( A letter can still be signed by emailing
[email protected]. --see end of article)
Drilling activists: Cornell trustee should not make gas drilling
decisions
University spokesman says Cornell not in leasing talks
By Liz Lawyer •[email protected] • December 16, 2009
A group of community members are asking the chairman of Cornell
University's Board of Trustees to recuse himself from any decision
dealing with gas drilling leases on Cornell land.
In a letter sent to Chairman Peter Meinig early this month, more than
50 signers, among them faculty and former students at Cornell and
several Tompkins County residents, said they are concerned that
Meinig's position as former chairman of PGI International Ltd., a
company producing and selling natural gas sampling systems and
equipment to natural gas companies that may be developing the Marcellus
Shale, could compromise his objectivity when making decisions on behalf
of the university.
Meinig is involved with a company that owns a large share of PGI
International Ltd., and his daughter is the current chair, a PGI
company spokesman said.
The Cornell Faculty Senate also adopted a resolution Dec. 9 calling for
a moratorium on leasing Cornell lands for horizontal drilling combined
with hydraulic fracturing, and requesting that an advisory group
composed of experts in relevant fields, as well as student
representatives, should be formed to advise the university's
administration on future decisions regarding gas drilling leases.
Cornell alumna and Shaleshock member Michelle Bamberger, who drafted
the letter to Meinig and contributed to drafts of the Faculty Senate
resolution, said neither was meant to suggest that she thinks the
university has acted improperly.
"I'm not suggesting that Cornell and the Board of Trustees have acted
in any way other than with the highest standards of ethics," Bamberger
said. "I am simply addressing a potential conflict of interest
concerning decisions related to leasing of Cornell lands for natural
gas exploration and drilling. As a Cornell alumna, I think very highly
of the university and its reputation -- that's my motivation."
Cornell spokesman Simeon Moss said Meinig's connection with PGI
International Ltd. should not constitute a conflict of interest.
"University counsel believes that no conflict of interest is presented
in this instance under the university's conflict of interest policy
because the university is not engaged in any contractual transaction
with any company in which Meinig has a financial interest," he said.
The university has not leased land for gas drilling and is not
currently considering doing so, Moss said. Any future decisions on the
matter would be considered according to the university's ethics and
conflict of interest policy, which requires disclosure of potential
conflicts, he said. The decision to lease land would also depend on
federal and state guidelines and whether the process was deemed
environmentally safe, Moss said.
Tompkins County Legislator Martha Robertson, who has expressed her
support for the letter, said, "In government, we deal with conflicts of
interest all the time -- as much with real conflict as a potential
perceived conflict ... It seems that at the very least it would seem
that would be something Mr. Meinig should disclose, and certainly clear
up whether he has business interests in gas drilling in New York."
Ulysses Town Planning Board Chairman and co-founder of Concerned
Citizens of Ulysses Ken Zeserson said he thinks the matter of Meinig's
involvement in decisions regarding gas drilling on Cornell land should
be settled before any discussion of the issue occurs.
"Prospectively, if he's in a room with (President David) Skorton next
week, he shouldn't talk about gas drilling," Zeserson said. "One of my
pet peeves is: where is Cornell University in this? They should be
leading the fight, not the reluctant caboose."
Bamberger said the letter is still open for others to sign on by
contacting her at [email protected].
_______________________________________________
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