Category Archives: Uncategorized

Uncategorized

Climate talks fail: U.S. key obstacle to progress

Published on Saturday, December 8, 2012 by Common Dreams

Climate Fail: Cop18 Ends in ‘Betrayal’

UN climate negotiations end in Doha, Qatar with Kyoto extension

– Andrea Germanos, staff writer

The United Nations climate change conference concluded on Saturday, a day after the talks were slated to end, addressing only a fraction of global greenhouse gases, in what is seen by climate activists as “betrayal” of the people and a commitment to add fuel to a planet already on fire.

(photo: WWF@COP18)The agreement decided in Doha, Qatar extends the 1997 Kyoto Protocol until 2020 in a second commitment period, but falls short of addressing the bulk of the greenhouse gas emissions. Agence France-Presse reports:

An extension of Kyoto was finally approved with the 27-member European Union, Australia, Switzerland and eight other industrialised nations signing up for binding emission cuts by 2020.

They represent about 15 percent of global emissions.

The protocol locks in only developed nations, excluding major developing polluters such as China and India, as well as the United States which refuses to ratify it.

Oxfam International Director of Campaigns and Advocacy Celine Charveriat said of the agreement: “Once again governments have done far too little to drive down dangerous greenhouse gas emissions any time soon. The planet is on fire, but our governments are trying to extinguish the flames with watering cans.”

“This is not where we wanted to be at the end of the meeting, I assure you,” added Nauru Foreign Minister Kieren Keke, leader of an alliance of small island states. “It certainly isn’t where we need to be in order to prevent islands from going under and other unimaginable impacts.”

Climate activists noted the particularly negative role the US played.

“The blame lies squarely with the rich industrialised world, most notably the US. The Obama administration is succeeding in its efforts to dismantle the UN global climate regime and other wealthy nations have joined in, paralyzing the climate talks and forcing the world’s poor to pay the price,” said Asad Rehman, Friends of the Earth International spokesperson in Qatar.

Greenpeace International’s Kumi Naidoo added a scathing statement on the US role.

“The US remains outside the Kyoto Protocol, and its delegation came to Doha and immediately launched into blocking progress on nearly every front. Despite the devastation of Superstorm Sandy and polls showing majority support for climate policy, Obama’s team exhibits no improvement from previous COPs. With his administration’s subsidies of fossil fuel export that could negate domestic carbon pollution reduction, President Obama’s legacy could turn out to be no better than his predecessor’s,” Naidoo said in a statement.

Charveriat says the inaction by the US and others must be met with worldwide people power if there is to be hope.

“Our politicians spend more time quarrelling with each other than fighting our common enemy, climate change. Now citizens around the world must draw a line in the sand and build a movement that matches those that defeated slavery, apartheid, and other struggles for a more equitable world,” said Charveriat.

Dipti Bhatnagar, Friends of the Earth International climate justice coordinator, echoed Charveriat, saying governments’ failure at addressing climate change must be met with grassroots action. “As the talks in Doha show, people around the world cannot wait for our governments to see sense and deliver the solutions. Working together in our communities, people are already resisting fossil fuels and dirty energy, building clean energy cooperatives, transforming our food systems, and protecting our forests, land and water from multinational corporations. Only people-and-planet-centred solutions will solve the climate crisis and create a better future for us all. We must make our governments listen and demand climate justice now.”

In this video uploaded by the TckTckTck climate campaign as the conference closed, Greenpeace International’s Kumi Naidoo says that “any government walking out of these negotiations saying that this was a success is suffering from a terrible case of cognitive dissonance,” and that it represents a “betrayal of people in the Philippines” and around the world facing the impacts of climate change:

If there was a winner at the talks, it was the fossil fuel lobby, says Sarah-Jayne Clifton, Friends of the Earth International energy coordinator.

“The fossil fuel lobby won the Qatar desert climate battle, where we witnessed dirty industry elites still holding the reins of our governments. Meanwhile the climate crisis worsens and the window for action shrinks day by day. Developed countries did not even try to solve the climate crisis at these talks. Instead, they continued to protect the interests of fossil fuelled corporations and helped financial elites grow their latest cash cow: the global carbon market scam,” stated Clifton.

____________________

And from a subsequent post (12-10-12):

…The Doha outcome puts the world on track for three, four or even five degrees of warming, said the delegate from the South Pacific island nation of Nauru who represents the Alliance of Small Island States in the final plenary.

“We’re not talking about how comfortable your people (in developed world) may live but whether our people live,” the delegate said. “The lives of our people are on the line here.”

___________________________________

See also Climate 101: Climaterealityproject.org video and

powerful essay by George Monbiot: climate fight means political fight against plutocracy

Uncategorized

ODNR invites the public in; kicks them out

Wednesday eve, soon after the ODNR invited the public into an “open house” about  injection wells , they thought better of it and ordered the public to leave.

Though over 100 community members requested a public hearing about a newly permitted well, the ODNR had instead opted for an “open house” format, designed to diffuse agency accountability and community solidarity. The event was held 6 PM, Wed. night, at the ODNR headquarters on East State St, Athens.

More than seventy-five residents were crowded inside ODNR Athens headquarters when they took matters into their own hands and transformed the ODNR’S planned “open house” into the public hearing they had requested.  The crowd was made up of concerned landowners, farmers, business owners, and mothers with young children.  Ex-county commissioner Roxanne Groff hosted the impromptu event.  She began by acknowledging Rick Simmers, Chief of the Division of Oil and Gas Resource Management, and moved on to take prepared public comments from the assembled crowd.  ODNR personnel were visibly at a loss.  Law enforcement quickly interrupted Groff, asking her to leave, at which point Groff asked the public if they would like her to continue.  The room broke into enthusiastic applause.  After law enforcement again ordered residents to leave, the crowd broke into a “mic check”, chanting as they left the building “The ODNR has been bought by the oil and gas industry!” “No new permits!” “When is the public hearing?”  When the public left, the room was nearly empty, except for ODNR personnel and the large law enforcement presence they had invited.

After the public was ordered out, they were met outside by over 100 Athens County residents who had marched down E. State St. to ODNR headquarters to voice their objection to the ODNR’s continuing disregard of the widespread community concern about Class II injection wells.

The marchers carried placards emblazoned with skulls and held a banner that read “Shut it Down! No New Wells!” and signs with slogans such as “Our Safety is Not for Sale”, “Defend Our Water”, “We Demand a Public a Hearing”, and “I Want my Concerns on Record” “.  Marchers wore hazmat style suits and respirators to draw attention to the fact that Class II injection wells accept massive amounts of radioactive fracking waste from out-of-state.

Community objection to injection wells has been increasing lately, as landowners have realized that they do not have any say if an injection well goes into operation on or near their property.  Ms. Malvena Frost, who owns the property on which the Atha injection well is proposed in Rome Township, Athens County, does not want an injection well on her land.  She “fears her only source of drinking water, a private well…will be contaminated,” according to public comments submitted on her behalf to ODNR by her attorney, Mike Hollingsworth.

SB315, cited by some as a law that will increase regulations on injection wells, actually makes it easier for ODNR to bypass public notice period for new wells, and makes it more difficult for landowners to appeal permits.

A public hearing, the ODNR’s standard system for public redress, allows citizen comments to be entered into the legal record, so that citizens can challenge an agency decision through the court system. An “open house” offers no such substantial participation in public process.

Underscoring how opposed they were to receiving public input, ODNR designated an outdoor, “free speech zone” for the ralliers and forbade the public from bringing in signs, banners, backpacks, or audio or video cameras.  One citizen was ordered to leave after recording officials’ comments.

Ralliers brought their own solar-powered sound system and hot plate, stage, and roster of speakers. “We will challenge these intolerable restrictions on our constitutional rights to freedom of speech and assembly,” said Smiles Welch, the emcee of the event. Hot beverages kept the ralliers warm for over an hour of testimony.

Speakers at the event raised many objections to injection wells, including a history of failed wells and water contamination.  The ODNR claims that there have been no cases of water contamination by Class II injection wells in Ohio for decades, yet they do no testing of groundwater or surface water near the wells.  “The reason they have not found contamination is that they have never looked for it,” stated Grace Hall, one of the 100 who sent in objections.

Although the fracking waste that is dumped into injection wells is hazardous, it is not legally classified as such due to exemptions given to the oil and gas industry.

 

 

Assembling for public hearing–hearing the public–outside (click images to enlarge):

Watch this interview with Mae Frost on NBC4 TV, Columbus.   See also Columbus Dispatch coverage (also excerpted by San Francisco Chronicle, Akron Beacon Journal, and other outlets).

Local resident, Mary Anne Flournoy responds to news of open house and treatment of the public with letter to ODNR Oil and Gas Chief Simmers:

To: James.Zehringer, Rich.Simmers, oilandgas, district92, Steven.Blalock
From: Mary Anne Flournoy
Nov. 29, 2012

Dear Mr. Zehringer and Mr. Simmers:  I am outraged by the treatment given citizens in Athens County last night.  As a 41 year citizen of this blessed place and co-owner with my husband of 327 acres of excellent agricultural and forest land west of Athens City, I wrote a letter in August requesting a public hearing concerning the proposed granting of the permit for the Atha injection well.  The response given to my concerns was insulting and did not at all address any of the issues that I and others have raised.  Rather that grant a public hearing, which we are entitled to by law, we were invited to an “open house” in a space that was clearly too small to accommodate those with concerns.  The group inside was evicted because they exercised their free speech rights under the U.S. Constitution and began to hold a hearing in order to establish a public record of the issues.  This is not the way democracy works.  This is suppression of free speech, and we abhor that in other countries but ODNR is practicing that here in Athens.

I am the daughter of one of the finest petroleum geologists ever to practice in the state of Texas.  Many years ago an injection well on our land in South Texas into which heavy metals contamination was poured, leaked.   It is probable that the son of the farmer leasing our land contracted leukemia and died as a result of the contamination of the water which occurred.  Most of the grazing herd of cattle died as well.  My father told me at the time that there was no such thing as a stable geological formation because there is constant movement below the surface of the earth.
Daily new studies are revealing that injection wells can  pose a threat to drinking water.  Because ground water and streams near the current injection wells in our county are not being tested, we have no idea whether there has been any contamination.  The testing currently done on site is totally inadequate.  Since much of what we are accepting to put in these wells is from out of state, we have no way of knowing exactly what is being injected.  We as citizens have a right to have our concerns aired in public and entered into the public record.  We as citizens have a right to be treated with respect.  We as citizens pay the salaries and provide the funds to support ODNR.  You work for us!
You will not silence us.  We will make our democracy work in favor of the people, not special interest groups like the oil and gas industry.  I would certainly think that it is ODNR’s mission to see that the land and water and species that inhabit the land are preserved for our children, grandchildren and generations to come.  We should look to the Iroqois wise counsel many years ago that we should make no decisions unless we understand the consequences for the next seven generations.
Sincerely,
Mary Anne Flournoy
Athens, OH 45701
Uncategorized

ACFAN and Appalachia Resist!: ODNR “open house” tramples on truth and community rights

With one week’s notice (over the holiday weekend), ODNR announced last week an “open house” with added outside “free speech zone” [sic!!] for this WEDNESDAY, Nov. 28 (6-8 p.m.), instead of the public hearing requested by ONE HUNDRED citizens, including the owner of the land on which the Atha well will be permitted to receive toxic fracking waste.

Athens County Fracking Action Network and Appalachia Resist are planning a coordinated response to this clear breach of the public trust. This response will include a march from the Athens Community Center, 701 E. State St., to ODNR offices, 360 E State St., where citizens who wish to address one another have been assigned to a “free speech zone” outside. Citizens who wish to participate in the march are asked to meet at 5:30 at Athens Community Center west foyer near the meeting rooms. The march will begin at 6 p.m. Attendees to the march and rally are asked to dress warmly and bring a flashlight and a mug.  Please bring your public comments if you would like to share a few lines . Hot beverages will be provided. Or join us at ODNR offices if you arrive after 6:00 (park in lot at 400 E. State if necessary).

Press release sent out today:

Ms. Malvena Frost, who owns the property on which the Atha injection well is proposed in Rome Township, Athens County, does not want an injection well on her land. She “fears her only source of drinking water, a private well…will be contaminated,” according to public comments submitted on her behalf to ODNR by her attorney, Mike Hollingsworth. Ms. Frost’s comments requested a public hearing on the Atha permit application.  Hers was not the only one: Approximately 100 Athens County residents submitted comments objecting to the Atha permit on grounds of health and safety, requesting a public hearing. This may be the largest number of comments ever submitted to ODNR on an injection well permit application.

If members of the public raise relevant and valid concerns about health and safety, Ohio law requires that a public hearing be held.  Ms. Frost and most of the 100 others received instead a form letter announcing an “open house” would be held. With a week’s notice, the event will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 28, from 6 to 8 p.m. at ODNR E. State St. headquarters, Athens. Phone conversations have elicited statements by ODNR officials that this open house is intended as a substitute for a public hearing.

“This is a clear abuse of discretion on the part of ODNR’s Oil and Gas Chief.  Ohio Administrative Code 1501:9 mandates a public hearing if valid objections are received,” commented Roxanne Groff, member of Athens County Fracking Action Network and speaker at a recent public forum on the Atha permit.  Ms. Groff stated, “It is indefensible for Chief Simmers to dismiss Malvena Frost’s clearly valid and extensive concerns with a form letter. It is also clearly an abuse of discretionary power to categorically dismiss the rest of the 100 comments, which we know contain well substantiated public health and safety concerns.”

A public hearing is a legal forum in which citizens speak to the ODNR one at a time, allowing each statement to be heard by the entire group.  More importantly, comments presented in a public hearing are entered into the legal record and can thus help hold ODNR accountable.  Grace Hall, one of the 100 citizens who submitted comments on the Atha permit application, explained, “A public hearing allows us to hear what fellow citizens’ concerns are and allows us to hear citizens’ challenges to ODNR’s rhetoric.  A hearing provides an opportunity for citizens to broaden their understanding of the issue and brings a level of accountability to officials.  An open house provides none of these things, because members of the public mill simply around the room, talking to various ODNR representatives in a casual one-on-one manner.”

Athens County Fracking Action Network and Appalachia Resist! object to ODNR’s outright dismissal of public comments and denial of a public hearing as a clear breach of public trust. Madeline ffitch, of Appalachia Resist! added, “This ‘open house’ is simply a way for ODNR to avoid having to face tough questions in public.”

One concern cited in letters to ODNR is the content of waste likely to be injected into the Atha well, as in all Class II wells.  While ODNR claims that the Atha well will accept only local, conventional oil and gas waste, there is no legal restriction on waste accepted. Hundreds of millions of gallons of highly radioactive fracking waste have been injected in Ohio injection wells in the past year.  Over half of waste injected in Ohio last year came from out of state.

Unlike Class I, Class II wells are not designed for hazardous waste. Due to exemptions from federal hazardous waste regulations, oil and gas waste is not legally classified as hazardous. ACFAN member Nancy Pierce, explained the danger of this situation: “Declaring it legally non-hazardous doesn’t make it any less hazardous.  The fracking waste being dumped into Class II wells contains highly toxic toluene, benzene, and other neurotoxic, carcinogenic, and radioactive substances, all of which are regulated as hazardous for all other industries under the Safe Drinking Water Act, Clean Water Act, and hazardous waste regulations.” She continued, “Ohio does not monitor drinking or groundwater around any Class II injection wells. I don’t understand how Heidi Hetzel-Evans can repeatedly claim these wells haven’t contaminated water when ODNR does not monitor water or soil to find out whether there’s contamination from its wells.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics “recommends that families with private drinking water wells in NGE/HF [natural gas extraction/hydraulic fracturing] areas should consider testing the wells before drilling begins and on a regular basis thereafter for chloride, sodium, barium, strontium and VOCs…” This is not surprising, given that industry admits that eventual well failure is inevitable. A recent Propublica series documents thousands of cases of well failure and fluid migration from Class I and II injection wells nationwide. In one Ohio case, “pollution had risen 1400 feet through solid rock and was progressing toward surface aquifers” from a Class I well before the breach was discovered.

Athens County Fracking Action Network and Appalachia Resist are planning a coordinated response to this clear breach of the public trust. This response will include a march from the Athens Community Center, 701 E. State St., to ODNR offices, 360 E. State St., where citizens who wish to address one another have been assigned to a “free speech zone” outside. Citizens who wish to participate in the march are asked to meet at 5:30 in the west foyer near the Athens Community Center meeting rooms. The march will begin at 6 p.m. Attendees to the march and rally are asked to dress warmly and bring a flashlight, a mug, and their public comments if they would like to read from them.  Hot beverages will be provided.

OAC1501:9-3-06(E)(2)(c): If an objection is received, the chief shall rule upon the validity of the objection. If, in the opinion of the chief, such objection is not relevant to the issues of public health or safety, or to good conservation practices, or is without substance, a permit shall be issued. If the chief considers any objection to be relevant to the issues of public health or safety, or to good conservation practices, or to have substance, a hearing shall be called within thirty days of receipt of the objection. Such hearing shall be held at the central office of the division or other location designated by the chief. Notice of the hearing shall be sent by the chief to the applicant and to the person who has filed the objection.

HB 474, which would require a public hearing before permitting and denial of a permit based on local officials’ opposition to an injection well, did not move through the Ohio House this year.

###

Uncategorized

What’s next–this weekend and beyond

Madeline ffitch: Local citizens join forces to fight injection wells in SE Ohio

including invitation to Action Camp this weekend, Nov. 16-18, Athens and Amesville OH

Amy Goodman: Now the Work of Movement Begins

Jourdon Keith: You are a Body of Water:

“You are a body of water.
If you knew  this, would you protect yourself?
The water in your body is part of the water cycle and connected to every other body of water.
If you knew this, would you want to protect all the bodies of water on the planet?“…

Check out these great articles!

Uncategorized

ACFAN to host fundraiser to protect county drinking water supplies

Athens County Fracking Action Network will host a party and fundraiser for Buckeye Forest Council, Sunday, Oct. 14, 4-7 p.m., at Purple Chopstix, 371 Richland Ave., Athens. Nathan Johnson, BFC staff attorney, and Teresa Mills, BFC Fracking Coordinator, will speak. Jim Wachtel will provide live music. Food will be donated by Village Bakery, Purple Chopstix, Salaam, and other local cooks and farmers. E-mail acfanohio@gmail.com for more information.

“BFC is the legal and technical backbone of our efforts to protect our drinking water from fracking on Wayne National Forest and from injection wells,” as ACFAN member and former Athens County Commissioner Roxanne Groff put it. “With the Wayne having decided to go ahead and lease parcels for fracking along the Hocking River aquifer used by public drinking water systems that serve over 70,000 people in Athens, Morgan, and Perry counties, we will depend on BFC’s coordination of litigation to fight these dangerous plans. We also depend on Teresa Mills, BFC’s fracking coordinator, for her technical expertise on injection wells.” The Wayne’s recent decision came in spite of enormous public concern and vast amounts of scientific data provided painstakingly by local officials and concerned citizens as well as national environmental organizations, led by the BFC over the past year.

BFC has heard from national partners, including Center for Biological Diversity and Earthjustice, that they are interested in providing support for litigation. BFC staff attorney Nathan Johnson will coordinate the efforts.

The party is the kick-off event for a local fundraising campaign. “We hope to raise $25,000 locally for BFC and be a model for the rest of the state,” Paul Tescher, longtime BFC volunteer, explained. The 20-year old statewide group was based in Athens for a decade. Its office is currently in Columbus.

Please help us keep Buckeye Forest Council healthy so it can continue to help our community stay a healthy, safe place to live.