By Jake Palmateer
Staff Writer
ONEONTA _ The mayor of a small Texas town spoke to a standing room-only crowd at the Unitarian Universalist Church on Tuesday about the need for vigilance and oversight of the natural-gas drilling industry.
Mayor Calvin Tillman of DISH, Texas, said an air-quality study by Wolf Eagle Environmental Engineers and Consultants _ a private firm hired by the town _ showed high levels of carcinogenic and neurotoxin compounds.
The town of about 200 residents was renamed from Clark to DISH in 2005 after DISH Network arranged to give all residents free satellite television. DISH is atop the Barnett Shale formation, which is rich in natural gas and has several compressor stations owned by five energy companies. The stations are designed to increase the pressure of natural gas to allow it be pumped through pipelines.
Tillman said there have been reports of horses and humans becoming ill.
"There is certainly something going on when you have that many horses close to the facility with problems," Tillman said. "There was just a noxious odor that hung around our area."
He said two women in the community complained of neurological problems, with one having trouble with her balance.
"Her neurologist is convinced it is linked to this study," Tillman said, referring to the Wolf Eagle results.
When talking to landowners, the industry public relations people and the landmen have an attitude of "just shut up, we're all going to get rich," Tillman said.
And Tillman said it sometimes takes a few years before landowners begin to figure out there may be more to it.
"The drilling money is like heroin, and a lot of the small communities have gotten addicted to it," Tillman said.
But a drop in gas prices has meant a drop in revenues for Texas, he said.
The more than 120 people who attended the lecture by Tillman came from Oneonta, as well as outlying communities.
Roy Lackner drove to Oneonta from the Binghamton area, where he is a tree farmer.
"It was excellent. It was a breath of fresh air to know a mayor from Texas came all the way to upstate New York to tell us his insights into the problems in this industry in terms of air and water quality and quality of life," Lackner said. "This is huge."
Lackner said his parents have been approached by landmen about leasing.
"It's a very important topic," he said.
Tillman's advice to the audience was to pressure local, state and federal government into passing regulations on the gas industry.
"Stick together; find some common ground," Tillman said. "You've got to have more regulations. It's got to be tightly controlled."
He recommended that the state of New York tax the gas that is extracted from the ground and require green technology in the industry. He suggested local governments should make some areas off-limits to gas exploration and have road-use agreements with the gas companies, and that local residents should band together to negotiate gas leases.
During a question-and-answer session, Tillman fielded a range of queries, including those on hydraulic fracturing and the quality of life in his town.
Tillman's visit was organized by local environmental groups concerned about the impacts of gas drilling. Anti-drilling bumper stickers were available at the back of the meeting room.
Noel van Swol, president of the Sullivan-Delaware Property Owners Association, said he is attending a presentation by the mayor in Callicoon on Saturday to hear what he has to say. The association is supportive of drilling the gas-rich Marcellus Shale.
"I want to know this account firsthand, but we know what's coming," van Swol said. "There is mass hysteria in the environmental movement in the state."
Van Swol said comparing Texas to New York is like "comparing apples to oranges.
"The regulations in Texas are nowhere near as exacting as the regulations that will be in effect in New York state when it approves the new draft," van Swol said.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation is preparing to adopt new regulations for hydraulic fracturing and drilling in the Marcellus Shale area.
Tillman is also speaking from 7 to 9 p.m. tonight at Downsville Central School and at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Delaware Youth Center in Callicoon.
