Public Hearing about Airport Drilling
Check the 'comments' to this item, if you're looking for possible talking points for Thursday's meeting.
ACTION ALERT - Contact County Executive Rich Fitzgerald & the Allegheny County Council
Click here for full details and contact information for your elected officials.
You can also download this one-page flyer and distribute it in your neighborhood.
You must register to speak no later than 24 hrs. prior to the hearing. You can register in two ways:
Call: 412-350-6490
Online: http://www.alleghenycounty.us/council/meetings/rec...
Watch our calendar for updates.
Click here for a sample letter you can use.
ACTION ALERT - Contact County Executive Rich Fitzgerald & the Allegheny County Council
Fitzgerald 412-350-6500-- County Council 412-350-6490--Amy Downs, Director of Communications 412-350-3711
Mobilize! Attend! Testify!
Public Hearing about Airport Drilling - Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013- 6pm
Robert Morris Univ, 119 Campus Dr. Sewall Center International room, Moon Township
Next week, County Executive Rich Fitzgerald will introduce legislation to affirm a 30 year contract between the County Airport Authority and Consol Energy to begin Shale Gas Extraction Operations (“Fracking”) at Pittsburgh International in Moon Twp. and County Airports in West Mifflin Borough.It will be referred to Standing Committee and a pubic hearing held Thursday, Feb. 7. There is, at this time, only one hearing planned.
There are no plans, as of yet, to have any hearings in West Mifflin or in nearby municipalities in the area of the Allegheny County Airport. There is no cogent public information program so that the public would have the ability to comment in a meaningful way.
A final vote could happen as early as one month from introduction of the legislation next week. Now is the time to think, ask questions and to speak up. It is our communities. It is our County. It is our water. It is our air. It is our future. The Airport Authority has already indicated it would give the deal to Consol Energy.
Lots of money - No public participation. No Environmental (as built or natural) studies. No public health risk assessments.
"The Allegheny County Airport Authority on Friday opted to negotiate a potential $250 million drilling deal with Consol Energy, which submitted what appeared to be the lower of two bids for the lucrative contract. "The Cecil-based company offered to pay $20.8 million upfront for the right to drill for natural gas on a combined 9,263 acres at Pittsburgh International Airport in Findlay and the county airport in West Mifflin. The bid included a deposit check of $2.1 million.
"EQT, a Downtown energy company, made a bid that it said would have netted the authority $44 million in upfront cash. It did not include a deposit check."
Shale Gas Drilling (“Fracking”) is not just the installation of a 6 acre-plus drilling pad and a temporary rig that does the drilling. There will be a need for attending permanent infrastructure, particularly pipeline construction and mid-stream infrastructure.
The host municipalities would be confronted with significant issues related to their present development plans and finding room for the new industrial uses coming to their neighborhoods in largely residential and commercial/retail zoned areas. The character of these community will be forever and fundamentally changed.
Each municipality in PA is required by state law to have a comprehensive plan. If drilling occurs West Mifflin and Moon Twp. and other nearby municipalities they would be required to significantly amend these plans. Fracking impacts were never envisioned in these comprehensive plans.
The fact is, this is not just a matter of constructing a well pad, a temporary drilling operation and then, it’s done. The attending permanent infrastructure requires significant permanent land use.
Pipeline rights of way present many hurdles to municipalities due to the need to carve out rights of way up to 30 feet in width. Permanent Compressor Stations and Distillation facilities which produce significant air pollution will dot these and other communities landscape.
I encourage you to contact the Pipeline Safety Coalition so that you would be better equipped to deal with what is coming your way. Last summer the PSC did an excellent presentation at a Local Government Academy (“LGA”) workshop in Canonsburg. They are at 101 east Street Road, Kennet Sq., PA 19348. 610 925 0041. Website: http://www.papipelinesafety.org/
Aside from the inherent dangers posed by shale gas extraction there are impacts to local and regional PUBLIC SAFETY planning.
At a LGA workshop on that matter in Murrysville last summer, PA Homeland Security/PEMA was there, represented by the former City and County 911 center’s Chief, Bob Full. Bob acknowledged at that meeting that there is no PA state safety protocol, as of yet, for responding to events (well fires, explosions, spills, etc.) for first responders.
Obviously, the host communities would be on the front line of such a response. Are the Sky View Volunteer Firefighters (adjacent to the County airport) in West Mifflin prepared? Moon Twp. volunteer firefighters?
Are the surrounding boroughs municipal first responders prepared and protected? There would be significant costs associated with public safety equipment acquisition and training.
The municipalities in the area of the two airports would see a significant increase in heavy truck traffic. The PA DEP estimates that one horizontal Marcellus well requires 1,000 water truck trips during drilling and fracking. There is another estimated 1,200 truck trips for the silica sand. Per well. The pad may have up to 6-8 wells. That’s a lot of heavy truck traffic headed for Lebanon and Lebanon Church Roads.
There will be noise 24/7, well flaring, open frack water ponds with millions of gallons of contaminated liquids that breath off Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC’s - benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene, xylene) which are know cancer causing and endocrine disrupter agents. The return fluids also bring back barium, strontium and radionuclide and radioactive material.
If Allegheny County and International Airports are to be fracked it would stand to reason to hold community meetings in West Mifflin and surrounding municipalities. Yet, that is not enough. How can the people of any given community comment if they have not been provided a full disclosure of the impacts associated with Fracking?
My home in Sq. Hill is only about 2 miles away as the crow flies from the County Airport. It is essentially in the city’s 31st Ward’s (Lincoln Place- West Mifflin) backyard.
Read more:
http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2013/01/17/drilling...
http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/3137475-74/auth...Contact your County Executive & County Council now! Stop Fracking. It isn’t safe.
PHONE LIST:Richard Fitzgerald, County Executive (412) 350 6500
John DeFazio County Council At-Large (412) 350-6516
Heather S. Heidelbaugh County Council At-Large (412) 350-6520
Matt Drozd District 1 (412) 350-6525
Jan Rea District 2 (412) 350-6530
James Burn, Jr. District 3 (412) 350-6535
Michael J. Finnerty District 4 (412) 350-6540
Vince Gastgeb District 5 (412) 350-6545
John F. Palmiere District 6 (412) 350-6550
Nicholas Futules District 7 Vice-President (412) 350-6555
Dr. Charles Martoni, President District 8 (412) 350-6560
Robert J. Macey District 9 (412) 350-6565
William Russell Robinson District 10 (412) 350-6570
Barbara Daly Danko District 11 (412) 350-6575
James Ellenbogen District 12 (412) 350-6580
Amanda Green Hawkins District 13 (412) 350-6585Bulk email list (Click any address to send email):
jpalmiere@alleghenycounty.us, vgastgeb@alleghenycounty.us, cmartoni@alleghenycounty.us, nfutules@alleghenycounty.us, wrobinson@alleghenycounty.us, rmacey@alleghenycounty.us, jellenbogen@alleghenycounty.us, bdanko@alleghenycounty.us, jdefazio@alleghenycounty.us, agreen@alleghenycounty.us, hheidelbaugh@alleghenycounty.us, mdrozd@alleghenycounty.us, jrea@alleghenycounty.us, jim.burn@alleghenycounty.us, mfinnerty@alleghenycounty.us, rfitzgerald@alleghenycounty.us
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Details on airport fracking | 308.9 KB |
| Sample Letter (for Elected County Officials) | 79.67 KB |
| One-page flyer - for you to distribute | 178.04 KB |
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Post-Gazette editorial on appointment to Airport Authority
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ran this editorial (reproduced below) regarding the appointment of County Councilman Vince Gastgeb to the Airport Authority. What the P-G did not say is that County Council -- presumably including Mr. Gastgeb -- will soon be voting on the County Executive's proposal to authorize the Airport Authority to approve a lease for gas drilling -- fracking -- at the airport.
Got it?
(1) Mr. Fitzgerald negotiates a deal with Consol Energy for leasing, although the Airport Authority would need to sign the lease.
(2) Then County Council introduces an ordinance to authorize the Airport Authority to enter into a lease.
(3) Then Mr. Fitzgerald appoints Councilman Gastgeb to a well-paid seat on the Airport Authority (while Mr. Gastgeb is still sitting on Council).
Where do we go from here?
(4) County Council will approve the ordinance.
(5) Mr. Gastgeb will support Mr. Fitzgerald's plan for leasing the airport.
From the Post-Gazette:
"Inside job: The airport deserved a real pro on a key post.
A good salesman can sell anything. That's the conventional wisdom in business, and it's the justification the Allegheny County Airport Authority offered for its decision to hire county Councilman Vince Gastgeb to lead efforts to attract more air travel and service at Pittsburgh International Airport.
Is anybody buying this?
Mr. Gastgeb, a Bethel Park Republican and member of council since it was established in 2000, has an extensive background in food sales and marketing and currently is senior business sales manager for a firm that is sales agent for Sara Lee Foods. Nobody is questioning his skills as a salesman.
Here's what's questionable.
• The candidate deemed to be most qualified just happens to be part of the legislative body that confirms appointments to the authority. In other words, Mr. Gastgeb holds sway over the people who gave him the $113,500-a-year job.
• The authority posted this crucial position for just a week, Jan. 4 to Jan. 11, and concluded that nobody could do a better job of "selling the airport," as Mr. Gastgeb described his duties.
• This kind of insider advantage is so commonplace in Allegheny County that the citizenry is complacent about it, adopting an attitude of "that's the way things are" rather than "that's no way for things to be."
The public has a big stake in the airport. Millions of taxpayer dollars went into construction of a facility that was custom-made and later abandoned as a hub for US Airways. People in several states rely on it for their personal travel plans, too. But most important is the airport's role in drawing and sustaining a vibrant business community; businesses in the region need ready access to national and international markets for their goods, services and employees.
It's hard to believe the authority did not look for or could not find someone with experience in the airline industry or airport management field to lead this important endeavor for the airport and the region.
Now that Mr. Gastgeb has the job, he should resign his council seat. Oversight of the airport authority is an important function of county government, and Mr. Gastgeb can't fill that role while working as one of the authority's employees.
'Burden of Proof' lies on the frackers & county gov't.
From Lois Drumheller:
Cecil Township beats MarkWest in Court (again) !!
The court said: "Mark West's argument that the objectors failed to meet their burden in this regard is unfounded. Until Mark West satisfies its burden that the proposed facility meets the specific and objective requirements for a special exception under the UDO, which the ZHB found that it did not, the burden of proof does NOT shift to the OBJECTORS to present evidence that the proposed use would have a detrimental effect on the public health, safety and welfare."
Quite a shot in the arm in support of the argument against Allegheny County's thinking that citizens who object to Marcellus operations at the Pbg Intl airport should present burden of proof in mis-use of that land!