NATURAL RESOURCES PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION
Page 6
Fall 2015
these chemicals as trade secrets
and, as such, proprietary and there-
fore, protected and secret. The O&G
industry denies these leaks and
points to little or no documentation in
the public record.
When people have threatened to sue
producers, as a cost of doing busi-
ness O&G will buy out the offended
parties. These settlements usually
include a confidentiality clause which
precludes public acknowledgement
of the offense. Some of the water is
recovered after drilling. There few
guidelines on the treatment of this
processed water. Some producers
are selling it to drought-stricken Cali-
fornia farmers desperately seeking to
water their parched fields. Drilling
related chemicals have been detect-
ed in the resulting produce.
Local municipalities, under the hyp-
notic effects of permit fees, taxes
and local employment have often
sought to suppress citizen discon-
tent. States government, propelled
by O&G lobbyists have attempted to
strike down ordinances passed by
towns, cities and counties which
would preclude fracking in the envi-
rons. These conflicts involving home
rule are working their way through
the judicial system. One state is
threatening the license of a nurse-
practitioner midwife who has pub-
lished research linking clusters of
birth defects and stillborn neonates
to hydro-fracked communities.
Additionally, a truly earth-shaking
component of fracking complications
is the effect of destabilizing the bed-
rock underlying communities near
drilling operations. It is becoming
more and more apparent that what
are known as minor seismic events
are occurring in areas away from
fault lines that have never observed
earthquakes in their recorded histo-
ry. Some communities in Oklahoma
have experienced group-
ings of six earthquakes in
a day; a dozen in less
than a week. There is
concern over fracking ac-
tivities, such as some in
California which take
place in areas adjacent to
known, active fault lines.
The industry is very aware of the
concerns of the environmental com-
munity and has hired public relations
firms that once worked to shield to-
bacco companies from the public
and from government interventions.
They have actively attacked anti-
fracking and climate change advo-
cates. In a stupefying concept, their
public relations staffs employ advis-
ers to the military who have coordi-
nated asymmetrical warfare tech-
niques used to control and pacify
populations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
This brings us back to where it all
began; oil in Pennsylvania. Fracking
has become widespread in PA.
Steel mills are back producing
pipe and sandwich shops have
opened to feed the returning
workers. But there have also
been spills and explosions.
Nearby, a major political battle
has led to a moratorium on
hydraulic fracturing in the state
of New York. There is recogni-
tion that there is no margin for
error in an area whose water-
shed provides unparalleled
pure drinking water to the New York
City metropolitan area. A moratori-
um, however, is not a permanent
ban.
So, the stage has been set for the
current storm. We will explore the
dynamics and implications of pricing
in Part Two.
THE CONEY ISLAND CREEK
FLOOD CONTROL PROJECT
By Ida Sanoff
In the spring, NRPA and friends
cleaned a quarter mile of the Coney
Island Creek shoreline, in Calvert
Vaux Park. While it was very scenic,
the shoreline was littered with debris,
much of which probably came out of
the numerous outfalls that enter the
Creek as well as other items that
probably were dumped there illegal-
ly.
You’ve probably never heard of Co-
ney Island Creek. Once upon a
time, before the Belt Parkway was
constructed in the 1930’s, the Creek
and Sheepshead Bay were connect-
ed bodies of water and Coney Island
was really an island. Today, it is a
meandering waterway, bordered by
Calvert Vaux Park, which was creat-
ed from landfill from the construction
of the Verrazano Bridge and Kaiser
Park, a neighborhood park with spa-
cious lawns, tennis courts and a
new running track.
The Creek now begins at Shell
Road and empties into Gravesend
Bay. Its easternmost reach is a long
neglected mess, bordered with in-
dustrial properties. It’s loaded with
decade’s old, overturned, rusting
cars that still belch oil bubbles and
shopping carts from defunct super-
market chains. There was also a
former manufactured gas plant on its
shoreline that was remediated sever-
al years ago. But with each step you
take towards its western end, you
see more and more wildlife. For
many neighborhood residents, the
Creek provides a steady source of
fish and crabs for dinner. Many spe-
cies of shorebirds can be spotted
along the Creek too, including some
rarities.
But Brooklyn’s shoreline communi-
ties of Coney Island and
Brighton Beach are facing
a serious problem.
Al-
most three years after
Hurricane Sandy devas-
tated the peninsula, very
little has been done to
protect against flooding.
The NYC Economic De-
velopment
Corporation
