Susquehanna Chapter ADK

IN MEMORY OF STEVE BONNELL
Very active member Steve Bonnell died suddenly Oct. 29, at age 55, of severe allergies. He and wife Linda had most recently done education outreach using our display at the Otsego Co. Fair and Morrisville College. They also marched for us in the Springfield 4th of July parade. The family also did trail clearing locally and at our club adopted Blue Ridge Wilderness Area.
Steve lived the Boy Scout motto"be prepared" by being able to jump start a hikers car on one occasion and tow 3 or 4 others up an icy slop out of Basswood Pond State Land parking lot on another. Steve was trained as an USDA Soil Scientist and taught us many things about the forest as we hiked. As you can see he will be greatly missed.

WINTER TRIP TO THE ADIRONDACK LOJ, JAN 30-FEB 1, 2012
Join Susquehanna Chapter members on Jan 30-Feb 1 (Monday-Wednesday) for a fun-filled winter holiday snowshoeing, skiing, or just walking in what often is a winter wonderland in the north country. Although our chapter places have been filled, most likely there will still be beds because this is a mid-week time. To make your own reservation call the Loj at 518-523-3441. The 12 person loft costs $55.00 per night for bed and breakfast. Bunkrooms and private rooms are higher in price. For more information call Aleda Koehn at 607 437 3831 or e-mail Aleda at akoehn40@hotmail.com.

WELCOME NEW & REJOINING ADKers We’ll see you at meetings and on the trails
• Eric Coe 211 Cemetary Rd. Fly Creek, NY 13337
• Daniel & Heather Kirk-Davidoff 9501 Good Lioon Rd Columbia, MD 21045
• Jane McCabe 7 State St. P-3 Oneonta, NY 287-3054
• Sue & Jon Nogaret 386 Cty Hwy 10 New Berlin, NY 13411
• Joseph & Michal Ann Rizzo 14 Brook St Oneonta 13820
• Aaron Whitcraft 121 E Manor Dr Lititiz, PA 17543

DEC TV -- ONLINE!
The NY State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has launched DEC TV, which features short videos on outdoor topics. You might find the following of interest: Backwoods Camping, Hiking Essentials, Hiking in the Adirondacks, Geocaching, Types of Kayaks, Kayaking in the Adirondacks, Cross Country Skiing, The Adirondacks, and Outdoors-Woman Program. Lots more to choose from! Check it out at: http://www.dec.ny.gov/detv/dectv.html.

DIRECTOR'S REPORT: Have You Submitted Your Comments to DEC Yet?
Tell DEC: No drilling under state land. ADK does not oppose high volume hydraulic fracturing [HVHF, or “fracking“] per se, IF it is done safely. But in state forest lands, drilling seriously compromises the stated purpose of these forests. Therefore, Neil Woodworth will focus the club’s resources on the state forests and parks.
ADK has, so far, established to the satisfaction of the DEC leadership that, based on Article 14 of the state constitution and environmental conservation law, these public lands were acquired to promote healthy forests and to protect ecosystems, wildlife habitat, groundwater aquifers, rivers and streams. Accordingly, in the latest Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS), DEC would prohibit any surface disturbance associated with the drilling of a gas well on public lands.
Unfortunately, the SGEIS does not prevent the state from leasing subsurface oil and gas rights on these lands, which could then be tapped from well pads on adjacent private lands.
As long as the gas company has the rights to drill under the state forests, the company can then count state forest lands when calculating to reach their goal of 60% [the percentage of leased land they need, per square mile, to force the other 40% of landowners to be “compulsorily integrated”]. This is not good news for the health of the state forest land, since adjoining lands are often important as buffer zones.
Also, although the proposed regulations do prohibit gas drilling activities on public lands, they do not prohibit gas pipeline networks, pipeline access roads or compressor stations on those lands.
To address these problems, ADK advocates to:
• Encourage DEC to keep the prohibition of HVHF gas drilling and drilling infrastructure on all state parks, state forests and wildlife management areas.
• Persuade DEC and the Governor not to lease the oil and gas rights under state parks and DEC-managed public lands.
• Encourage DEC to prohibit gas pipeline networks, pipeline access roads or compressor stations on state lands, since that would promote more intensive gas drilling on adjoining private forests. Too, the low-frequency noise from compressor stations can carry for miles, and can be disturbing.
Since most state forest and wildlife management areas were established to protect groundwater supplies and aquifers, it is a violation of both the letter and spirit of the state constitution and state law to lease gas exploitation rights underneath state forests, state parks or wildlife management areas. It is hoped that ADK members, who so often use these lands, will submit comments to DEC before the new deadline of January 11, 2012.
For further issues to comment on, please go to adk.org for information and talking points. A link has been provided to take you to DEC’s web site for commenting: [dec.ny.gov/energy/75370.html]
Gas drilling using high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF) would put more than 1 million acres of publicly owned land from the Catskills to Lake Erie at risk. Users of the Finger Lakes Trail and other trails which traverse these public lands, should be especially concerned. ADK members who care about the water quality of the lakes, rivers and streams in the Southern Tier and Central and Western New York should also be concerned.
In response to ADK’s advocacy efforts, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has proposed prohibiting gas drilling and drilling-related infrastructure on public lands, including state parks, state forests and wildlife management areas. But the energy industry is lobbying hard to convince Governor Cuomo to reverse DEC’s decision and open our public lands for intensive gas exploitation. (More on this can be found at adk.org.)
If we want to protect the landscape and setting of our trails, we must speak out. DEC is accepting comments on their web site until January 11, 2012. Here are some points to comment on:
- Encourage DEC to prohibit gas pipeline networks, pipeline access roads or compressor stations on state lands. DEC’s proposed regulations now prohibit gas drilling activities on public lands, but they DO NOT prohibit gas pipeline networks, pipeline access roads or compressor stations, whose low-frequency noise can be heard for several miles. The unnecessary leasing of state-owned gas rights will encourage the routing of pipelines over state lands and promote more intensive gas drilling on adjoining private forests.
- State lands should be protected by a buffer zone of 2000 feet, measured from the end of the horizontal fracture. - No HVHF horizontal drilling should be permitted within 2000 feet of a primary or principle water supply, in order to protect our aquifers.
- Prohibit open wastewater surface impoundments or lagoons. All HVHF drilling backflow or wastewater should be stored in a closed-loop steel tank system - DEC regulations must require the HVHF driller to disclose the chemical composition, total dissolved solids (TDS), salinity and radioactivity levels of all fracking fluid combinations as well as all flowback and produced waters.
- DEC regulations must require the drill permit applicant to submit a wastewater treatment plan that addresses all contaminants in the produced wastewater, including radioactivity, chlorides, total dissolved solids, heavy metals and aromatic hydrocarbons -- including benzene, toluene and xylene.
- The regulations should require that such wastewater be regulated and treated as hazardous waste under the State Pollutant Discharge
Elimination (SPDES) permitting process to ensure that there are no adverse environmental impacts from the discharge of HVHF treated water into a well, stream, river or other water body. (This safeguard is necessary to ensure that contaminated water is sent only to wastewater treatment plants that have the capacity to fully treat it.)
- To provide the maximum protection for groundwater supplies and aquifers, DEC regulations should mandate a triple layer of steel drill casings, with cementing between layers, that would extend below the maximum depth of the groundwater and/or aquifer layer in the location of the proposed HVHF well pad. - Linda Seifried, Director

FOOT-LOOSE! Newsletter of the Susquehanna Chapter ADK
Newsletter of the Susquehanna Chapter ADK
www.susqadk.org
c/o Lucille Wiggin
80 Chestnut Street
Oneonta, NY 13820
Subscription to this newsletter is included in membership in the Susquehanna Chapter of the Adirondack Mountain Club. It is available to the public and to non-chapter members for $5 per year. Contact Barbara Meeks at (607) 783 2924 for more information. Portions of this newsletter are also available online at www.susqadk.org.

A BETTER WAY OF RECEIVING FOOT-LOOSE
If you’re reading a mailed, printed black & white version of Foot-Loose and have e-mail service, please contact the editor and request to be added to the e-mail recipient list. You’ll get Foot-Loose more quickly, see pictures in color, and save trees and the club postage.

ADK MEMBERSHIP
Adirondack Mountain Club annual membership dues are $50 for individuals and $60 for families (other membership levels are available, including seniors and students). Benefits of membership include:
• discounts on ADK workshops and programs • discounts on ADK merchandise
• invitations to member only outings and extended trips • reduced rates at ADK facilities: lodges, leantos, and cabins
• 20% discount on ADK trail guides, canoe guides, campgrounds, maps, books and calendars • membership in one of ADK’s 27 chapters throughout the Northeast
• Adirondac Magazine six times a year
For more information go to www.susqadk.org or call (800) 395-8080