Why Ban Drilling if No Gas ?

Some of you evidently have been wondering. Good question. Simple answer: Because a well written “ban” ordinance is a prohibition of heavy industrial use(s), and there is collateral damage to address - that may not be covered by a fracking ban. Such prohibited uses should include some of the support activities to drilling a fracking a well - all of which can occur remote from the well site itself. Most importantly, town and county ordinances can also address the industrial discharge of fracking waste, such as frack waste dumping of frack flowback on town or county roads for de-icing or dust suppression, the dumping of radioactive drill cuttings in landfills or the discharge of frack flowback into municipal water plants - all of which can be addressed by various town and county ordinances. Road use ordinances to hold truckers accountable for road damage. Local land use ordinances can also address the infrastructure of fracking such as processing plants, non FERC regulated gas lines and compressor stations, etc. In short, there’s a lot more a town can do than just pass a ban on fracking. Most Upstate towns and counties won’t get fracked. They’ll just get dumped on.

If your town has no gas and does not prohibit such uses, then your town gets the hangover without the benefit of a night on the town. It has no fracking upside whatsoever. Only the downsides from the fallout from nearby fracking - the collateral damage. Local laws can protect towns and counties against such fallout. Is your town or county prepared ?

Imagine Texas was next to New York. Kind of a sobering thought, but follow me on this. Imagine there is no gas in New York. But there is an oil well in Texas for every star in the sky.

It is illegal to dump frack waste on roads in Texas. No county or town prohibitions necessary.

But it is legal under New York state law to spread frack filth on the roads. Which state would get frackwaste from the gas fields dumped on its roads ?

It illegal to dump toxic radioactive frack flowback in municipal treatment plants in Texas. It is not illegal under state law to do so in New York.

Which state’s muni treatment plants gets the frack dumping ?

Of course, Fracksylvania is New York’s neighbor. And Fracksylvania has an infinite supply of frack filth.

So much that they have to truck it to Idafrackho to get rid of it

New York has been teed up to become Fracksylvania’s dumping ground.

Likewise, the fact that someone thinks that there is no gas in an area won’t stop a speculator from drilling an exploration well.

When they do, does your town or county have a road use agreement in place to recover the costs of the ruined roads ?

Believe it or not, many towns that have banned drilling have no road use agreement ordinances in place !

Meaning a well can be drilled and fracked in a neighboring town - in a town with no ban - and the ban town cannot recover the costs of road damage

Even though the “ban town’s” roads were used entirely to access the drill site in the “non ban” town.

The take-away: if your town does not have a road use agreement ordinance in place, you have work to do to get one.

If your town does not prohibit heavy industrial uses, it remains vulnerable - even if no gas wells.

If your town or county does not prohibit the dumping of toxic frack waste on its roads, drill cuttings in its landfills and frack flowback in its water plant = you are at risk of getting dumped on.

Towns with no gas and no dumping prohibitions will the get fracking fallout - from across the state line, from across the county line, from across the town line.

They’ll get the hangover without the benefit of a night on the town. Fracksylvania gets gassed, New York gets dumped on.

More posts here:

How to Get Radium 226 Off Your Tires

Erie County Tells Frackers to Frack Off

Pass More Anti Fracking Symbols !