HomeMy WebLinkAboutCB Minutes 2009-12-03 Town of Ithaca Conservation Board
Final Minutes
December 3, 2009
Members Present: Chair Diane Conneman, Andy Goodell, James Hamilton, Eva Hoffmann, Tony Ingraham, Jon
Meigs, Nirav Patel, Kristine Shaw
Staff: Darby Kiley
Persons to be heard: none
Member Concerns: RE: Marcellus Shale Drilling dSGEIS, Hamilton stated his opinion that the document was so
extensively lacking, the CB and other concerned entities, such as the Town, should strongly urge DEC and the
Governor to reject it and require a new one that more adequately addresses issues that have been raised in
public comment to date.
Shaw stated that the NYS Attorney General is concerned about legal issues in the area of landowner
contracts.
Chair Report: Chair Conneman reported that she, Hoffmann and Meigs had attended the NY State Conference
on the Environment, Nov. 14 in Watkins Glen. All had attended presentations on the Marcellus drilling, which
was closely focused on. Hoffmann said that she understood the industry representative from Chesapeake
Energy to state that his firm, at least, would make public a full list (and perhaps concentration levels)of
chemicals and other additives to the drilling/fracking water; this would be a great help to the public and agencies
that would be dealing with the drilling waste. However, Meigs had not had the same understanding of the
comprehensiveness/extent of the industry commitment.
She has a copy of the Greenway Report that was prepared by a multijurisdictional study group several years
ago, for the purpose of alerting County government regarding natural resources that should receive special
attention for conservation because of their value in providing connections for fauna and flora between larger
habitats. This is a useful resource for the Board in considering NA and CZ recommendations.
Coordinator Report: The Planning Bd. gave preliminary approval to the proposed Silver Medical office and
subdivision, and to the proposed subdivision of the County's Biggs property. It received the DEIS for the
Holochuck Homes project, on which the ERC may want to comment. Conneman noted the concern for the
proposed development to include safe road connections to Rt. 96.
The Town Board will hold a couple of public hearings on proposals for the rezoning of areas in the Northeast
of the Town to CZ. The Comprehensive Plan requires some changes in order to provide the basis for the
rezoning, so that must be finalized first. Then the definition of Conservation Zones needs revision to include the
conditions present in the area at issue which militate for its protection from an intensity of development that
would negatively affect its biota, flora, and other natural attributes. Kiley noted that other CB-proposed revisions
to the CZ regulations (viz., clearcutting) are still under review.
Minutes: Minutes of the 10/1 meeting were approved with minor revisions.
Marcellus draft SGEIS: The question of whether the CB wishes to/should comment on the issue, which is of wide
interest and debate, was raised: numerous specialists, scientists and authorities have already voiced opinion
and criticism of larger or lesser aspects. Discussion tended to consensus that any CB comment should be
focused on issues that could affect the Town and its resources, such as water and visual resources, and should
be most effectively referenced to specific items in the dSGEIS document; this would enable (and indeed
prompt)the DEC to give specificity to its responses to the comments, and not attempt to address generalities.
Generalized comments should be addressed to the political side of the government-- i.e., the Governor. The
proposal which has been made to discard the entire document as flawed in numerous and fatal ways is one
such generality, and would appropriately come from the Town Board or its members.
Conneman pointed out that since the Town is a partner in the Waste Water Treatment Plant, waste
chemicals/additives getting into the lake are Town concerns. Hamilton suggested that tracer elements/additives
be required, so that the origins of potential impacts could be identified (and dealt with); anything that has no
established safe limit for consumption should not be allowed as a drilling additive. Shaw stated that this idea was
contained in comments from the County. Hoffmann noted that the drilling process might release undesirable
things that occur naturally in the earth.
Patel suggested that it might be worthwhile to conduct tests by drilling a limited number of sample wells, to
obtain hard data on what effects drilling has, and whether it has undesirable results.
Kiley commented that the Town Board is considering a resolution to send to Gov. Paterson.
Hoffmann stated that the CB should include all comments/concerns in its response, no matter how
inconsequential they might seem compared to major concerns that we have heard of.
Chair Conneman suggested that each CB member take a specific topic/subject area and draft a comment for
it. She will draft a letter to the Governor, for the 'political' response from CB, urging that the dSGEIS be
discarded and redone. Ingraham has already covered the scenic/visual topic, and Shaw covered legal issues
and notification, full disclosure of additives, and review of plans. Conneman and Patel will address invasive
species control/inspection/enforcement. Goodell will coordinate comments from others regarding water concerns
and impacts; issues include potability of water for both humans and wildlife after drilling, detoxification of drill
waste water, etc. Shaw agreed to cover wildlife impacts, including forest fragmentation. Hamilton will cover the
matter of introducing tracers into drilling water.
Conneman asked for comments by noon 18 Dec.; she will prepare a final draft by the 22d, and work with Kiley
to put all comments/recommendations into a single document.
Reports.
ERC - nothing.
SRC - a draft of text for a View sign at Lakeshore Park is being worked on, plus other sign elements (graphic,
map of lake, map of viewshed, etc.).
EMC - is experiencing problems with attendance, and trying to address them by improving its structure.
Fischer Award -emails to encourage nominations haven't resulted in any response yet; will continue efforts
6-Mi. Monitoring - recent precipitation provided opportunity to sample; effort continues to get the database
accessible.
City NAC - nothing.
Town Comprehensive Plan -discussion continues and progress is encouraging; drafting proposals for revisions
to the current plan may begin soon.
Officers for 2010: On motion by Hamilton, seconded by Patel, Conneman was nominated to be Chair for 2010,
and accepted the nomination; vote Unanimous.
On motion by Ingraham, seconded by Hoffmann, Hamilton was nominated to be Vice-Chair for 2010, and
accepted; vote Unanimous.
Hamilton agreed to serve as Recording Secretary for January. The system of rotating responsibility, for 2-
month terms, was adopted by consensus; a Recording Secretary for February is to be determined.
2010 Meeting Dates: The schedule provided with the Meeting Notice was accepted by consensus.
Meeting concluded at 9:30 pm.
Respectfully submitted by Jon Meigs
Approved: January 7, 2010