Broome County and Binghamton city officials announced yesterday that the EPA’s final public meeting regarding the potential relationship between hydraulic fracturing and drinking water will be held on September 13 and 15 at the Forum Theatre, 236 Washington St. in Binghamton. Each day will consist of a morning and an evening session. Part of the agreement calls for increased security to handle the expected protesters. Meetings have been held in Pennsylvania, Texas and Colorado with the final meeting in New York, the only state where hydrofracking is currently prohibited pending DEC regulations.

Registration is still open to those wishing to comment on the record. For more information go to: http://hfmeeting.cadmusweb.com/Postponed.aspx

Hudson A. Wilkin writes in a letter to the editor on Pressconnects.com - “The New York state Department of Conservation must allow the natural gas companies to use hydraulic fracturing to obtain the natural gas. Everything mankind has ever done has had both benefits and risks, and this time the benefits outweigh the risks. The DEC and those who are against hydrofracking want to have a 100 percent risk-free situation before they will allow the use of hydrofracking, which is impossible.

If the DEC allows hydrofracking, natural gas companies will hire hundreds of employees, who will spend their income in New York. The services that these people and their families will use, and the goods they will buy, will require other businesses to hire more people so they can meet increased demand for their products and services. With the increase in sales, more sales tax money will be collected by villages, cities, towns, counties and the state, which will reduce the amount of property and income taxes that have to be paid.

These newly employed people will be paying village, city, town, county, school, property, state and federal taxes; since more people are paying taxes, the burden is more spread out, and each taxpayer will be required to pay a smaller portion of the total taxes owed each year.”

To read more click here.

As reported in pressconnects.com, Chesapeake Energy is paying to upgrade roadways in Bradford County, PA, to accommodate for increased heavy truck traffic resulting from its drilling activities in the Marcellus Shale. The upgrade will not only benefit Chesapeake’s operations but the surrounding community as well. The drilling companies want to be good neighbors. They plan to work and live in the Marcellus region for decades to come. It is in their best interest to reach out to Marcellus communities to make improvements to infrastructure. This is another example of how the entire region will benefit from development of the Marcellus Shale.

Chris Kulander, a geophysicist, lawyer, and an expert in hydraulic fracturing works with companies who use this process to develop natural gas reserves in shale. He writes in syracuse.com that while there are valid concerns with hydraulic fracturing, tough regulations in New York will allow drilling to be conducted in a safe and responsible manner. “While a responsive state regulatory framework and vigorous, impartial enforcement of those regulations are necessary, draconian measures such as rolling moratoriums or federal oversight of fracking are not. New York is well able to regulate fracking while at the same time allowing development of natural gas and enjoying the jobs and revenue it brings.”

To read more click here.

According to a report in today’s Ithaca Journal - “An executive from a firm representing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency met Tuesday for more than a hour-and-a-half with Broome County and City of Binghamton officials, but an agreement has not yet been reached for the county to host a public meeting on the agency’s multi-million-dollar hydraulic fracturing study.

Broome County Executive Barbara J. Fiala and Adam Saslow of Plexus Logistics International, the firm hired by an EPA contractor, said they expect an announcement on the meeting’s location in the coming days.”

To read more click here.

Jon Campbell writes in stargazette.com that five of the six local Assembly members from districts impacted by Marcellus drilling would oppose moratorium legislation. Assemblymen Crouch, Finch Bacalles, O’mara and Assemblywoman Lupardo all oppose the bill that passed in the Senate early in August. Assemblywoman Lifton supports the bill and has also co-sponsored a stronger bill that would impose a longer moratorium coinciding with the release of the EPA report not expected until at least 2012. If the bill comes to the Assembly floor it appears that it has the votes to pass, however it remains uncertain whether it will be brought to the floor for a vote when the Assembly returns in September.

These five members of the Assembly understand that development of the Marcellus Shale will bring much needed economic development to their districts. They have confidence that the DEC’s regulations which are expected sometime this fall will protect the environment while allowing for safe, responsible drilling.

To read the entire article click here.

All through the Gulf oil spill disaster opponents to drilling in the Marcellus Shale have drawn parallels between that horrible event and the similar disaster that would befall New Yorkers should drilling be allowed in our state. Drilling for oil off the US coast a mile above the ocean floor is a different operation than drilling for natural gas on land but drilling opponents like to link the two in another attempt to scare New Yorkers and sway leaders.

There is one area however, where these two drilling operations are similar. That is the understanding that a moratorium will dramatically hurt drilling and has a long term effect on jobs in the region. The Obama administration is considering lifting the six month ban that they hastily placed on off shore drilling because they have learned that these giant and very expensive rigs don’t sit idle when not in use. Companies are moving the rigs to other parts of the world and the jobs are going with them. This is severely hurting Gulf States and will have an impact for years to come. Similarly, the moratorium on drilling in the Marcellus Shale forces drillers to plan for their rigs to be used in friendlier states. There are a finite number of rigs in the US and they are always in use. Rig plans are done many months or even years in advance of drilling. A moratorium on shale drilling in New York doesn’t just put off business for nine months it could push drilling out for years and significantly postpone the resulting economic boost that development of the Marcellus Shale will provide.

The Ithaca Journal reports on a seminar that will inform Southern Tier residents about New York land law and gas drilling.

Reporter Jon Campbell writes: “About 60 people are expected to attend a seminar Wednesday about New York land law and how it relates to the Marcellus Shale and the Southern Tier natural gas rush, according to the company hosting the event.

The seminar is set to run from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Arena on Hawley Street. Fifty-six people have already registered, and a promotersaid she expects a few walk-ups on Wednesday.

“The purpose for this program is for continuing education for the professionals, such as attorneys, engineers, surveyors, landmen, and title personnel,” said Marcia Mason, a program planner for Wisconsin-based HalfMoon Seminars. “It is a very current issue, so I know it generates a lot of interest.”

Five attorneys will lead four separate sessions during the seminar, each split up to discuss a different part of pertinent land laws.

Read more.

Gubernatorial candidate Andrew Cuomo released the second in a series of policy books, this one devoted to energy policy. Regarding development of the Marcellus Shale, Coumo seems to support development as long as it is studied thoroughly and done in an environmentally sensitive manner. He cites both the DEC review and the EPA study and seems willing to rely on these assessments to determine whether drilling could be done safely. The EPA study will not be completed until sometime in 2012 at the earliest and it is very troubling that we may be waiting another two years before permitting and drilling begins.

The Marcellus Shale discussion appears in the “Economic Development” chapter of the policy book but there seems to be a disconnect between the idea of developing the Marcellus Shale and benefitting from the resulting economic uplift (good) and actually drilling for gas (bad). The NYS Senate vote on the drilling moratorium this week also reflects this disconnect. We want lowcost energy produced at home and the resulting economic and security benefits but at zero cost. Anyone who has taken even one economics class understands that there is a cost to everything we do. In the case of developing the Marcellus Shale the trick is to balance the enormous economic uplift and job creation against the environmental risks. This has been done around the country and other states are prospering as a result of natural gas development. Let’s hope that if candidate Cuomo becomes governor he will weigh these risks against the economic benefits and determine that proceeding with safe, clean drilling needs to happen now. The depressed Upstate communities cannot continue to wait much longer.

The following is the excerpt from the Cuomo’s energy policy book regarding Marcellus Shale development:

“Any Drilling in the Marcellus Shale must be Environmentally Sensitive and Safe
Because so much of our supply of energy is based on natural gas fuel, ensuring a supply of lowcost natural gas is important to New York. The Marcellus Shale could contribute to New York’s natural gas supply, but development needs to be highly sensitive to environmental concerns. The economic potential from the Marcellus shale could provide a badly needed boost to the economy of the Southern Tier and even many environmentalists agree we want to produce more domestic natural gas that reduces the need for environmentally damaging fuel sources such as coal. We need to explore how drilling can be done in a way that is consistent with environmental concerns. The State’s Department of Environmental Conservation, as well as the federal Environmental Protection Agency, are currently studying the effects of drilling in the Marcellus Shale region. Through that assessment, New York State must ensure that, if and when the Shale’s natural gas is obtained, it does not come at the expense of human health or have adverse environmental impacts. In particular, it is critical that no drilling be conducted that might negatively affect any existing watershed and that best practices in drilling are adopted and enforced by the State.

Therefore, any drilling in the Marcellus Shale must be environmentally sensitive and safe. These reviews must demonstrate that health and environmental risks are adequately addressed and protected. However, existing watersheds are sacrosanct and Andrew Cuomo would not support any drilling that would threaten the State’s major sources of drinking water.”

The New York State Senate voted overwhelmingly in support of a bill (S 8129) to continue a drilling ban in the Marcellus Shale until next spring. The current drilling moratorium has been in place for over two years allowing the DEC to take its time to craft comprehensive regulations on hydrofracking and horizontal drilling which are expected to be released this fall. According to the bill summary for S 8129, “delaying the DEC’s ability to issue permits until May 15, 2011 will provide the Legislature additional time to assess the true environmental impacts of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing.” Hasn’t the DEC been doing this for the past two years? The DEC is made up of experts in geology, petroleum engineering, hydrology and the like. The 800 page sGEIS is an enormously comprehensive document which provides detailed regulations that must be followed in New York State. It is argued that these additional regulations will be the toughest in the country.

With all due respect to the experience and knowledge of members of the New York State Legislature, isn’t it best to let the experts in the field determine the regulations? Section 6 of the sGEIS already thoroughly outlines the environmental impacts of drilling in the Marcellus Shale and section 7 outlines mitigation measures to address these impacts. New York has an excellent drilling record and the additional regulations in the sGEIS will only make drilling safer.

It is in the best interest of the citizens of New York State for the Legislature to let DEC to do its job and develop drilling regulations that will allow safe, clean development of the Marcellus Shale. We have a rare opportunity to develop an enormous homegrown resource that will revitalize upstate communities and provide well paying, long-term jobs to New Yorkers. Extending the drilling moratorium further will jeopardize investment and opportunities in New York.