With the Marcellus Shale gas deposits in the news and talk of fortunes to be made, it’s the human error factor that worries Don Barber, Caroline Town Supervisor.    

“It’s not that I’m against drilling, but it needs to be done in a responsible, safe manner and reports from towns such as Dimmock, Pennsylvania, show the numerous problems that could ensue,” he says. “The town can’t forbid drilling, all it can do it hope that the DEC takes our important areas into account when giving out permits and that the companies involved follow the DEC recommendations to mitigate road damage when it occurs.”    

In response to such concerns associated with gas well drilling, Town board member Dominic Frongillo says that The Town of Caroline recently sent out a questionnaire asking residents to list wetlands and areas of cultural, historical or ecological concern on or near their properties.  Officials also want to know if any abandoned gas wells were located in this area.    

About 100 of the forms have made it back to the town hall for review. Many of them list wetlands, agricultural land, historic buildings, parkland and similar places of interest in town. A committee of volunteers met on Nov. 3 to review the forms that were submitted and to begin putting the data on a spreadsheet on the town’s Web site, (townofcaroline.org) so that everyone can see and comment on the results.    

Barber cites an incident this past summer when a local landowner installed a septic tank on his property and had several truck loads of gravel hauled in. “They left deep muddy ruts in the road and the town had to fix this. A gas drilling rig and support trucks weigh two to three times what those gravel truck weigh,” he says.    

New York State law says two contradictory things, Barber says. “One is that public roads must be open to all members of the public, the other is that you can’t destroy public property. There are only a few subdivision roads in the town that are new enough to be engineered roads. All of the other roads, including the main roads, have simply been upgraded from horse and buggy days,” he says.    

“They work OK for normal traffic, cars, farm trucks or the occasional load of gravel of topsoil, but they aren’t designed to take the abuse of huge trucks day after day. Even the family car will cause some wear and tear on the roads and weather takes a toll, but the immediate visible damage occurs when overloaded trucks repeatedly pound the pavement, especially in wet weather. Then, the underlying road bed gets damaged beyond repair and the tax payers end up having to pay for a new road. The Town of Caroline is working with the Environmental Management Council, and the Finger Lakes Land Trust to draft regulations to deal with these problems,” says Barber.    

The supervisor notes that New York State law allows people, through their town governments, to select areas of ecological or cultural importance called critical environmental areas. The DEC is then charged with making note of these areas and, though it’s not required, potentially putting restrictions on any drilling permits issued.    

“The only other way that towns can influence when and where drilling for gas takes place is by putting road use rules into place. Requiring a company to repair roads that they are responsible for damaging, for instance, is allowed,” Barber says.     Other potential problems mentioned by Barber and others studying the gas well drilling issue include contamination of water supplies by chemicals found in the fracturing fluids used to extract the gas under pressure, contamination of air, soil and water by chemicals used in the process of drilling for or securing the gas. Surface environmental damage is also of great concern.    

Previous negative incidents include the stripping of trees and topsoil to accommodate drilling rigs and other related equipment, noise pollution from rigs that operate night and day, and damage to property from chemical spills.    

Barber uses the interconnected water supply situation in Slaterville Springs as an example of the problems that could be caused by drilling for gas. The aquifer there has already been punctured once, resulting in a loss of water to much of the hamlet.    

While that problem has since been resolved, drilling in the wrong area could cause pollution of, or the complete loss of, water to private households as well as the senior and disabled housing, Fountain Manor and to Caroline Elementary School.      

The town welcomes comments from all Caroline residents. Information on local natural areas, agricultural land, the location of any environmentally noteworthy areas such as bird or amphibian habitat is important. The location and depth of water wells is also requested.    

Those who have not received a survey form asking for input can download it from the Town of Caroline Web site. The deadline for submissions is Nov. 15.    

After compiling the data the town hopes to have results available on the web site and published in the local newsletter, “The Old Mill” soon after that date.    

Local officials say information obtained from the survey will help the town in its negotiations with the gas drilling companies and help the DEC regulate the use of public resources and help prevent or at least mitigate any damage to roads.    

For more information call Barber at 539-3395.

TAGGED WITH: Caroline, gas drilling, Marcellus Shale