Living in Dryden

Under the Surface

I was a bit cautious about Under the Surface: Fracking, Fortunes, and the Fate of the Marcellus Shale. Tom Wilber's Shale Gas Review blog is always written in cautious journalistese, and to be honest a background writing for Gannett (owner of the Ithaca Journal, Elmira Star-Gazette, and Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin) worries me. The company's policy seems to be that sounding objective is always more important than being objective, though at least Wilber had departed before (or perhaps as part of) the last few rounds of their local news decimation.

I underestimated Wilber, though. Under the Surface achieves something better than the usual journalistic "and that's the way it is" or "he said, she said". Wilber's own voice comes through regularly to explain the big picture, and sometimes to explain his participation in a conversation or event, but most of the book is told through other people's voices. Perhaps most important, he chose a diverse enough group of voices that the book manages to avoid a simple pro- and anti-fracking polarization.

The divide is there, and it grows over the course of the book, but he doesn't start there. By starting before fracking became an intense political issue and following a few key groups of people over time, he presents a much more complex and useful story. It's not clear at the beginning which way many participants will go, or how strongly. There are some major surprises in there, and enough sympathetic characters that many points of view can come across well.

Whether you're a fracking opponent or a supporter, you should be able to find sympathetic characters in the book. I doubt Henry Kramer would read this book the same way that I did, and that's probably a good thing. I don't see the farmers trying to decide the future of their land or people trying to figure out how to survive in a place with contaminated water as villains.

There are two groups of characters, however, who generally come off looking terrible: the gas companies themselves and the regulators. In the case of the gas companies, it seems like they don't have much interest in being liked over the long term. At best they try to be nice at the beginning of the process, while they're courting people for leases, but the rest of their story is pretty completely about power. Perhaps there are readers more sympathetic to those with power who will find them positive characters - but I doubt it.

The regulators may come off even worse than the gas companies. It's less that they're personally evil, but more that they largely fail to do their job. Bureaucratic basics like record-keeping are missing from the beginning, and lost or impossible to get information is a regular theme. Overwhelmed agencies that issue permits they can't possibly keep track of can only stay sympathetic for a little while. At the top of the regulatory chain, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary John Hanger comes off as a weird bitter mix of wanting to do the right thing and not actually doing much. In New York, the Department of Environmental Conservation Division of Mineral Resources staff seem almost a part of the industry, with only leadership pushing for regulation with teeth. Even that leadership, though, wobbles around from position to position as they navigate (or fail to navigate in Pete Grannis' case) the politics.

It's a difficult book to read in many ways. Part of the challenge was that I kept shaking my head while reading and had to pause for occasional cursing. My aging web-centric eyes wished that type was a bit larger and the paragraphs broken into smaller chunks, but those are minor flaws. (It's also weird to open the book at the Glenwood Pines and nothing that they didn't eat or drink there, but I'll blame patron geologist of the Marcellus Shale Terry Engelder for that and not Wilber, who was his guest that day.)

Also, in something that may be a relief for Dryden residents: the book doesn't tell our story. Its focus is further south, from Elmira to Deposit in New York State and mostly around Dimock in Pennsylvania, with some excursions elsewhere. There's mention of home rule and bans near the end, but no discussion of Anschutz, Tom West, or Dryden itself. Everything here is relevant, of course, to our story, but sometimes it's good to step back a little bit and see what's happening elsewhere.

Where does all this leave me? Well, first of all it leaves me happy that I'm on the north side of the border, in New York, rather than the state where I was born and went to college, Pennsylvania. As messed up as we are, reading about the Pennsylvania experience left me severely depressed. When Terry Engelder says:

The people in Dimock have already done that, in spades. It's their sacrifice, hopefully, that is necessary if the gas industry continues to evolve and help other people...

Yeah, that pretty much kills me. That's not how you're supposed to conduct experiments, and the gas industry's claims that nothing serious happened in Dimock make it a few thousand times worse.

At the same time, as much as I'd like to see a total ban that would spare the Southern Tier any chance of these disasters coming north, the stories in the book point to some kind of possible if difficult middle ground. The pieces are there - home rule legislation at the municipal level, pressure on the DEC to actively regulate and contain the gas companies, and some landowner coalitions whose proposed terms for leases sound more restrictive (and useful) than what the DEC itself had proposed.

Perhaps most important is something Wilber only mentions near the end: collapsed prices for natural gas and the stronger appeal of Utica Shale deposits further west that also contain far more valuable oil. While gas companies may still be eager to recover their sunken investments in leases in New York, drilling wells at a loss doesn't make long-term sense. That economic collapse may take the pressure off New York for a while, and let us figure out how to deal with this in a saner way.

If you can spare time to read 231 pages, whatever your take on gas drilling, you absolutely must read Under the Surface. I got my copy at Buffalo Street Books, where they still had a small stack of signed copies. It's also available online at a lot of places and I suspect (hope!) it's in our local libraries.

Really? They did? Who knew?

The Dryden Safe Energy Coalition held an informational meeting in Owego, New York, this week.

See? Energy in Depth is good for something - helping me keep track of what a supposedly Dryden organization is doing in other counties! (They don't post such things on their own website. Odd.)

Update: Wondering who Energy in Depth is? More here.

Bolton Point water safer than reported

If, like me, you get your water from the Bolton Point plant, this may come as a mild relief: the water only has 58 parts per billion of trihalomethanes, not the 82 ppb they reported in their water quality report. 80 is the legal limit, and the chemical is a side effect of chlorination.

Town Board approves Yellow Barn water district

Last night's Town Board meeting started out with a pretty full room, because of the public hearing on the Yellow Barn water district. The Town will be taking over the infrastructure of the Yellow Barn Water Company, whose board members were there to support the project. If residents want a referendum, they can petition for one in the next thirty days, but that room seemed pretty enthusiastic.

Evan Carpenter discussed the formation of an agriculture committee, wanting to make clear that it was "not a mouthpiece for Bruno Schickel, Republicans, or fracking", and that they'd sought out people with different opinions. Board members Jason Leifer and Steve Stelick both sounded enthusiastic about the work so far.

The board also introduced the proposed zoning, a revised subdivision law, and proposed critical environmental areas 1, 2, and 5. I need to catch up on the details of all of those, though my understanding is that the content of the zoning hasn't changed since their earlier decision to delay.

At the end of the meeting, Earthjustice attorney Deborah Goldberg, who will be representing the town pro bono spoke briefly with the board about the future of the Anschutz lawsuit. I foolishly didn't take notes, but the short version is that it will likely be a very drawn-out process with occasional bursts of intense action.

Varna Community Development Plan meeting May 23rd

It sounds like this is nearing completion:

Public Meeting about the Final Varna Community Development Plan:

The Town of Dryden invites you to the Varna Community Center on May 23 at 7:00PM to review the Final Varna Community Development Plan. We look forward to seeing you there!

When: May 23 @ 7:00PM

Where: Varna Community Center | 943 Dryden Road | Ithaca, NY.

A real accident and a simulation

The Ithaca Journal reports on a three-car accident on Route 13 and Etna Road (Etna Lane?), that happened at about the same time emergency crews were demonstrating a response to a simulated DWI accident at Dryden High School.

Update: More details in the updated story.

Local snake drops in

I'm trying to get back to what I call "Dawn Patrol Gardening", where I take advantage of the early sunrise and cool temperatures to get garden work done. (The dew is less pleasant.)

I was carrying a bag of compost when I thought I felt something fall. It turned out I'd moved someone's bed, and he wasn't very happy with me.

Snake on the driveway.

Snake looks up, none too happy.

The pictures aren't great because they're cell phone pictures - the best camera is the one you have with you. Still, this little snake (probably two feet long, and a common garter snake) found an army of friends on Facebook this morning, so I thought he was worth sharing here. I suspect he moved on to a more stable bed.

As for me, I kept working on the hillside by the road. It's steep enough that everything there is twice as tiring as usual, and it was infested with bedstraw. At least I got (most of) the bedstraw out before it flowered and set seed, unlike last year, when it was a giant ugly mat over the (also invasive) goutweed that fills most of that space.

Organic pest control discussion tonight

Tonight, at 6:30pm the Dryden Community Center Cafe, you can learn about Organic Pest Management for the Home Garden. The poster tells it much better than I can, and you can click on it if you want to see a larger version.

Organic pest control meeting, sign at Dryden Community Center Cafe.

Looking for more to do? Check out Cathy Wakeman's Dryden Town Talk.

School budgets pass

The Ithaca Journal reports that Dryden's school budget, purchase of three school buses, and a new roof for the Freeville school passed. Bill Harding, Paul Lutwak, and Lawrence Lyon, the listed candidates, won three-year terms, while write-in Brian June won the remainder of a term.

Ithaca's school budget and capital reserve proposition passed, and candidates Sean Bradwell, Jay True, and Eldred Harris won seats on the board.

School elections today

Live in the Dryden Central School District? Polls are open from 7:00am to 9:00pm at the Dryden High School-Middle School on Route 38 between the Villages of Dryden and Freeville. You can find budget information here (PDF). Three candidates are running for four slots, so write-ins matter.

In the Ithaca School District, four people are running for three seats. Polls open at noon, and the budget information is here. Here's a quick summary of where to vote, though you may want to check the map to be certain which district you're in:

• If you normally vote in District 8 at Bethel Grove Church Activities Center (1749 Slaterville Road), you vote at Belle Sherman Annex (Mitchell and Cornell Streets., Ithaca).

• If you normally vote in District 9, Ellis Hollow, at the Varna Community Center, you vote at Caroline Elementary School, 2439 Slaterville Road (Route 79).

• If you normally vote in District 4, Varna, at the Varna Community Center (943 Dryden Rd), you still vote at the Varna Community Center.

• If you normally vote in Districts 1 and 5 at the Etna Fire Station, you vote at Northeast Elementary School, Winthrop Drive, Ithaca.

As always, it's complicated.

Primitive Pursuits Day coming up

4-H Acres is one of my favorite things about Dryden, and Primitive Pursuits Day is guaranteed to be interesting:

11th Annual Primitive Pursuits Day
Saturday May 26, 10:00am-4:00pm
at 4-H Acres, 418 Lower Creek Road, Ithaca

Enjoy old time music by local bands while wilderness skills instructors from across Central New York offer hands-on wilderness survival and outdoor living skills workshops and activities for kids and adults. Activities scheduled throughout the day include flint-knapping, friction fire, guided tree ID walks, tracking walks, basket-making, games, and much more! Events go on RAIN or SHINE! - we have covered space in case of wet weather. Music by Sunny Weather, Steve Selin and Friends, Curt Osgood & Friends, Luke Gustafson, Uncle Joe & the Rose Bud Ramblers! Cost: $10/person or $20-$30 per family suggested donation - all are welcome and none will be turned away! For more information, contact Primitive Pursuits at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County, (607) 272-2292.

Republicans revolt against their own

Via One of Nine, I see that Congressman Richard Hanna, who currently represents Dryden but whose district drops us in January, has a challenger, Mike Kicinski, who claims to be "The Real Republican and Conservative."

Similarly, and more practically for Dryden, since the district will still include us, Senator Jim Seward has a challenger from his right, James Blake.

School board candidates, Happenin' in the Hamlet, AES maneuvers

The Ithaca Journal has a Meet the Dryden School Board Candidates set of articles from Paul Lutwak, Bill Harding, and Lawrence Lyon. There are three candidates running for four slots, so I'm guessing someone out there will be elected through a write-in.

Groton Town Talk notes McLean's Happenin' in the Hamlet festival, which is coming this weekend.

Happenin' in the Hamlet, coming this weekend. (Poster at Dryden Community Center Cafe)

Finally, there's an article on legislation to keep AES Cayuga open, preserving the Lansing coal power plant that produced most of Dryden's electricity until this March. The proposal, which has the NYS Power Authority buy relatively high-priced coal electricity for distribution at low cost, doesn't really add up to me, though I'm also not convinced that the current crash in natural gas prices will last forever. My guess is that this is more Senator Nozzolio's gesture toward Lansing than an effort likely to succeed.

Update: Stuart Staniford's take on the power plant seems about right.

Learn from Roscoe

I posted this yesterday at The Albany Project, thinking that it was mainly about state and maybe national issues. There isn't, even in the wildest extremist fever dreams, a political machine in these parts that can compare with the O'Connell/Corning machine in Albany. (Erastus Corning 2nd was Mayor of Albany from 1942 to his death in 1983.)

On reflection, though, Roscoe's lament here is less about the machine specifically and more the perspective of someone justifying his power. I keep hearing echoes of the gas companies' PR in this griping about those utopians, clearly imperfect themselves, who dare challenge a system built on power and avarice.

It's worth contemplating, whatever level or kind of politics you deal with. Learn from Roscoe, but don't become Roscoe.

No, not the how-to of cheating at cockfighting or fixing elections. Roscoe, William Kennedy's 2002 classic of Albany politics, certainly explores all that, but mostly it's a study of a man deeply embedded in a political machine. Roscoe Conway helped build it, profited by it, and now mostly wants to retire - but can't. The machine needs him, for now, even if its participants don't all realize it.

Roscoe is a scoundrel, and even he seems aware of it, though he continues nonetheless. His journey through post-WWII Albany illustrates how the machine works, how it justifies its work, and how the social ties of political relationships sustain it especially when it's under attack.

Roscoe is always thinking about this, but rarely brings it all to the surface. One paragraph, describing a photo of Jimmy Walker, Roscoe, and his comrade-in-the-machine Patsy, though, gives a taste:

This is a war photo: three warriors marching into combat against what Roscoe calls the Morality Plague...

The Plague comes out of oblivion every seven or so years and, like the locust, builds its white houses in public cemeteries, and propagates, with evil simplicity, "truth" and "honesty" as political virtues. This has the popular appeal of chocolate, the distorting capacity of gin.

But Roscoe wonders: Since when has truth been a political virtue? Can you name one truth that is everywhere welcome? Certainly there are none in play in any quest for, or defense of, political power - Jimmy's for instance - for power is based in the deep comprehension and perverse love of deception, especially self-deception, and any man who seeks power through truth is either a fool or a loser.

Roscoe knows of no candidate's ever making a campaign pledge to reveal all his own self-inflation, all those covetous, envious, lascivious, venal, and violent motives that drive every move he ever makes in politics and will continue making if elected. Roscoe certainly did not invent the perverse forces that drive human beings and he can't explain any of them. He believes they are a mystery of nature.

He concedes that a morally pure society, with candidates unblemished by sin and vice, might possibly exist somewhere, though he has never seen or heard of one, and can't really imagine what one would look like. "But I'll keep looking," he concludes. (page 235, paragraph breaks added)

This is a painfully familiar cynicism, echoed in the hallways of power regularly. "We are flawed," it says, and denies that any improvement on those flaws is possible, unless perhaps an impossible utopia springs up. It questions the right of reformers to ask for more of their elected officials. It assumes that the greater knowledge - indeed the cynicism - of those already in power outweighs any possible claims to political virtue of those outside the machine.

Of course, it stands ready to welcome those willing to play its games, and machine politics have a long history of absorbing reformers, turning the last decades's reforming challengers into next year's old guard. Sometimes it can apply its power to defeating reform challengers, and other times it's had to stand aside and wait for the Morality Plague, as Roscoe puts it, to run its course.

Kennedy's Author's Note at the end reminds us that "This is a novel, not history", but like all of his Albany novels, he does an excellent job of capturing a time and a place and a city in ways that usually elude historians. I didn't read Roscoe expecting biographies of Mayor Corning or Dan O'Connell, and I wonder if they experienced quite as much drama as Kennedy presents here. Perhaps.

Roscoe's lessons aren't limited to Albany the city, either. They still apply today - minus many of the exciting period details - to Albany the state capital. Somehow I wasn't surprised to find Assemblyman Jack McEneny listed in the acknowledgments. After all, beyond his interest in history, a decade after Roscoe was written, he was the Assembly's face on LATFOR, continuing a long tradition of selling out the voters in favor of privileging those already on the inside through creative redistricting.

Roscoe has a lot to teach us reformers. Read it, weep, and know your opponent. It took me years to make myself finally read it. It was worth it.