan to treat fracking wastewater. Water from the treatment plant would be released into the Niagara River, which flows into Niagara Falls, Lake Ontario, and other Great Lakes communities, creating potential regional and even international concern.

The Council of Canadians released a letter to the Niagara Falls Water Board asking them to not accept the waste as it poses a threat to the Great Lakes. In Pennsylvania, where hydrofracking is happening in full force, the Department of Environmental Protection asked the gas industry to stop taking fracking wastewater to municipal wastewater treatment plants, after concerning levels of radioactive compounds were detected in the state's waterways.

The Niagara Falls Water Board will hold their next monthly public meeting on Thursday, October 20 at 5pm in the Water Treatment Plant, 5815 Buffalo Ave, Niagara Falls, NY [MAP]. Western New Yorkers will raise their voices on Thursday with a chorus calling out for answers about their health and their water. Those who wish to speak should sign up before the meeting.

Questions presented a month ago still remain unanswered.

For more information, contact RYelda@gmail.com or call 716-507-2077

The U.N. Climate Conference and Why It's Important

Representatives of 194 countries are meeting in Panama at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, the last opportunity to reach a consensus on the reduction of carbon emissions before the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Durbin, South Africa later this year.

Conference participants must win another commitment period for reducing carbon emissions from developed countries to prevent global average temperatures from rising more than two degrees, which scientists have indicated would have catastrophic consequences for human life.

Carbon emissions must peak by 2015, according to scientists who fear that otherwise, damage from climate change will become irreversible with rising floods, droughts and other extreme weather.

The United States, currently the world's second-largest carbon emitter, was the only nation to reject the Kyoto Protocol, under the administration of President George W. Bush. The Kyoto agreement expires at the end of 2012.

The U.S. has held that it would only accept an agreement that includes all major countries. "We could consider it only if it's genuinely binding with respect to all the major players, whether developed or developing, including China and others," said Todd Stern, the top U.S. climate negotiator.

President Obama faces strong opposition on climate change from the Republican Party, many of whose members do not believe that human activity is causing rising temperatures.

 

Why is the U.N. Climate Conference important? 

Below are seven reasons to keep working towards an international climate agreement:

1) It's urgent

2) It will create long-term certainty for business investment
3) It will be more economically efficient for countries to do it all together
4) Collective action is needed
5) Unpopular decisions may be more palatable if other countries are taking them as well
6) Who will otherwise pay for adaptation?
7) We are morally obligated
The full article is here.

What if actions to greatly reduce carbon emissions are not taken?
A bipartisan panel of scientists, former government officials and national security experts is recommending that the U.S. government begin researching a radical fix: directly manipulating the Earth’s climate to lower the temperature. 

Examples of methods to achieve such "climate remediation" include seeding the atmosphere with reflective particles, launching giant mirrors above the earth or spewing ocean water into the air to form clouds.  

The idea of intentionally tinkering with the Earth's climate is shocking and seems potentially dangerous. As a member of the bipartisan panel said, “It should be shocking.”  

Climate remediation research is already under way in Britain, Germany and possibly other countries, as well as in the private sector. Read more about this in the NY Times.

We know that a shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy is key to greatly reducing carbon emissions. A global agreement that includes the U.S. is needed to begin to deal with the scale of the problem.

~~~

Reports on the U.N. Conference:

-  United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

-  UN climate talks start in Panama

-  UN climate conference in Panama looking for consensus 

-  Meetings

Global Warming, Climate Policy and Honesty

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WNY Solar and Green Buildings Tour – October 1st

 Solar and Green Building Tour

It's the BIGGEST in NY State!

Saturday, October 1, 2011
10am - 4pm

The tour is FREE, self guided, and open to the public. We give you the addresses, you choose the ones you want to see.

Solar, Wind, Geothermal, Green LEED buildings, Bale on Bale, Net Zero - you name it, we have it on the tour.

Kickoff Awards Party will occur from 10am-11am at the Innovation Center, 640 Ellicott St. in Buffalo on the Buffalo-Niagara Medical Campus [MAP].

There will awards given to highlight solar & green buildings as well as refreshments and prizes for those in attendance.

Workshops will held be at Innovation Center from 11am-1pm.
11am-11:30 - Gary Carrell, NYSERDA, energy efficiency
11:30 - 12 - Wind Action Group, Wind in Buffalo
12 - 12:30 - Geothermal 101
12:30 - 1pm - Solar Liberty, Solar 101

TOUR over 40 Solar and Green Buildings at locations throughout Western New York. Open from 10am-4pm.

• List of buildings with the addresses is here.
• Map of building locations is here.

Letter about the Tour in The Buffalo News: Green technologies are wise investment

Brought to you by the Western NY Sustainable Energy Association

Many thanks to our Sponsors – Solar Liberty, Buffalo CarShare, Green Options Buffalo, NFTA, and Buffalo Energy. 
For more information see www.wnysea.com or email berniceradle@gmail.com

 

Moving Planet - Rally to Move Beyond Fossil Fuels

On Saturday, September 24th, thousands of people across the country and millions around the globe participated in a Moving Planet Day of Action -- calling for our leaders to move beyond fossil fuels. In every nation on earth people were in motion -- powering themselves without fossil fuels. The event was sponsored by The Sierra Club and 350.org.

Michael Brune, Executive Director, The Sierra Club, and Bill McKibben, Founder, 350.org, wrote in an article [1] that:

... burning fossil fuels is making us sick, strangling our economy, and fueling climate disruption. A healthy economy requires healthy people, clean air, and clean water.  
America and the world cannot afford any more inaction. We can build healthy, thriving communities and create new jobs by moving beyond fossil fuels and investing in clean energy, like wind and solar, that already has created millions of American jobs.

On Sept. 24th, at over 2000 Moving Planet events in more than 175 countries, people walked, ran, biked, canoed, kayaked, danced and moved under their own power in other ways without relying on fossil fuels. For examples of some events, have a look at the video below:


There were four Moving Planet events in Western NY, three in Buffalo (University at Buffalo, Daemen College, & Buffalo State College) and one in Orchard Park.  To view some photos of the events click here .
To see a selection of some of the many photos from events around the world, click here.

[1] "Time to Move -- Beyond Fossil Fuels" by Michael Brune and Bill McKibben.

Gas Facts Fall Fest - Impacts of Fracking

Join us!

Sunday October 9th

2pm-5pm

at the Buffalo Irish Center

245 Abbot Rd in South Buffalo

Gas Facts Fall Fest

Featuring:

• Film Premiere of a short documentary about Western New York families affected by fracking: "WNY Frack Chat"

• Informative presentations about how high-volume fracking in NYS could affect WNY

• Live music by Babik. If you already know their gypsy swing jazz, you love them. If not, come and enjoy the band recognized for their talents and popularity by Buffalo Spree and Artvoice.

• Pizza, soda and beer included

Tickets: $15 pre-sale, $20 at the door.
 

Tickets available by contacting Sarah at ssbuckley60@gmail.com, Rita at ryelda@gmail.com, and at Burning Books, 420 Connecticut St, Buffalo, NY. See burningbooksbuffalo.com for hours.

Fundraiser for WNY Drilling Defense and POWR, Protecting Our Water Rights - two grassroots environmental groups

Poster is available here.

Co-sponsors: WNY Peace Center, Veterans for Peace, Sierra Club Niagara Chapter, Arden Farm, Above & Beyond Tree Expert Company, Rezults Consulting, Body Glyphix Yoga Studio, For the Love of Toulouse: Shiitake Mushroom Pate de Faux Gras, Eco-logic Studio, Burning Books, Peace Education Fund.

P.S.- the game will surely be on in the center's cash bar for Bills fans.

Niagara Falls Plans to Treat Wastewater from Shale-Gas Drilling

A Public Meeting will be held on Thursday, September 22

In July, the Niagara Falls Water Board was reported to be exploring the possibility of treating wastewater containing toxic chemicals resulting from unconventional shale-gas drilling, known as horizontal, hydraulic fracturing or simply fracking. Water from the treatment plant would be released into the Niagara River which flows into Lake Ontario and provides a source of drinking water. A new report issued last week indicated that an outside firm has completed a feasibility study and that the Water Board is moving forward with the plan to treat fracking wastewater.

The Buffalo Avenue treatment plant was built over 30 years ago to clean up wastewater from chemical industries in the city of Niagara Falls and it benefited the region by generated millions of dollars income annually. The Executive Director of the Water Board, Paul Drof, said "Until the state finalizes their guidelines on the treatment of fracking waste, we can't say for sure even if we can do it." He added, "Frankly, we have a responsibility to our rate payers to at least look at this as a possibility."

However, Walter Hang, Ph.D., an expert in wastewater management and head of Toxics Targeting Inc., has studied the Niagara Falls plant and believes that it can not handle fracking wastewater. Hang said "The wastewaters generated by the chemical manufacturing facilities in Niagara Falls are vastly different from the gas-drilling wastewater that could be generated by horizontal hydrofracking in the Marcellus Shale."

Dr. Hang does not stand alone in his criticism of the concept. Over fifty scientists signed a letter warning NY Gov. Cuomo that it would be impossible for municipal systems to practically protect against chemicals used in fracking and others in the wastewater. The scientists indicated that municipal systems were not designed to filter the toxic chemicals, biocides and radioactive compounds, and that some of these would pass through the systems and enter water supplies.

Local environmentalists expressed concern about the Niagara Falls plan. Rita Yelda, organizer of WNY Drilling Defense, said "If this fracking waste is not treated correctly, it could contaminate our water. It's a potential risk."  Brian Smith, with the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, said "The Niagara Falls sewage treatment facility is ill equipped to properly treat hazardous fracking waste. Allowing this would risk the discharge of toxic, radioactive, and caustic waste into our fragile Great Lakes ecosystem."

The Niagara Falls Water Board will hold a public meeting on Thursday, September 22 at 5pm in the Water Treatment Plant, 5815 Buffalo Ave, Niagara Falls, NY [MAP]. Concerned citizens are encouraged to attend. Those who wish to speak should sign up before the meeting.

Non-Profit Organizations: Cut Electricity Bills by Going Solar

No Up-front Costs -- Savings are Guaranteed!

Non-profit organizations, like churches, schools, social and community service groups, can realize immediate savings on their electric bill by leasing solar panels and generating their own electricity. With leasing, there are no up-front purchase costs and no additional charge for installation.

Bill Nowak is working with Solar Liberty to bring solar PV energy systems to non-profits and community-oriented organizations. Solar Liberty will install a 25 kW system for no money down and lease it to the organization for $100 a month for 15 years. Savings over previous electric bills are guaranteed.

At the end of the 15 year term, the organization is free to negotiate a new lease, buy the system at a fair market price, or have Solar Liberty take the system back.

All of the electricity generated by the system - approximately 26,000 kWh per year, valued at more than $3,000 per year at today’s prices, belongs to the organization for the $1,200 per year lease payments - the difference is money they would have been paying the utility company. Please see a Solar Liberty flier here.

This works because of some favorable incentives offered by the federal and state governments, which are set to expire on December 31, 2011.

This is a great opportunity for our community!

If you’d like to learn more about this program, Solar Liberty is holding FREE WEBINARS on June 23rd and 28th at 10 AM and June 30th at 2:00 PM. Sign up here.

Please send Bill Nowak any leads you may have with local non-profits or community organizations that own their own buildings or have a long term lease on their building. The roof space on the building needs to be fairly large (around 3,000 open feet) to qualify for this offer.

Contact Bill Nowak by e-mail here or phone him at 716-882-9237.

Happy Father's Day -- Sunday, June 19th

Hey Dad, what was your favorite song back in the day?
NPR came up with a fun idea for Father's Day on their blog, "All Songs Considered". They asked listeners to contact their Dad or Grandpa and ask him what his favorite song was when he was their age.

To find out about the popular picks and hear some short music clips, listen to the NPR report here.

To hear to the full versions of some of the popular songs in music videos, visit the NPR website.

One thing that I do on Father's Day with my Sons
For the past several years, one or two of my sons (depending on who's in town) and I have gone to the "Jog for The Jake", a 5K Father's Day Run/Walk in Delaware Park. "The Jake" refers to the late Dr. Lawrence D. Jacobs. The event honors his accomplishments and is a fundraiser for The Jacobs Neurological Institute in Buffalo.

The event also provides a special day for fathers, including a great post-race Father's Day Brunch provided to all runners (register on site) and kids fun runners as well as guests and spectators ($5 donation). For more information, visit the Jog for The Jake website.

What will you do on Father's Day?
Post a Comment.

Happy Father's Day!