Hundreds of landowners stood in the Albany rain yesterday to demand an immediate start to gas drilling in New York State. Here's a roundup of the coverage of the rally. (The Central New York Land Coalition has its own collection of links here.) If you have photos of the rally, send them to us at editor@watershedpost.com and we'll post them here.
From the Daily Star:
Richard Downey, a founding member of the Unatego Area Landowners Coalition, said he'll be on the local coalition bus at 8 a.m. Wednesday when it leaves the Oneonta Walmart parking lot. "These bills could set us back a couple of years," Downey said Monday. At least 44 local people have signed up to ride the bus to Albany, where Downey said they hoped to meet with state Sen. James Seward, R-Milford, and Assemblyman Pete Lopez, R-Schoharie. Other landowners will be going to the capital from around the state.
"We want to show that there is support for letting the DEC do its job, to let drilling go forward safely," he said.
Downey said the group also will lobby for bills that would increase the landowners' royalty from 12.5 percent to at least 18.75 percent when a landowner is forced to have his mineral rights exploited though the state's compulsory integration rules.
The bus ride is free. Asked if transportation is being subsidized by IOGA, the Independent Oil & Gas Producers Association of New York State, Downey said: "I don't know, and I don't care. My goal is to have them leave as much of their money here as possible."
Binghamton Press and Sun-Bulletin:
Dan Fitzsimmons, president of the Joint Landowners Coalition, said the rally and the subsequent meetings with state legislators went "very well," but added he is frustrated by the overwhelming amount of anti-drilling legislation coming from outside the Marcellus Shale territory. "They're more concerned about their constituents -- we can understand that -- and they're pretty much in charge of what's going on," he said. "It's the old issue of upstate/downstate."
From WBNG 12:
"To have this opportunity it's a shame not to take advantage of it. And with the technology and the bright minds we have here in New York, we can do it safely," said Jeanette Castiglione from Binghamton.
