New York’s 22nd District should be proud of their congressman, Maurice Hinchey. He’s got a clear handle on the issues, and has submitted a nice set of comments to the NY Department of Environmental Conservation on their evaluation of permitting needs for drilling in the Marcellus shale in NY.
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Otsego 2000, a non-for-profit environmental organization in operation in Otsego County for nearly three decades, recenlty issued a statement arguing strongly against the draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement issued in late September by the DEC for horizontal natural gas extraction horizontal fracturing, or “fracking,’’ in the Marcellus Shale.
Elected officials taking a position on Marcellus Shale development are facing strident demands from stakeholders who could become rich, go broke or possibly abandon hope, depending on Albany’s response.
As a Dec. 31 public comment deadline approaches, the polarizing debate shows no sign of easing. Stakeholders continue to hold town hall meetings, sign petitions and write elected officials in an attempt to make or break the multibillion-dollar gas industry’s move to the Southern Tier.
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Most of the discussion about gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale has turned on environmental questions – will it poison our water, irradiate the area, destroy our roads, and generally prove difficult to fix? All of these are important questions, but they've mostly been contrasted with rosy pictures of large royalty payments to landowners and economic benefits for municipalities.
I'd like to suggest to landowners and municipalities that being in a hurry may not be to our advantage. Yes, of course people prefer their money now, and often place a significant premium on cash up front. At the same time, though, drilling as quickly as possible also may bring a lot less return.
Residents of Preston, Smithville and Smyrna may experience cloudy water coming from their faucets as a result of seismic testing set to resume at the end of the month.
Norse Energy, Inc., the Norwegian-based company currently drilling into the Herkimer formation in Chenango County, has garnered work permits from the county highway department to haul in and lay seismic testing cables across the following roads: County Routes 10, 10A, 14, 21, 20, 3 and 3A.
Individual town boards have also granted seismic testing and permits for town road crossings, such as on the Bliven-Sherman and McDonough roads in Preston.
Iroquois Gas Transmission System, L.P. (“Iroquois”) has announced thecommencement of a non-binding open season for its NYMarc project proposed to connect rapidly expanding Marcellus gas supplies to New York, New England and Eastern Canadian gas markets.
As proposed, the NYMarc project will interconnect with both the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company in Sussex County, New Jersey and the Millennium Pipeline Company in Orange County, New York and traverse a northeasterly route of approximately sixty-six (66) miles in length before tying into Iroquois’ mainline in Pleasant Valley, New York.
Why did we sign? Partly because natural gas is a relatively “clean” fuel, so obtaining it locally seemed reasonable. Partly because the way it was presented to us made it sound inevitable and benign. Partly because the money was appealing. The Music Man came to town, and I am astonished and ashamed that we succumbed to his tune.
We never would have signed if we had known then what we now know about the pollution potential and the possible transformation of peaceful residential and agricultural areas into industrial zones. I am sure that there are many other landowners who feel the same way. We have decided to use the money we received from the lease to try to stave off this potential disaster. A new organization called “(F)leased” is forming to represent people who signed leases and wish they hadn't.
Southern Tier farms, businesses and residents have a big stake in pending federal water quality regulations being developed to protect the Chesapeake Bay, 400 miles downstream on the Susquehanna River.
On Tuesday, they will have a chance to meet directly with officials from the federal Environmental Protection Agency to learn more about how the regulations are being developed, and their stake in the issue. The public meeting is scheduled from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Broome County Public Library, 185 Court St., Binghamton.
The meeting is part of the process to develop new standards, called a “pollution diet” by EPA officials, for the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
“We see this as the beginning of at least a one-year dialogue with the public,” said Bob Koroncai, a regulator with the EPA who covers Chesapeake Bay issues. “Anybody who eats food, flushes a toilet, uses fertilizer or drives a car is contributing to the problem.”
Although specific regulations are still being worked out, they involve capping states' contributions to pollution flowing to the bay. The goal is to impose the pollution diet to reduce nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment degrading water quality in the bay and upstream.
A court appearance is scheduled for mid-December on a recent legal action filed by a citizens’ group against the Schlum-berger project in Horseheads.
State Supreme Court Justice Judith O’Shea is scheduled to review the case at 9:30 a.m. Dec. 18 at the Chemung County Courthouse in Elmira.
The legal action, filed in Chemung County Supreme Court, claims that the review of Schlumberger’s site plans and environmental impact by Horseheads village officials was inadequate and unlawful.
A citizens’ group concerned about the potential environmental effect of the Schlumberger Technology Corp. project in Horseheads is going to court to try to halt the work.
A group calling itself People for a Healthy Environment Inc. filed the legal challenge last week in state Supreme Court in Chemung County, claiming the village’s approval of Schlumberger’s site plan was arbitrary and capricious.