DRYDEN WINS!!!!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 2, 2013

Contact: Brianne Nadeau, Brianne@Rabinowitz-Dorf.com  202-265-3000, c 202-494-5736

Fracking Ban Stands in New York Town; Victory for Local Communities

In case pitting community rights against the oil and gas industry, industry loses yet again

ALBANY, NY – Local residents and elected leaders in Dryden, N.Y. are celebrating victory today in a closely watched case over local fracking bans. A state appeals court ruled in favor (PDF) of the towns of Dryden and Middlefield, affirming lower court decisions upholding the towns’ right to ban oil and gas development activities — including the controversial technique of fracking — within town limits. The legal battle first began in 2011, and industry is widely expected to seek review of the ruling by New York’s high court (the Court of Appeals).

“I’m proud to represent the Town of Dryden and I’m especially proud today,” said Town Supervisor Mary Ann Sumner. “We stood up for what we knew was right.  And we won. The people who live here and know the town best should be the ones deciding how our land is used, not some executive in a corporate office park thousands of miles away.”

The case in Dryden has taken on special significance. More than 20,000 people from across the country and globe sent messages to Sumner and her colleagues on the Town Board, expressing support for the town in its legal fight.

Dryden’s story began in 2009, after residents pressured by oil and gas company representatives to lease their land for gas development learned more about fracking, the technique companies planned to use to extract the gas. During fracking, short for hydraulic fracturing, companies inject millions of gallons of chemically treated water into the ground to break up rock deposits and force out the gas. Residents organized and educated for more than two years under the banner of the Dryden Resource Awareness Coalition (DRAC), ultimately convincing the town board to amend its zoning ordinance in August 2011 to clarify that oil and gas development activities, including fracking, were prohibited.

“We love our town. We’re proud to be from a place that doesn’t back down from a tough fight.  And we’re inspired by the outpouring of support we’ve received,” said DRAC member Deborah Cipolla-Dennis. “Now it’s our turn to support communities across New York, and in Pennyslvania, Ohio, Colorado, and elsewhere that are standing up to the oil and gas industry.”

More than 159 municipalities in New York have passed bans or moratoriums on fracking, prompting a nationwide groundswell: some 350 communities across the country have voted to take official action — from non-binding resolutions to improved protections to outright bans.

Deborah Goldberg, an attorney with the public interest law organization, Earthjustice, represented the Town of Dryden in the appeal. “Today’s victory stands as an inspiration for communities seeking to protect themselves from the consequences of the fracking-enabled oil and gas drilling rush,” Goldberg said.  “The oil and gas industry largely has been deregulated at the federal level.  While state officials struggle with the decision whether to permit fracking, local officials have stepped in to fill the gap.  Today’s ruling signals to local officials that they are indeed on solid legal ground.”

Just six weeks after Dryden prohibited fracking in 2011, Anschutz Exploration Corporation (a privately held company owned by a Forbes-ranked billionaire) sued Dryden over the zoning provision, claiming that localities did not have the right to ban industrial activity. Dryden successfully argued that their right to make local land use decisions, enshrined in the home rule provision of the New York State Constitution, applies to oil and gas development.  In February 2012, a state trial court judge agreed.

Following that ruling, Norse Energy Company, a U.S. subsidiary of a foreign-owned oil and gas company, filed an appeal, with today’s decision being the result.  Shortly after filing its appeal, the company declared bankruptcy.

“The first oil and gas company to sue us backed down.  The second went bankrupt.  They both lost against us in court,” Sumner said. “When will the oil and gas industry get the message: bullying communities isn’t good for business?”

For a copy of today’s ruling, please visit: http://earthjustice.org/documents/legal-document/pdf/dryden-appeal-decision

Come learn more about the 2013 Solarize program in Dryden, Caroline and Danby.

Our second public information meeting will be held on May 1st, at the Varna Community Center. We have chosen our installers: Solar Liberty, out of Buffalo, will do the photovoltaic installations and Renovus Energy from Ithaca will to the solar hot water installations. They have offered our communities great pricing and the more people sign up for PV (electricity) systems, the lower the price to each buyer. At the meeting they will tell you the details of the products they offer and will answer any and all questions.

Solarize Tompkins SE has gathered information on several different financing options. There are grants and loans available in our community so you can go solar in 2013.

Everyone is welcome to attend the public meetings but only those who own property in Dryden, Caroline, or Danby will be able to enroll in the program this year.

SolarizeTompkinsSE.org for more info.

Learn the Details of the Solarize Tompkins SE Program

On Tuesday evening the Solarize project will announce its installers and give details of pricing and enrollment. Our excitement is RISING WITH THE SUN!

Dryden Fire Hall, 7:00 pm, Tuesday April 23

Kick the fossil fuel habit. Go solar in 2013!

For the complete schedule of public meetings see SolarizeTompkinsSE.org

Solar Power 101

Thursday, April 11, 6:30 – 8:30pm

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County Educational Center, 615 Willow Avenue, Ithaca

What are photovoltaics? What is solar thermal? How do they work and what incentives and rebate programs are available so I can put them on my house?

If you’ve been asking some of these questions, come find the answers at this introductory presentation. Anne Stork, an environmental studies professor at Ithaca College who supplements her home power with solar panels, and Guillermo Metz, Green Building and Renewable Energy Program Coordinator at CCETC, who lives off the grid with solar and wind, will give an overview of solar electric and water-heating systems and try to answer all your questions about putting solar power to work for you.

$10 suggested donation, but no one will be turned away. For more information and to register, contact Guillermo Metz at gm52@cornell.edu or 272-2292.

Impacts of Gas Drilling On Human and Animal Health

What: An educational forum
When: April 16, 2013, 7-9 PM
Where: Unitarian Church, 306 N. Aurora St., Ithaca, NY

Sponsored by TCCOG (Tompkins County Council of Governments)
Co-sponsored by the First Unitarian Social Justice Council

What we know and what we don’t know – Adam Law, MD, Physicians, Scientists and Engineers for Healthy Energy

Why animals make good sentinels for human health – Michelle Bamberger, DVM and Robert Oswald, Professor, College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell Universit

For more information:
Ellen Z. Harrison
ellenzharrison@gmail.com
fleasedny@gmail.com
Fleased.org

Another Successful Solar Tour Event

On Saturday morning 20 people enjoyed a house tour on Irish Settlement Rd where Stuart and Zoe have had their wet cold basement transformed.

The house, more than 100 years old, has balloon framing and a dug basement with field stone walls. The first winter Stuart and family spent in the house they spent more than $2500 on electricity. They installed a wood stove and used the baseboard heaters as supplement, however the stack effect of heat leaving through the attic and pulling cold air in through the basement left the house drafty and never quite warm enough.

Last summer they asked Snug Planet to come in, do a blower door energy audit (that part is free), and then analyze the results. After carefully considering all options, they decided to hire Snug Planet to seal the basement (lined walls and floor with industrial strength plastic sheeting and sealed at the rim joist with spray foam), insulate the attic (capping those balloon framed walls with rigid foam insulation sealed carefully to the framing), install a heat-exchanger water heater, and change out old appliances for energy star rated appliances.

An expensive project, you say? Well, yes, but Stuart and Zoe have spent 2/3 less on energy this year than they did last winter, they are more comfortable, the wood stove now heats the house comfortably on all but the coldest days, and they enjoy more efficient appliances.

They made the choice to borrow the money for the changes, and they signed up for the on-bill system through NYSERDA and NYSE&G. They have a 15 year loan @ 3% that will stay with the house if they decide to sell before the 15 years have passed. They pay monthly through their utility bill, which, even including the loan payments, is only 1/3 of what they had been paying.

All of us in attendance learned a lot, and I got to meet a bunch of new folks interested in energy efficiency. Out of those 20 who came, 13 were people I met for the first time.

I hope to see you at the April open house! April 17th, starting at 6:30 pm at 23 Lewis St in Dryden village. The Wakemans have installed solar panels on the barn behind the house on their village lot, and Dan has all the production numbers to show how that has effected their bottom line.

Remember to visit SolarizeTompkinsSE.org to complete the interest survey if you think you would like to have more information about getting solar power for your house. Look for announcements of Solarize public meetings coming up at the end of April.

Dryden home harnesses the sun

From the Ithaca Journal

DRYDEN — When Cathy and Dan Wakeman moved into their mid-1800s home on Lewis Street in the Village of Dryden, they immediately saw the potential for installing solar panels on the roof of their barn.

“It’s a south-facing barn,” said Cathy Wakeman, the Dryden Town Talk columnist for The Ithaca Journal. “Also a great place for raspberry bushes.” But that was in 1991, and the Wakemans were just starting a family. At the time, installing solar panels did not seem viable. However, harnessing power from the sun was always a dream of theirs, and they kept it alive for two decades as they put money aside, did their market research and kept records of every electrical bill.

They focused on practical ways to make their home more efficient — and environmentally-friendly — by replacing the old windows, insulating the basement and investing in high-efficiency appliances. They also heat 90 percent of their home with a centrally-located woodstove.

That’s the first step to a “greener” home, said Dan Wakeman, whose home will be the April 17 stop on Solar Tour Dryden. The tour, which runs through the summer, is designed to inspire those interested in transitioning to solar or other alternative energy sources, said Marie McRae, the tour’s organizer.

The next stop on the tour will be at Firefly Farm in the Town of Dryden, which features a “carbon neutral” farmhouse. The tour is scheduled for 10 a.m. to noon Saturday and is sponsored by the Dryden Resource Awareness Coalition (DRAC).

Making the leap

In 2011, the Wakemans were finally able to install solar panels. “The initial investment is, of course, a hurdle,” Dan Wakeman said. “But we realized these are our peak usage years with our four boys at home.” The market looked good, and he had done his homework and continues to keep track of all his usage in a neat binder.

They purchased a top-of-the-line solar array and installed it on the barn, right above the garden and the raspberry and blueberry bushes from which Cathy makes jam.

“We put in a little bigger (system) than we needed,” he said. “We were looking ahead.”Their next goal is to replace the family minivan with an electric, solar-powered vehicle.

Although the return on investment has been slow, that’s not the point for the Wakemans, whose gas and electric bill went down from $120 per month to $85 after they installed the panels. Currently, they generate more power than they use with the extra currents going to their neighbors and feeding back into the electrical grid.

“I’m pleased with it regardless of the return on investment period, and frankly very excited that our electrical footprint is not just small, but actually negative,” Dan Wakeman said.

March and April are good months for instantly generating power, he noted, because the sun hits the barn’s 45-degree angle roof just right.

DRAC Makes the News

Dryden group shines light on alternative energy

DRYDEN — In an effort to curb dependence on fossil fuels, a Dryden group has decided to take it one house at a time. That’s the idea behind a new monthly “kitchen-table conversation” called Solar Tour Dryden, sponsored by the Dryden Resource Awareness Coalition.

The home tour is designed to encourage homeowners interested in switching to alternative fuel sources to learn from those who have already made the change. The next open house will take place from 10 a.m. to noon March 16 at 812 Irish Settlement Road. Attendees will learn how the homeowners tightened up their historic house and cut electric usage by 75 percent, according to the DRAC website.

“(The tour) is for people who may not know where to start,” said tour organizer Marie McRae, a member of DRAC and Solarize Tompkins County. “It’s a place where people can ask questions and get ideas.”

The first tour took place at the home of Bob Armstrong, who installed a large solar array that helps heat his home and powers his electric car.

According to the town’s Sustainability Report, 5 percent of Dryden homes in 2010 were heated with fuels other than fossils fuels. McRae said that DRAC members would like to see a significant increase in the percentage of households using solar power in the near future.

McRae also encourages homeowners to take a survey at Solarizese.org to find out how their home can be a candidate for solar panels. The towns of Caroline and Danby are involved in the Solarize project, which helps take some of the obstacles out of installing solar systems. The objective of Solarize is to quadruple or quintuple the solar installations.

For more information, visit www.draconline.wordpress.com. To take the survey, visit www.solarizetompkinsse.org.

First ‘Solar Tour Dryden’ Event Warm, Well-Lit in Midwinter

Five upcoming tours showcase renewable energy in Dryden, NY homes

On February 19, a slick, snowy night, a dozen folks came to Turkey Hill Rd in Dryden to learn about solar panels and geothermal heat. They sat around Bob and Betty’s kitchen table, warmed by the earth and lighted by sun energy, they munched popcorn, and talked about solar installations.

There was a wonderful exchange of information. The visitors brought great questions and “..even the dog had a good time,” said Betty.

Bob and Betty have tightened the house envelope some (by increasing insulation and weather stripping around doors), but it is still a circa 1850s farmhouse with the leaks and creaks of old age. First they installed solar panels to provide electricity for their lights and running the furnace. Then when the furnace needed replacing they decided to install a geothermal system. That required more solar panels. They sized the new array so they could charge an electric car, too. The whole nine yards.

Have you wanted to learn more about tightening up your house, adding a solar electric system or maybe geothermal heat? Did you know that there are rebates and credits to help pay for these improvements? Come take part in “Solar Tour Dryden”, sponsored by the Dryden Resource Awareness Coalition (DRAC). Each month for the next 5 months we will sponsor an open house in a home where the owners have tightened up to conserve energy, or added a solar or geothermal system, or built their house “green” from scratch.

Our next Solar Tour open house will be on March 16th, 10-noon, at 812 Irish Settlement Rd. Learn how Stuart and Zoe tightened up their historic house and cut their electric usage by 75%.

This is a great opportunity to sit around the table with a Dryden neighbor, learn about their system, and ask your questions. Learn what works and what doesn’t work. We hope that you will come away from these visits with more understanding of how the use of energy conservation measures and alternative sources of energy can benefit your family, your wallet, your home, and your community.

Renewable Energy Forum

February 25th, 7:00 pm, Unitarian Church in Ithaca (corner Aurora and Buffalo)

The League of Women voters is hosting a forum on the question of “what kind of renewable energy can we look to to sustain our local area as well as the state and the nation?”

Speakers: Guillermo Metz, Jonathan Comstock and Francis Vanek

Solarize Tompkins SE

This program wants to bring at least 30 new solar photovoltaic (PV) or solar thermal (hot water) installations to Caroline, Dryden, and Danby in 2013. By working with state and county organizations, area residents, and solar energy installers, Solarize Tompkins County SE will streamline the installation process, making solar energy installations easy and affordable for area residents, farmers, business owners, municipalities, and institutions. See their website for more information.

Solar Tour Dryden

Have you wanted to learn more about tightening up your house and adding a solar electric system or maybe geothermal heat?

In February we will start our tour on Turkey Hill Road at an older home where the owners have tightened the house envelope and then installed ground mount solar panels plus a geothermal heating/cooling system. The whole nine yards. The solar panels run their lights and the geothermal pumps and also charges their electric car.

FEBRUARY 19th, 7:00 pm, 301 Turkey Hill Road; home of Bob Armstrong and Betty Singer.

Come take part in the DRAC sponsored “Solar Tour Dryden”. Each month for the next 6 months we will sponsor an open house in a home where the owners have tightened up to conserve energy, or added a solar or geothermal system, or built “green” from scratch.

It is your opportunity to sit around the table with a Dryden neighbor, learn about their system, and ask your questions. Learn what works and what doesn’t work. We hope that you will come away from these visits with more understanding of how the use of energy conservation measures and alternative sources of energy can benefit your family, your wallet, and your home.

The remainder of our schedule will be posted here soon. The open house visits will occur in the third week of each month. Check back soon for more information.

Upcoming Events February 2013

Governor Cuomo needs to decide whether to release the SGEIS by February 6  We are in sprint mode to target him until then. Please participate in one or more of the following events.

NOW – Call Governor Cuomo Week!!

Please take 2 minutes to call Governor Cuomo and tell him not to release the SGEIS and move ahead with fracking. Also share around! 866-584-6799

Sunday, February 3,  12:30 – 4:00 , Ithaca:  Visualize Resistance

Rally starts on the Commons in Ithaca, and moves to “Fracking 101”, including a introduction to Direct Action, at the Unitarian Church Annex on Buffalo St. and Aurora, 2:00 – 4:00.   Everyone is welcome.

Monday, February 4 (9am-2pm, Albany): Rally to Stop Fracking Approval by Governor Cuomo ; Hearing Room B in LOB

The legislature will be able to question DEC Commissioner Martens (who testifies at 9:00 am) on their secretive, dysfunctional and undemocratic process. We need to pack the room and be there when DEC Commissioner Martens testifies and for the entirety of his remarks. Following the Commissioners testimony we will gather in the Million Dollar Staircase for a rally and a press conference to unite and demand that this fatally flawed process not move forward. We’re asking everyone to wear blue and bring a jar of the clean water from your tap to hold up as well as signs. Our message to Governor Cuomo is this – we are organized and we will not let up or give up.  Bus leaving from Wegmans at 6:00 am.

Tuesday, Feb 5 – Rally/ press Conference in Binghamton, 11:45 – 2:00

DON’T FRACK OUR HEALTH  With the health of Southern Tier residents at stake, Governor Cuomo called for a health study on fracking, which consisted of 25 hours of scientist’s time. The results of this have been kept secret, and he is set to move ahead with fracking with no public input. Our health and that of our families is worth more than a secret, rushed study!!
We will meet at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation Social Hall at 11:45 am for a rally and press conference. Speakers will include Dr. Sandra Steingraber and others TBD!  The Hall is reserved until 2 pm for a potluck immediately following the rally! Please bring a dish to pass, and allow some time to relax and eat!  183 Riverside Drive, Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Binghamton

Thursday, Feb. 7 Athens, PA: Psychological Impacts of Life in PA Gas Fields   Community Shale Network Program THURSDAY Feb. 7, 7pm  “A Silence of the Lambs – Exploring the Psychological Impacts of Life in the Pennsylvania Gas Fields” will be presented by Diane Siegmund at the Unitarian Universalist church of Athens and Sheshequin (UUAS), located at112 North Street in Athens PA, on February 7 at 7pm.  The event is free and open to the public.

Press Contact Info:Darcey Laine, Co-Moderator, Community Shale Network darceylaine@earthlink.net    607-220-4152

 

Get on the Bus

A decision to move forward with fracking in New York could come any day. If there ever was a time to take action to protect your water, air, land, food supply and the future of this planet, now would be it.

On Monday, we’re going to Albany in force as DEC Commissioner Joe Martins testifies at a legislative hearing on the proposed budget. Afterwards, we’ll thunder over to the Million Dollar Staircase and rally with friends and public figures. Additionally there will be a delivery to Governor Cuomo’s office of water from around the state.

WHAT: Budget Hearing and Rally to Ban Fracking
WHERE: Capitol Building, Albany NY
WHEN: Monday, February 4
TIME: 9:00 AM (bus Departs at 6 AM)

Bus information:

DEPARTS: 6:00 AM
LOCATION: 34th St & 8th Ave, NW Corner
SIGN UP FOR THE BUS HERE.

For other buses around the state and more information, please click here.

Tom Reed Town Hall February 2, 2013

Tom Reed (R) is the U. S. Congressional Representative for the 23rd District which includes Dryden. He will be hosting a Town Hall meeting on Saturday February 2, 2013 beginning at 12:30pm at the Dryden Town Hall located at 93 East Main Street in Dryden.

Reed has stated his support for bringing extreme methane extraction using high volume hydraulic fracturing to New York. Please come to this Town Hall meeting and express your views on this and other National issues.

Down Goes Goliath!

Tompkins County Supreme Court Judge Philip Rumsey ruled Tuesday afternoon that the town’s zoning amendment is not preempted by state law. Dryden was sued in September by Denver-based Anschutz Exploration Corporation after passing an amendment to its zoning ordinance in August that clarified that Dryden’s zoning prohibits extractive industries.

Full Excerpt from Ithaca Journal

New York Times Article

You can download the decision HERE.

TO DONATE TO THE DRAC “KEEP THE BAN” FUND

 

TO DONATE TO THE DRAC “KEEP THE BAN” FUND

please make checks out to DRAC and send them to DRAC, PO Box 1094, Dryden, NY, 13053