Four of us attended the monthly meeting of the Ravenna Township Board today. Three of us spoke during the public comment periods. Response of the Township Supervisor to the following address was: "George Meade was a lousy general." R.W. Nye: Address to the Ravenna Township Board, June 13, 2013 In the contacts we have had with officials in this area, we have been hearing repeatedly that the drilling of oil and gas wells is a matter out of your hands. The drilling of a couple of wells may seem like a small matter to you, but if those exploratory wells yield significant amounts of hydrocarbons you may find yourselves surrounded by dozens or even hundreds of wells, each making massive demands on your local water resources and each posing a significant pollution threat to your drinking water sources and other groundwater. Our answer is that this township board may not legally be able to prevent the drilling of oil and gas wells, and the use of hydraulic fracturing techniques--also known as “fracking,” but you have the right and duty to protect the interests of your citizens. And to that end there are many things that you can do. Have you advised your citizens to have baseline testing of their soil and water done before hydraulic fracturing begins? Have you encouraged them to check with their insurance companies as to whether they have any coverage against damage caused by fracking? Have you planned what to do if a drop in groundwater levels endangers the water supply of the Village of Ravenna? Have you communicated with the county’s Office of Emergency Preparedness to work out a plan of action in the event of some more serious emergency occurring? Have you done anything to equip your fire department with HAZMAT capability? Have you considered how to deal with the possibility of a wellhead accident that would emit dangerous amounts of toxic hydrogen sulfide gas? Do you have any early warning system that would alert citizens to shelter indoors and require schools to get their children off the playgrounds when toxic substances are released? Have you considered regulations to restrict the hours during which noisy drilling rigs can operate? Given that drilling rigs generate large amounts of truck traffic, have you considered what measures will be necessary to prevent heavy vehicles from tearing up your roads? Have you considered whether a drilling moratorium might be needed so that you will have time to deal with these issues? This coming July 1st will mark the 150th anniversary of the day when General George G. Meade decided to make a stand against a superior Confederate force by digging in on a low ridge just outside the small town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. General Meade did not ask permission of the Gettysburg town government or of the town’s leading citizens to confront Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. What happened next is history. Just as the Civil War had basically nothing to do with the affairs of the town of Gettysburg, so too the issue of fracking in Ravenna is not a local one: it goes far beyond this township, the state of Michigan, and even the United States of America. It is a global issue--from Ireland to New Zealand, oil companies are seeking to use this extraction practice to keep alive a little longer an obsolescent technology that is putting huge volumes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and making dangerous changes to the climate of the entire world. You can consider this as a sort of ultimatum, then. We and others have tried to educate you on these subjects, so you can’t plead ignorance, and if you won’t stand up to the oil and gas companies, you can be sure that those companies will walk all over you and your people. If your citizens suffer as a result, they should hold you fully accountable for what you have done and what you have failed to do. Our consciences are clear--we have warned you. At this point we are still open to dialogue and to arranging a genuinely informative meeting with citizens, without a repeat of the MDEQ’s 3x5 cards and dog and pony show; however, given that drilling could begin any day, I think that the time for talking has just about run out and the time for action has begun. As the oil companies converge on this township, we will be rallying against them together with others. People in places far and wide are becoming aware of your township’s role as Ground Zero for fracking in Muskegon County. We will be monitoring the oil companies’ moves and considering what means of nonviolent political action we can effectively employ against them. Expect an interesting summer--we’ll be around, and we are ready to make some history.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Jun 2013 01:49:18 +0000
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