The O-town Scene

January 06, 2011

The O-town Scene - Oneonta, NY

Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/22604

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 15 of 31

John Arnone has leased his land for gas drilling. His neighbor Denise Dennis has not. Here, they visit Dennis' 153-acre family homestead in Hop Bottom, Pa. The Dennis Farm has been in the family for seven generations, since her ancestor Prince Perkins became one of the first free blacks to settle in Susquehanna County in 1793. Dennis says she hopes to restore the farm, which includes a family graveyard, original foundations and spring, and an 1859 farmhouse on Martin's Creek. However, uncertainty about natural gas drilling on adjacent proper- ties has made finding funding impossible. Dennis sometimes swears she will not lease her land for drilling, but at other times wonders if revenue from gas wells could fund restoration of the property. Art People Photographer Michael Forster Rothbart Photographer Michael Forster Rothbart’s projects explore the human impacts of environmental change. Thanks to a Fulbright Fellowship, he spent two years in Chernobyl (the site of the worst nuclear power plant accident in history), documenting why people stayed after their homes become contaminated. He is explor- ing this theme again in his new project on hydrofrack- ing. After years in Ukraine, Kazakhstan and India, Michael now lives in Oneonta and photographs for educational institutions — primarily colleges, museums and private schools. His After Chernobyl exhibit will tour this year to New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago and Madison, Wis. He is also co-curating an exhibit of central New York photographers, which will be at the Smithy-Pioneer gallery in Cooperstown this summer. Forster Rothbart describes his “Fracking Pennsylvania” project: “There is a war brewing in the hills of central Pennsylvania and the southern tier of New York. “Half a mile underground, in the shale bedrock, are vast natural gas deposits worth an estimated one trillion dollars. A new drilling method called hydraulic fracturing or ‘fracking’ makes it feasible to extract the gas by pumping millions of gallons of water, sand and proprietary chemicals down wells under high pressure. “In fracking, half the population of this rural region sees the end to the economic troubles they’ve known for too long. The other half of the population sees an end to the rural region itself, with fears of water contamination, air pollution, forest fragmentation, industrial truck traffic and human health problems. “In Pennsylvania, drilling has begun full force, while New York is still debating regulations. Already, the first complaints of water contamination have surfaced in Dimock, Pa. At this point, only one thing is certain: the issue of fracking is dividing these communities as it stands to change them — for better or worse — forever. These photos are part of an ongoing project documenting the impacts of fracking on families on both sides of the issue.” An autumn 2010 scene taken near Walton. 16 O-Town Scene Jan. 6, 2011

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of The O-town Scene - January 06, 2011