Hundreds protest wastewater facility

On Sunday afternoon before the Superbowl, a crowd of about 500 people filled the Pulteney Fire Hall to hear experts speak about the proposed injection of contaminated wastewater into an old gas well in Pulteney. People came from the entire region, from as far away as Rochester, Elmira, and Ithaca.

Injection wells are used by gas drilling companies to dispose of the toxic wastewater produced by horizontal hydraulic fracturing, a process used to free the gas from Marcellus shale.

Chesapeake Energy approached the Town of Pulteney Supervisor, Bill Weber, last September with a proposal to inject toxic wastewater into an existing natural gas well less than a mile west of Keuka Lake. About the same time, the company submitted applications to the U.S. EPA and the N.Y. DEC to convert the old well into a Class 2 injectional well. Injection wells provide "the most cost effective and environmentally sound option" for disposing of the wastewater, the company said in its EPA application.

The panel included U.S. Rep. Eric Massa, D-Corning, Tony Ingraffea, professor of engineering, Cornell University, Walter Hang, president of Toxics Targeting, Art Hunt, owner of Hunt Country Vineyards, Richard Young, professor of geology at SUNY Geneseo, activist Steve Coffman and attorney and environmentalist Rachel Treichler. The moderator was Peter Gamba, Chairman of The Committee To Preserve The Finger Lakes.

• Massa told the people he would fight for them in Washington. He said Pulteney residents should not be fooled by lease agreements offered by Chesapeake. "After you can't live in your house or sell your house because you don't have access to fresh water, the pennies you got will seem like silver to Judas."

• Ingraffea claimed that Chesapeake's plan would mean about 180,000 gallons of wastewater would be injected under pressure into the well every day for 10 years. The wastewater, a brine solution that contains toxic materials such as benzene and radioactive material, would be hauled to the site in tanker trucks, three per hour, eight hours per day. The heavy truck traffic increases the chance of an accidental spill.
   
• Hang said it was the responsibility of those living near the well to stop Chesapeake. "I have very bad news for you. They are going to drill in the Marcellus formation as soon as they can." Hang said the Pulteney town board should pass a resolution asking Chesapeake to withdraw its proposal. He said the Town of Pulteney should fight to gain lead agency status. The DEC is now the lead agency on Chesapeake's permit request. "You should control the process, not the Department of Environmental Conservation." He also recommended opponents begin fundraising to hire an attorney. "You can nip this in the bud if you organize and act immediately."

• Young pointed out the dangers of injecting wastewater into subsurface strata with incomplete knowledge of the geology and faults below the surface.

• Hunt and Coffman talked about the negative impact that the injection well would have on the area's tourism and wine industry.

Treichler was the last presenter. She emphasized the complexity of the DEC and EPA rules and regulations and the need for opponents to organize as soon as possible to fight Chesapeake from a legal standpoint.