Probably the most inadvertently comical line I hear at shale shows is this one: “Sure the frack trucks tear up the roads. But they fix them so that they are as good as new.” Followed by the punch line: “So we don’t need a road use ordinance.”
Well, actually your town and county do need road use ordinances. Since depending on the kindness of Texans is not advisable. Even in Texas. Where they have road use agreements: http://occainfo.org/documents/SouthlakeTexasroadpermit.pdf
Because a one mile long frack job takes a whole lot of fracking trucks - 1000 + = 2,000 drive-bys per lateral. 12 laterals per well site = 24,000 drive-bys. 24/7/365. Which is a sure ’nuff way to tear the heck out of a country road. That the DEC does not address:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/76437212/Frack-Truck-Impacts-on-Towns
And that ad valorem taxes - on dry holes - will not pay for :
http://www.scribd.com/doc/73207373/Voodoo-Frackonomics-4-0-The-Worcester-Gas-Tax-Hoax
Or chase a fracker down the road - on their way to bankruptcy court -
http://www.scribd.com/doc/74614768/Norse-Energy-Gastem-Fracking-Fiascos
The state of New York has no funds to pay for the millions in road damage caused by frackers
http://www.scribd.com/doc/74102302/New-York-Shale-Gas-Road-Impact
Including damage to state highways that go right through your village - as shown by Jeff Reynolds:
http://my.brainshark.com/Frack-Truck-Convoys-By-Chip-Northrup-142091865
Lots of misconceptions about road use agreements and some really crude attempts at them by towns and counties. Many of them set the truck weight threshold way too high - at say 60,000 pounds - close to the DOT maximum weight. That will not catch many fish. . . Some towns think that they have to have a land use plan to have a road ordinance - not so. And some towns think they cannot enforce if a state highway is involved. Maybe, maybe not. If the town is obligated to maintain part of the highway - as a village street - then arguably it can enforce a road use agreement. (Ask a lawyer)
Fortunately, the intrepid Don Barber has stepped forward with a New York Road Use Summit. To show how to craft road use agreements like the one his team did for Tompkins County
http://www.scribd.com/doc/64963918/NY-Road-Use-Agreement-Draft
Road Show will feature expert speakers from the New York Association of Towns
David Everett of Whiteman, Ostermann and Hannah
http://www.scribd.com/doc/82596365/Gas-Well-Zoning-in-New-York
And other experts and panels to explain road use ordinances that work.
May 8th at 8 AM to noon at NYS Grange in Cortland - 100 Grange Place - just off Clinton Ave and I-81. All towns and counties in the Southern Tier should send representaties to this get together. Even if your town has passed a ban on fracking, it can still become a greasy spot on the frack truck highway . If your town has passed an ordinance - come see how it stacks up when reviewed by the experts
Protect your town roads. Protect your county roads. Adopt road use ordinances. Make the frackers feel at home : Hit them with a road use agreement like they’d see back in Texas . . .For more info contact Don Barber = Don Barber <[email protected]>
If your Town Super does not have a Road Use Agreement, get a new Town Super
Road use agreement presentations here
8:00 am Road Structure and Allocating Damage Costs Equitably
Lynne Irwin, Director. Cornell Local Roads Program
9:15 am Options for Managing Truck Traffic
Michael Kenneally, Esq. Associate Counsel.
Association of Towns of the State of New York
10:00 am Break
10:15 am Strategies for Negotiating Road Use Agreements
Mark Sweeny, Esq. Whiteman Osterman and Hanna, LLP
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