The Symposium was a great success. We’re leaving this page up for now to keep the speakers bio information accessible.
Saturday, June 4 – Southern Tier CleanWaters Symposium
RiverWalk Hotel, Grand Ballroom, Downtown Binghamton NY [Google map]
10:30 am-4:00 pm.
10:30 am How to End a Lease with Attorney Joe Heath.
1:00 pm Keynote Address – visionary mother, author & ecologist Dr. Sandra Steingraber PHD – www.steingraber.com
2:30 pm Health Effects of Hydrofracking Panel with Dr. Ron Bishop , Tom Shelley, Dr. Adam Law, Dr. Michelle Bamberger moderated by Dr. Walid S. Hammoud, President of the Broome County Medical Society
Free admission with a suggested donation.
Bios –
Attorney Joe Heath has been General Counsel for the Onondaga Nation since 1982 and an attorney since 1975. For the Nation, his work centers on environmental protection, particularly under the Clean Water Act, focusing on Onondaga Lake and Onondaga Creek; archeologic site and unmarked burial site protection; NAGPRA repatriation and litigation; hunting and fishing rights; treaty rights; excise tax issues; and land rights.
In addition to these current areas of work, Joe has extensive experience in civil rights litigation, Constitutional and family law.
Joe is also and active member of Veterans for Peace.
Sandra Steingraber – http://steingraber.com/bio/
(Moderator) Dr. Walid S. Hammoud, general surgeon, President of the Broome County Medical Society He did his training at N.Y. medical college affiliated hospitals in New York City, practicing in the triple city since 1978. He recently took the position of medical director of occupational and preventive medicine at UHS. He previously held positions at Our lady of Lourdes Hospital as a attending surgeon and surgical director and chief of surgery, and as then attending and chief of surgery at UHS. He served as the first President of United Medical Associate (UMA), previous and current Broome County Medical society president, and current president of Middle East Cultural Foundation.
Ron Bishop, lecturer in chemistry at SUNY Oneonta, will offer a powerpoint presentation addressing the why and how of the unconventional gas drilling technique known as high-volume, slick-water, hydrofracturing. Bishop holds a B.A. in Chemistry from Youngstown State University and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from The West Virgina University School of Medicine. In his 17 years of full-time research, his projects were related to cancer and biosafety. For the last 11 years, Bishop has taught a variety of courses (biology, genetics, general and organic chemistry, biochemistry and environmental sciences) in high schools and colleges. He currently teaches in the Chemistry & Biochemistry Department at SUNY Oneonta, and is nationally certified in chemical hazards management
Thomas Shelley, chemical safety and hazardous materials specialist and chemist by profession, will follow Ron Bishop’s presentation with a discussion of how the chemicals used at the drilling site are handled, what chemicals come back out of the ground with the drilling waste fluids and the categories of different chemical mixtures. He will also talk about the established links between chemicals and health, and address some of the issues of radioactivity in the waste fluidMr. Shelley attended Bowling Green University (Ohio) majoring in geology and chemistry. Much of Mr. Shelley’s early working career was spent as a chemist doing analytical work in industrial labs. He also worked for two years as a research technician for a developmental molecular biologist at Cornell University. Mr. Shelley worked at Cornell University Environmental Health and Safety for seventeen years. He held the position of Chemical Hygiene Officer for 9 years. Mr. Shelley is now retired and volunteers with several sustainability-related organizations in Ithaca and Tompkins County.
Dr. Adam Law. How contamination can impact human health, the endocrine system in particular. Adam Law, MD, PhD, Weill Cornell Medical College. Dr. Adam Law is currently a clinical assistant professor of medicine and specializes in internal medicine, endocrinology, metabolic medicine, and diabetes in private practice. Dr. Law received his medical degree and doctorate at the University of London did post-doctoral fellowships at the University of California and Cornell. He speaks widely on the threats to human health posed by environmental contamination associated with unconventional gas extraction.
Dr. Michelle Bamberger received her DVM from Cornell University in 1985. Before attending Cornell, she earned her masters degree in pharmacology from Hahnemann University Medical College and then worked in equine research for two years at New Bolton Center, University of Pennsylvania Veterinary School. After graduating from Cornell, Dr. Bamberger studied at Oxford University and practiced small animal and exotic medicine and surgery in both Massachusetts and New York. Before opening Vet Behavior Consults, Dr. Bamberger returned to Cornell for training in the field of behavior medicine as a Visiting Fellow. Dr. Bamberger is the animal behaviorist for Cayuga Dog Rescue. Dr. Bamberger has a special interest in educating the public on veterinary topics. She has taught adult education courses and written two books on the topic of first aid
Sponsors include: The Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival , City of Binghamton, Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter, Catskill MountainKeeper, the Binghamton Regional Sustainability Coalition (BRSC), CPNY, NYRAD, ShaleShock, Frack Action, Binghamton River Walk Hotel and many more.