News Details - July 25th Forum - “Drilling and the DEC: Responding to New Guidelines”

The Tompkins County Council of Governments Task Force on Natural Gas Drilling is among more than 20 community cosponsors of a public forum, to be held Monday, July 25, which will provide information on the revised draft document prepared by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to regulate natural gas drilling in New York State.

The free public session, entitled “Drilling and the DEC: Responding to New Guidelines,” will be held Monday, beginning at 6:30 p.m., at the Women’s Community Building, 100 W. Seneca Street, Ithaca. Speakers will provide information on the DEC’s revised draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact State (SGEIS), released July 8, including how the latest version differs from that initially released nearly two years ago.

Moderated by Martha Robertson, Chair of the Tompkins County Legislature, the forum will include the following speakers, all recognized experts in the field of hydrofracking:

Louis Allstadt, Former Executive Vice President, Mobil Oil Corporation
Tony Ingraffea, Ph.D., Dwight C. Baum Professor of Engineering at Cornell University
Helen Slottje, Managing Attorney, Community Environmental Defense Council
Roger Downs, Conservation Director, Atlantic Chapter of the Sierra Club
Karen Edelstein, GIS and Mapping Consultant

As part of Monday’s forum, attendees will be briefed on how to submit comments to the DEC on the revised SGEIS.

The final section of the SGEIS, addressing the community, social, and economic impacts, is scheduled for release by the DEC next month. Another Ithaca public forum, covering this section of the document, will take place early this fall.

All public comments must be submitted to the DEC by on or about October 1.

07-22-2011