Nov. 23--NIAGARA FALLS -- Niagara Falls Water Board members may be in for an earful tonight.
The board has scheduled a public hearing for 5 p.m. where members will hear comments from city residents and business owners about their proposed 2012 operating budget.
The gathering is expected to draw attention from at least one environmental advocacy group that is looking to prevent the Falls from becoming a treatment site for hydraulic fracturing fluids.
"We think it's very dangerous for them to be exploring this plan," said Emma Lui, a spokesperson for The Council of Canadians, an organization that believes local treatment of hydrofracking fluids will have an adverse impact on the environment. "At the very least, there needs to be communication with all the communities involved. There needs to be a broader dialogue and there needs to be more study about what the impact of this would be on the Great Lakes."
Lui sent a letter to the Falls water board in September, outlining her group's objections to the board's state intent to explore hydrofracking fluid treatment as a potential source of revenue. Lui said Mark Calzavara, a regional organizer with the council, will attend tonight's meeting to convey the group's thoughts on the subject to water board members.
Hydrofracking extracts natural gas and other fossil fuels from shale using chemicals injected with water into the rock layers. The Council of Canadians and other environmental advocacy groups argue that municipal wastewater facilities like those found in the Falls are not equipped to properly decontaminate the materials found in fracking wastewater. As a result, they fear the discharge of so-called "wastewater flowback" into the Niagara River could have potentially harmful, long-term impacts on the Great Lakes Basin.
Officials from the Falls water board are taking a closer look at elements of hydraulic fracturing fluid treatment to determine if the process may offer any benefits to the city's wastewater system which has been dealing with financial problems for several years amid the decline of population and industry in Niagara Falls. The board cannot move forward with any plan to accept hydrofracking waste until the state Department of Environmental Conservation completes its study of the process. The DEC is currently accepting public comment on the state's revised draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement. Comments will be accepted through Dec. 12.
"We're like anyone else," said water board Director Paul Drof. "We're waiting to see what New York state is going to do."
Hydrofracking opponents have become regular fixtures at water board meetings in recent months and Drof said he would not be surprised to hear from them during tonight's meeting.
"We're not taking any action on hydrofracking, but they do have the opportunity to address the board," Drof said.
The board may take action on next year's preliminary budget, according to Drof. The board is looking to close a projected $1.75 million deficit and is considering a water meter rate hike for a majority of residential customers by $2.14 per quarter, which would increase the yearly rate from $11.44 to $20. Commercial customers may see a hike in water meter rates as well. Water board officials say the hikes are needed to respond to 20 percent jumps in both health insurance costs to employees and the board's contributions to the state retirement pensions, a $107,000 increase in power costs, and a $150,000 in chemical expenditures.
"There's a gap between the expenditures and the revenues and they have to figure out how to fill that gap," Drof said. "It possibly could involve some sort of rate increase or fee increase or combination of both."
Tonight's meeting begins at 5 p.m. at the Michael C. O'Laughlin Water Treatment Plant, 5815 Buffalo Ave.
Visit the Niagara Gazette (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) at www.niagara-gazette.com
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