CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE

Outsider? I've lived and worked in the Southern Tier since 1975. We've raised children and grandchildren here. My "agenda," in the words of the Feb. 26 guest viewpoint is to:

Drink my well water safely.

* Breathe unpolluted air.
* Enjoy my rural area.
* Protect local roads from heavy industry.
* Support farmers.

Mistreated for years, farmers need adequate price supports, fewer middle men, local customers, etc. Ten or 15 years after hydro-fracturing, areas where it is used could be worse off than before.

People who have leased around our 9.9 acres are not poor farmers. A retired IBMer sold to the gas company. Leasing neighbors have several houses, horses, a tack shop and earth-moving equipment. The town doctor leased. Absentee landlords own many leases. "Outsiders"? The Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Federal Housing Administration and many banks and credit unions won't mortgage gas- leased property. Your right to use your land any way you see fit ends when it affects your neighbors, e.g., you must have a proper septic system.

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