Kudos to  the Sullivan County Legislature’s  Public Works Committee  for bringing drilling  before the  full  Board of Legislators!  The members of the Committee are David Sager (Chair),  Elwin Wood, Jonathan Rouis, Jodi Goodman, Leni Binder, Alan Sorensen and Frank Armstrong.

The Committee has  given us an opportunity to congratulate its members and to  ask  the County Board to:

  • hold public fora with  commissioners  and emergency responders for the benefit of  county residents;
  • anything else you believe  will help protect Sullivan County residents as we move forward.

If you wish to speak,  it’s suggested you get there  by 1:30.    Meeting begins at 2:00 PM

The Sullivan County Democrat’s full story on the  Committee’s resolutions can be read here and is excerpted below:

MONTICELLO — Legislators on the Public Works Committee unanimously agreed Thursday to ban gas drilling involving hydrofracking on all county-owned properties.
Citing environmental, water quality, traffic and property impact concerns, the resolution says no such drilling will be allowed “until such time as the potential long-term, cumulative and indirect environmental and public health impacts are adequately addressed and appropriate mitigation measures are identified.”
An accompanying resolution was also approved on Thursday, urging Congress to “amend pertinent federal laws to adequately safeguard the environment and the public from any environmental and health risks associated with hydrofracking.”
Both resolutions will go before the full Legislature this Thursday for official approval. The meeting is open to the public and will be held at 2 p.m. at the Government Center in Monticello.

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It was brought to my attention that the link to The River Reporter’s letters section which I included in my Hodgepodge :  Sullivan County Leases;  David Jones article is not working.

In a follow-up to  the “Hodgepodge” article,  Mr. James Barth, who authored  the letter concerning Mr. David Jones’ land transactions, wrote a comment at Breathing which provides background for the publication of his letter.

Those interested in reading his letter for a fuller understanding can find it here or  here.

Breathing recommends that regular readers of this column subscribe to the comment section’s  RSS feed in order to participate in its  “community forum” potential.  For instance,  one resident (“Deemer”)  has suggested local action in a comment this morning and is looking for feedback and possible support.

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