Today's Corning Leader story is headlined "Winner: Massa Withheld Information". There's a lot less there than the headline would indicate, and what is there is bad for Southern Tier Republicans, not Massa.
The information that Winner says Massa withheld is contained in a letter from Chesapeake Energy, the company that wants to put wastewater down a well one mile from Keuka Lake. Chesapeake says that they have found a new process to filter, dilute and re-use fracking water, so they won't be "actively pursuing" the application to store that water in an abandoned gas well near Pulteney.
Winner thinks that this letter means that Chesapeake won't be using the well. But Chesapeake clearly says that they aren't withdrawing their application to store water in the well:
“While we remain confident that these technological practices will eliminate the need for the injection well permit, it is premature for us to pull the application at this time,” McClendon said.
“However, you have my commitment that we will keep you posted on our recycling program and any change in our position related to the permit application.”
In other words, the fox won't be having chicken for dinner today, but be sure to let him keep the key to the henhouse door for safekeeping. And don't worry -- he'll "keep you posted".
George Winner is either dumb enough, or duplicitous enough, to take Chesapeake's statement at face value. But that's no surprise. Ever since Chesapeake showed up in the Southern Tier, he and Tom Reed have been falling over themselves to accommodate the drilling company's interests. For Winner and Reed, the valid concerns of Tier residents, Republican and Democrat alike, take a back seat to an Oklahoma company's desire to have drilling and wastewater carting start immediately.
The politics of this are dead simple. If Tom Reed had the 29th seat today, there would be no high-profile elected representative asking skeptical questions and slowing down the process so all can be heard. Oklahoma fairy tales would be swallowed whole, along with a big glass of "shut up".
If anyone needs more evidence that Massa's election is making a positive difference in the lives of Tier residents, today's Leader has it, in spades.
Comments
Thanks for that posting. It's good to see that you're really getting onto this issue.
I'm embarrassed that someone the caliber of George Winner would be so sympathetic to Chesapeake----actually, 'carrying water' is a pretty darn accurate description. What in the world is he (and his brethren including, yes, former Mayor Reed) thinking???? Talk about tone-deaf or just-don't-caring.
George Winner is a loser! His refusal to realize how important this issue is to so many of his constituents makes me wonder "what is he thinking?"
If Senator Winner continues like this, this registered Republican may be voting for "the other guy" come November; I'm sure I'm not the only one.
I doubt he can win with just the hometown Elmira vote.
By the way, does anyone Assemblyman Jim Baccales' position on this, one way or the other on the other?
I'm casting my vote for Winner's being duplicitous. He has always seemed to me to be one of those who tows the party line, and brings back enough pork and says what's necessary to get re-elected.
There's an interesting read in a letter from Winner to the Star-Gazette's associate editor re. a story published last November (which, unfortunately, doesn't seem to be in their archives anymore) at Steuben Co. Landowners Coalition http://mysite.verizon.net/reszcmsk/id36.html [pdf] Even then, he seemed to be saying that everything's fine.
I'm casting my vote for Winner's being duplicitous. He has always seemed to me to be one of those who tows the party line, and brings back enough pork and says what's necessary to get re-elected.
There's an interesting read in a letter from Winner to the Star-Gazette's associate editor re. a story published last November (which, unfortunately, doesn't seem to be in their archives anymore) at Steuben Co. Landowners Coalition http://mysite.verizon.net/reszcmsk/id36.html [pdf] Even then, he seemed to be saying that everything's fine.
Sen. Winner was not at the meeting in Pulteney on Sunday. We were told–by Congressman Massa–that Chesapeake claims to have improved their water reuse. The facts remain that they still have an active permit application to inject waste into the well in Pulteney, and they will still need to do something with whatever it is they filter out of the fracking wastewater.
Can I also point out that Congressman Massa distributed the letter to the audience? I got one. Winner should have run this by Tom Reed since Tom's brother was at the meeting in Pulteney taking notes on EVERYTHING that Eric said.
Thanks. That's an interesting piece of information. I posted about it.
It's disingenuous for Massa to grandstand over an issue that he knows is dead and then suggest that McClendon, a powerful and well respected businessman/billionaire, is a liar. Chesapeake is heeding the concerns of the residents and has found an alternative solution -- Massa should be thanking them, not vilifying them with inflammatory and unsubstantiated claims. McClendon said they're pursuing other alternatives and Massa has no reason not to take him at his word.
We'll know the issue is dead when Chesapeake withdraws their application to put water in the well.
And, while the track record of businessmen/billionaires as truth tellers is usually beyond reproach, Massa has two very good reasons to not take him at his word. First, his word hasn't been backed up by action -- the permit application still stands. Second, his words are contingent -- "at this time". At some later time, perhaps when the heat is off, Chesapeake might decide that using the well to dispose of water makes sense.
Hear, hear!
The reference in the McClendon letter to the organization called Ground Water Protection Council and the testimony of Scott Kell their president. This is hardly objective information. This is a trade organization, not an independent, objective organization whose title suggested independence. Go to their website and you will see that they are a 501-6c not 3c organization....because they belong to the trade. Read what they say with that in mind.
Even if Chesapeake withdraws their application in Pulteney, this battle is going to fought over and over throughout the Marcellus Shale area of New York. Dead issue? ..... I WISH.
I don't see how a politician in the Finger Lakes can get elected without a strong stand against fracking and dumping of waste water from fracking. This issue hits home for anybody who lives in this area regardless of political party or ideology ....... and more and more people are waking up to that.
The first well in NY—whether it's in Pulteney or somewhere else—to receive waste from fracking or whatever is the most important because it would set a precedent. If there is no first well, well…
As more than one panelist at the Pulteney meeting on Sunday said, it's just a matter of time before hydrofracking or horizontal drilling or some process is used to extract the natural gas trapped in the Marcellus shale. There's just too much gas (==money) there to be ignored forever. The $64,000,000 question is how to extract the gas responsibly, i.e, without trashing the environment or a portion of it.
Without strong regulation, oversight, and potential penalties, I can't think of any company I would trust to be that responsible. That control is the crux of the political aspect of this issue.