Educator and former Taghkanic Town Councilman Anthony LaSalvia spoke on the subject of hydraulic fracturing, Thurs., Dec. 6, in a public forum held at Congregation Anshe Emeth in Greenport. This was the second of two informational meetings held by the synagogue on the controversial gas extraction process. LaSalvia showed the short film "The Sky Is Pink" by Josh Fox, and offered a 40-minute PowerPoint presentation, followed by a question and answer session with 35 audience members. LaSalvia, representing the anti-fracking viewpoint, made a few references to the event held the previous week featuring speaker Karen Bulich Moreau, executive director of the New York State Petroleum Council. Moreau spoke from the pro-fracking viewpoint. LaSalvia told the crowd he spoke with Barbara Coyle of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, early in the day, Thursday. Coyle leased her land to a gas company, but was now selling her property and leaving the state because of the devastating impact of fracking on the community. A blowout of a Chesapeake Energy Company gas well in the town of Leroy in 2011, spilled toxic fluids into a creek. LaSalvia used Coyle's story as a concrete example of some of the points he made about the negative impacts of fracking. Conversations continued over refreshments served following question and answer session. Rabbi Daniel Fried said attendance for the anti-fracking event was substantially larger than attendance at the pro-fracking meeting. -- Sam Sebren

PLAY CLIP (13:44) Audio excerpts from presentation by Anthony LaSalvia at Congregation Anshe Emeth.

PLAY FULL PRESENTATION (48:37) Audio of presentation by Anthony LaSalvia at Congregation Anshe Emeth, with introductions by Rabbi Daniel Fried and Dr. Lawrence Kadish.