Victor Furman
Chenango County Landowner

Dear DEC,

First and foremost, I would like to thank the members of the New York DEC who traveled throughout the state to conduct the four hearings. You were subjected to rude name calling in the two hearings I attended and, frankly, that would have put me in a fit of uncontrollable anger, yet you remained professional and courteous. Your jobs were belittled by angry natural gas opponents who, in reality, knew nothing about what you set out to accomplish, and this was evident in their testimonials.

Please remember in your deliberations that tens of thousands of landowners in New York have always had the option to leave this state but have not. We know we live in a pristine state with great forest, cities, lakes and mountains. The landowners have always done their part to preserve our state’s natural beauty, including the clean water, We will not falter in this responsibility and the proof of that is in all the research and studying we have done to understand the natural gas industry, the risk and the rewards. Although it is true that some may be in it for the money, many of us are in it for survival to remain on our properties, and yet we will not allow rouge operators, shortcuts, and would rather lose our land to taxes than see it environmentally destroyed. This is why many of us have spent our weekends writing leases that we believe will be equal to or better than much of what’s in the SGEIS, as far as standards are concerned.

We do not believe our state will fold to naysayers, or succumb to emotional pressures that were incubated in politically correct media.  We have endured a lot of one-sided reporting by Southern Tier newspapers and television stations.  We have patiently listened to the uniformed voices of well-meaning students who fell victim to these propaganda machines.  We have heard it all, but we still believe common sense, economic reality and science will prevail, with your help.

Thousands of young New Yorkers will be able to take courses in our schools that will enable them to work in the gas industry at high salary rates.  They won’t all be land owners, but they will all stay in New York and raise families, build homes, and be productive tax payers. We not only believe natural gas development can be done safely, but know that all of New York will benefit from the economic opportunities created and the lower cost fuel delivered. Godspeed and let’s get it done!  New York needs natural gas development.

Victor Furman
Chenango Forks, NY

Submitted at 11:59:54, January 11, 2012.

Let’s all remember how difficult this entire process has been for New York DEC and take pride in being New Yorkers!

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