cayugaantifrackingalliance

On Thursday, members of Auburn City Council will discuss raising the sewer rates. City Councilor Matt Smith, his supporters and the local newspaper have already blamed this increase on the council’s decision to ban all natural gas drilling wastewater at its sewage treatment plant. The three councilors who took an important stand are all up for reelection this November and face challenges from tough political opponents. This letter is an attempt to set the record straight, and a version of it will be read at Thursday night’s meeting.

To the Auburn city council

The Cayuga Anti-Fracking Alliance, a group of mainly Auburn residents, formed last February when the NY Times published an article citing Auburn as one of the few places in the state to accept natural gas drilling wastewater. This group came to council many times expressing our concerns in a respectful manner, and its members were fortunate enough to be listened to by a majority of council. That is the democratic process at work.

Unfortunately, our group has been misrepresented and maligned in media reports and in public comments made by Councilor Matt Smith and his supporters. We’ve been labeled as an out-of-town mob. The local newspaper has described the decision by Mayor Michael Quill, and Councilors Gilda Brower and Thomas McNabb as kowtowing to environmental activists. Smith has accused them of stealing $600,000 from the taxpayers, and basing their decision on emotion.

This is political theater.

As media critics, we are very well aware of the tricks elected officials play to misdirect the public and change the narrative to suit their political needs. In today’s media climate, every story has two sides, and it would be unsurprising to read a story debating whether or not the sky is blue, but there is still such a thing as indisputable fact.

Here are the facts:

• The $600,000 shortfall is not a figure based in reality, but only a projected figure that had been plugged into the 2011-12 city budget. The reality is many gas-drilling companies stopped bringing natural gas drilling wastewater to the plant once the city insisted they follow plant regulations. From January to May 31 of 2011, the city collected a little over $149,000 in revenue. By June—a month before the vote on the ban took place—the city received no natural gas drilling wastewater. This money could not be counted upon. There would have been a shortfall regardless if the council passed a ban on accepting natural gas drilling wastewater or not.
• The gas drillers were not scared away by the publicity generated by out-of-town environmental activists. In April, the city issued a public notice detailing how the gas companies did not meet sewage plant regulations. Prior to that notice, the gas drilling companies submitted no monitoring reports for 15 months, in direct violation of their permits. Then on June 22, 2011, Municipal Utilities Director Vicky Murphy sent letters requesting all gas companies stop delivering wastewater because of the high pollutant content. The vote on the ban took place July 7. Once again, this money could not be counted upon because the gas drilling companies could not be counted upon to follow the regulations.
• Smith, with Murphy’s help, has pointed out that city had accepted wastewater from vertical wells for 10 years with nary a problem. Before 2008, the city mainly accepted wastewater from vertical wells in Cayuga County, that is true, but then the former city administrator made the concerted effort to actively seek out gas drilling companies by hiring an outside consultant to pursue this money-making venture. The gas drilling wastewater then came primarily from horizontal wells, according to the city’s discharge records. In that 15 months, when the gas companies submitted no reports, the city conducted one test on one day, March 11, 2010, and found no problems. I would contend that data is meaningless. It would be similar to testing one student in a school district and basing the district’s performance on that one test. When the gas companies finally did submit the required monitoring, the reports showed the water was extremely salty and polluted, far above what the plant could accept.
• Auburn was only one of two plants in the state to accept this wastewater.
• The sewage treatment plant was designed to treat human waste not highly toxic natural gas drilling wastewater.

We would hope that tonight’s discussion sticks to the facts. We will summarize the main point simply: the city of Auburn would have had a budget shortfall regardless of the ban or CAFA’s existence because the revenue could not be counted upon. Nonetheless, we commend the majority of council for basing its decision to ban natural gas drilling wastewater on the facts. These councilors put the safety and welfare of Auburn residents and their downstream neighbors above a questionable policy to make a profit using the wastewater treatment plant.