Friends of Flagstaff’s Future update for March 6 — Fracking with our Water Supply, City Planning Goals for 2019

     Last evening, F3 showed support for a 10-minute anti-fracking presentation that was delivered to City Council during public participation. Dr. Kevin Gibson, Mining Engineer, for No Fracking AZ discussed advocacy options with City Council that could be enacted to help protect our water supply. Thank you to the Sierra Club and No Fracking AZ for letting F3 know how we could help. We will keep our members informed on opportunities for public comment, petition signings, and other news relating to fracking near Red Gap Ranch.
On February 12th, City council gave a 6 month notice to revoke the license that staff signed with Desert Mountain Energy (DME), a mining company.  The license is to permit entrance to Red Gap Ranch for access to State land for seismic testing. According to the City legal department, Flagstaff is required by state law to provide access. It is unclear what this revocation will actually accomplish.
DME will do their tests on state land within the next six months. If they find potential sources of natural gas or petroleum,  they will likely begin extracting. City staff acknowledges risks associated with mining state land above the aquifer at Red Gap Ranch, although these risks were not discussed prior to the license being issued.
City council acknowledged the public’s anger at the lack of transparency with this process, but insists that City staff was following the rules by signing the license. In F3’s opinion, the controversial nature of fracking should have alerted the staff that this may have been of concern to the public and warranted notification prior to signing the license.
As well, the failure of the state to notify Flagstaff about the possibility of mining taking place adjacent to our potential water supply was also a lack of transparency that City staff should not have perpetuated.
At this point we must hold City Council accountable if DME decides to extract in the vicinity of Red Gap Ranch. We are at risk of contaminating the water and land that could be used by Flagstaff and the communities surrounding Red Gap Ranch, including the Navajo Nation.
If you’d like to learn more about issues with fracking, Dr. Kevin Gibson and Lisa Test (President and Founder of NoFrackingAZ) will be speaking at the Sierra Club meeting on March 14th at 6 pm at the Joe C. Montoya Community Center.