Landman’s Sleazy Handbook Found – a repost and explanation

Dear Readers,

I initially posted this story and its related document two days ago and then pulled it after several hours. Here is why I originally yanked it, and eventually re-posted it.

Upon originally skimming the Talking Points document, I felt it gave concrete proof of what the anti frack/ pro change movement has been charging all along. I thought the handbook was so chillingly manipulative and deliberate, it would contribute to the growing awareness and discontent. So I posted it

But after a second read, I began to wonder if it was legitimate. It seemed too blatant. Too contrived. How could someone be so naive and/or arrogant to print this? Perhaps it was a fabrication of some sort. I wondered. So I suspended the post and did a bit more searching and reasoning.

First, I thought back on how blatant and sophomoric the industry’s style has been thus far.

I recalled the first zoning meeting at the Luzerne County Courthouse. EnCana’s presenters were not their usual people like Joel Fox and Wendy Wiedenbeck. Rather, it was two young attractive women sporting cleavage and long legs. They were marketing lightweights, there for eye candy purposes only. How blatant! (Audrey Simpson has the whole thing on tape.)

Then I thought of Dimock. How violating!  The community was occupied and transformed by a soulless corporate entity with the full backing of an equally soulless state. And when people spoke up, they were spied upon and marginalized. Some day their survivors will win big law suits.

And then I considered the buying of Corbett, the lobbyists, billboards, commercials, sponsorships (compromising the likes of WVIA and Penn State), flag waving, “clean gas” propaganda, and “jobs, jobs, jobs,”… All the while: the violations, spills, accidents, explosions, deaths, injuries, dumping, diving land values, foreign investment, water depletion, well spoilage, lack of oversight, expedited permitting, and on and on…

Why these heartless bastards even put drill pads next to schools! Blatant!

So I came to the conclusion that these companies are capable of anything immoral, sophomoric, and stupid.

Secondly, the document is consistent with reports on landman tactics that I have heard and read.

And finally, larger web resources are reporting it: treehugger.com and AlterNet.

So, here it is again:

A post by John Trallo in the Susquehanna County Gas Forum:

For immediate release to all media outlets:
This document (see attached) marked: ” Proprietary – Do Not Distribute ” was ‘dropped’ by a land man and ‘fell’ into my hands.

This is a section of a ‘land man’s handbook’ on how to acquire oil/gas/mineral leases using false claims, misinformation, careful wording, half-truths, lies, and lying by omission. It clearly demonstrates that the oil and gas industry know exactly what they’re doing, and are completely aware of the ground water contamination, radiation, loss of property, loss of property value, and loss of quality of life. They know exactly how this industrialization will ruin a community.

This may be the most damaging evidence we have .

Pass this on to each and every investigative reporter, journalist, newspaper, environmental advocacy group, and legal defense group. Pass it on to all citizens who are concerned about the dangers of natural gas drilling, too.
John Trallo

See the document HERE: Talking Points for Selling Oil and Gas Lease Rights

How Natural Gas Drilling Has Impacted My Life by Molly M.

Following is a guest post from Molly M.  All are invited to submit:

For the past six months my life has been consumed by the prospect of natural gas drilling in my community.  I have attended meetings, been interviewed by the newspaper, written and talked to umpteen legislators, seen Gasland, put a No Frack sign in my yard, talked to everyone within hearing distance, and read, read, read.  On a more personal level, I have taken a hard look at my own lifestyle and the usage of fossil energy resources.  I would love to incorporate solar panels and a wind turbine at my home.  For the time being, I have changed all of my lightbulbs to CFLs, added solar lighting to my yard, added insulation to my home, and installed insulated drapes on my windows.  By using less energy, I hope to deny the energy companies of a little profit…

My driving habits have changed, too.  I am looking into leasing a Prius, although I don’t drive a lot, so my CO2 discharges aren’t excessive.  I combine trips and spend many days without using my car.  I wish I could use other ways of transportation – in a rural area it is hard to use public transportation or walk to many services.

Am I living greener? Definitely.  Perhaps I would anyway – I have always touted being an environmentalist.  Now it has become an absolute passion in my lifestyle.

Has gas drilling affected my diet?  I’ll leave that story for another day…

wake up to freedom

we are not hostage
to foreign oil

we are hostage
to ourselves

Thank you, we will carry on…

They didn’t die
for eminent domain
or Made in China
or farmland foreclosure…

the threat of democracy

If this evil and blatant usury of our land is not stopped by our elected and sworn representatives by listening to reason, constituents, and the constitution – if they wimp out on their duty to make sure anything done to this state is done right or not at all; if this illegal attack supplants democracy – then democracy will be wrestled back, one way or another.

There will be thousands of gas wells drilled over the next two decades using slick water horizontal hydrofracking – the Back Mountain as Industrial Zone

Gas Drilling Will Bring You:
Lower Property Values
Higher Taxes
Polluted and Unusable Water Sources
Toxic Waste (heavy metals, carcinogens, brine and radioactive materials)
Open Waste Pits
Undisclosed Chemicals
Endocrine Disruptors
Carcinogens Left Underground
Air Pollution
Depleted Water Habitat
Noise Pollution
Eminent Domain
Loss of Farmland
Loss of Tourism
Disrupted Wildlife Habitat
Higher Crime Rate
Increased Drug Use
Choking Truck Traffic
Broken Roads
Increased Accidents
Lower Quality of Life (why do you love this place?)
Earth Shaking
Fractured Bedrock Below (where 10 to 30 tons of chemicals per well, liberated radioactivity, brine, and heavy metals are left underground to slowly migrate toward your family’s water supply)

Educate yourself and take action to stop this now! The first well is drilling this August. Don’t be fooled by the propaganda you see on television and billboards. 1.5% percent of the county households will benefit, 98.5% will suffer.

NOTE – Add on top of this: mismanagement, acts of nature, maximization of profit, and out of state corporations. Then mix in weakened laws and a depleted DEP. And put it all in the context of rapid expansion. Isn’t this a case for MORATORIUM!?

drill the bitch

The beast is circling and beginning to take bites, a variance here, a clearing there. Soon will come a train of trucks carrying the rig. Like a missile on parade in Red Square, it might as well have a hammer and sickle on its side. The bit will drive into the bone of Mother Earth and leave her contaminated. This will happen in front of those who allow it.

Those who refuse to sign a lease will soon be tied down and forced to witness the rape. If big gov and big gas have their way, eminent domain will be granted to those who pipe the gas. You thought you could make a stand? Not in Corporate America (the former United States).

See Companies seek eminent domain status to lay gas pipelines:

NoCana

The new Don King

I was on television last night.  I was an audience participant on WVIA’s State of Pennsylvania live broadcast.  I asked a question on camera.  This was not easy for me.  I don’t like the limelight.  Last night’s show was hosted by Suzanne Kapral-Kelly.  Her guests were WILK talk show hosts Nancy Kman, John Webster, Sue Henry, and Steve Corbett.

When it was almost my turn, I was ushered to a spot marked by masking tape, directly in the line of fire.  Then before I could run away, all lights and attention swung to me.  I think I did okay.  It was my first time on the tube.   I kept it simple.  I thanked the WILK radio hosts for providing a platform to discuss the Marcellus Shale issue.  Then, I simply requested that both stations sponsor a debate between EnCana and the Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition.  The dreaded GDAC.

I did this without consulting anyone else from GDAC. But I am sure each one would say, “Bring it on”! This gas play is so wrong in so many ways for our communities.

I remember the first and only time I heard representatives from EnCana speak.  They were making a presentation to the Back Mountain Community Partnership.  The Partnership is a group of  local township and state representatives.  EnCana  presented hydraulic fracturing as a benign and safe process.  You have seen the Chesapeake ads.  Makes it look like a park.  During the question period, there were some of us who began to ask reasonable questions about safety and environmental impact.  They became visibly defensive and dismissive.  The EnCana reps could not or would not provide answers to most of our questions and were then asked by the Partnership to report back in writing.  They did eventually submit an inadequate response in writing.  But that is a whole other story for a future date.  The point here is they don’t like questions.  They seem to expect us to be compliant and quiet. Watch the movie Split Estate to get a glimpse of EnCana’s dark side.

On the broadcast, Steve Corbett related how he has been unable to get anyone from EnCana to talk with him. They are about to change our world in a very surreal, industrial, and irreversible way – yet are too arrogant to address any of these potentialities with the public.

Even if you had the perfect company doing all the right things, fracking is still a dirty, radioactive, water wasting, toxin injecting, air polluting, community disrupting, waste producing, land damaging, infrastructure intensive, property devaluing, inefficient way to produce energy. Add on top of that a secretive and entitled corporation – you are begging for trouble.

Come on down EnCana! Name the time and place.

GDAC Earth Day Statement

Earth Day Statement

The Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition is here today to protest the drilling for natural gas in Luzerne County. We have studied the impacts of natural gas extraction by deep well drilling and hydraulic fracking in the Marcellus shale and other deposits throughout our country and recognize the inherent risks to our local environment. These risks challenge not only the quality of life for the populated Back Mountain area through disruption of our roads, air and water quality, but this activity poses an unacceptable risk to the fresh drinking water supplies of the people of the Wyoming Valley from West Pittston to West Nanticoke and all of the towns in between. The gas companies have received a permit to drill in Lehman Township, that is only 1.7 miles from the Huntsville reservoir and the county commissioners want to drill in Moon Lake Park that is less than ½ mile from the Ceasetown reservoir. Both of these fresh water dams and aquifers supply drinking water to over 80,000 people in the Valley. The majority of people in our county will not reap the financial benefits from this drilling but will be taking on all of the risks. We want to say to EnCana gas company of North America, and any other gas company seeking to exploit our area, we do not want you disturbing our communities, polluting our air and water, damaging our roads, decreasing our property values, and dividing our people. We ask you to leave. We also want to stand up against the larger issue that communities are told they have no say in what happens in their townships and local ordinances are superseded by the state. We the people, hereby declare our right to decide what types of activities we choose to allow in our communities and how to regulate them. This right to self-govern is inalienable and what American democracy is all about. If you feel that your rights to self-determination are being violated and are against allowing our beautiful county to be turned into an industrial zone littered with hazardous chemicals, our air disturbed by lung damaging fumes, and quality of life all negatively impacted by natural gas drilling, then join us in stopping this activity and asking our legislators to do the same.

Dr. Thomas Jiunta

Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition

EnCana in the Leak News

Here is another leak story out of Colorado.

Remember, these myriad stories from so many places are meant to inform, not frighten. One must consider the universe of possibilities and probabilities when considering hydrofracking gas from shale.

I’ve concluded, it is a stupid and dangerous way of doing things.

New Concerns Over Possible Methane Gas Leak Near Silt