Hector group wants fracking ban

    HECTOR—The Hector Clean Water Initiative presented a petition with 800 signatures calling on a local ban or moratorium to the Hector town board, Tuesday, Dec. 13.
    The room was filled to capacity with Hector residents and others supporting a ban. Because the town hall can only safely hold 50 people, an overflow crowd of 40 to 50 residents held a candlelight vigil outside the town hall until late in the evening.  One woman led the group in an Algonquin water prayer and another told the group how she had returned to the community to live on the family farm after several decades away, and of how her 95-year-old father urged his children not to make any deals with the gas companies.
    Inside the hall Robert Barton, a farmer and resident of the town, presented the petition to the board. Bo Lipari, also a long-time resident of Hector and an activist on voting rights issues in New York state, made a formal request that the board sponsor a public comment meeting on hydraulic fracturing before the  state’s Jan. 11 deadline.  Lipari and others in the packed meeting hall questioned the board about an official response being prepared for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation concerning hydrofracking in Hector. Many in the crowd expressed concern that the opinions of a significant portion of the community would not be represented in the response.
    In recent months citizen groups in Hector have been presenting information on the inherent dangers of hydrofracking, including health and safety issues, overall quality of life and the extreme negative impact to the local economy.  
    Clerk Jane Ike said the board has not made any decision yet based on the requests.