Last Update: 11 AUG 2012 | Currently, there is a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing in the state of New York. However, NY Governor Andrew Cuomo has been waiting indefinitely to make a decision about the duration of the moratorium, and the final verdict on whether or not New York state will allow hydraulic fracturing. The ‘rumor’ is that it will be allowed, in some form, at some time. “Rumors”, which are now essentially developing, indicate there are plans to open up fracking activities in the Southern Tier of New York.
Introduction
Image used with permission, Karen Eldestein
Wikipedia: The New York City watershed includes a large area of the Marcellus shale formation. The NYC Dept. of Environmental Protection’s position: “While DEP is mindful of the potential economic opportunity that this represents for the State, hydraulic fracturing poses an unacceptable threat to the unfiltered water supply of nine million New Yorkers and cannot safely be permitted with the New York City watershed.”
State Level: The New York State assembly voted 93 to 43, Nov. 30, 2010, to place a moratorium or freeze on hydraulic fracturing to give the state more time to undertake safety and environmental concerns.
Municipal Level: At the municipal level, some towns and cities in central New York state have moved to regulate drilling by hydraulic fracturing and its attendant effects, either by banning it within municipal limits, maintaining the option to do so in the future, or banning wastewater from the drilling process from municipal water treatment plants.
Official Reports and Studies
There are obviously many such reports to sift through, and there is quite a bit of controversy about who funds what reports, and whether or not product is biased. I endeavor to find quality reports and will, time permitting, try to review them.
- Final Impact Assessment Report: Impact Assessment of Natural Gas Production in the New York City Water Supply Watershed (23 DEC 2009)
This is one of the widely cited studies that has to do with why New York City has rejected fracking that may contaminate its water supply. - COMMENTS ON THE NY DEC DRAFT OF SUPPLEMENTAL GENERIC ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT (DSGEIS) FOR GAS DRILLING By the Otsego Lake Watershed Supervisory Committee October 2009
“The bottom-line conclusion of DEP is that gas drilling, as currently defined in the dSGEIS, is incompatible with the operation of the NYC watershed and should be prohibited. In addition, the DEP is recommending to DEC that the dSGEIS be rescinded because it failsto adequately address the risks to the watershed. The DEP has also requested the NYSDOH to conduct a study of the public health threat posed by long-term exposure to low levels of toxic chemicals.”
Other Links
- Natural Gas Drilling in Marcellus Shale – New York City Department of Environmental Protection - NYC DEP’s homepage for information fracking in NY/C
- Hydraulic Fracturing in New York | Vox Pop : Fracking : 8/8/12 (Audio) | Learnist - Great discussion on WAMC, North East Public Radio. Many good leads to follow.
- Details Emerge on Cuomo’s Plan to Allow Limited Fracking in New York | www.ithacaindy.com (9 AUG 2012)
Background/Personal
After much considering, I’ve decided to make an effort to turn this very specific situation into an actual case study on my website. What happens in New York, I believe, will set a certain amount of precedence for the rest of the United States of America, and potentially the world. At the very least, it will affect my life…
For those of you who don’t know, I was born in raised in New York state. I take this issues seriously, and I can openly say that I have not taken a side yet on this issue. I have been and will be highly critical of natural gas companies, because I know that unless there is severe regulatory pressure, bad things can happen, whatever the industry.
If I can determine that hydraulic fracturing is something worth supporting – I will do it. I have no illusions about its benefits in terms of domestic energy creation and the economy, and potential environmental benefits as per carbon emissions. But there are many related issues, in terms of the economic potential of the gas, and the overall environmental damage (that I believe would extend beyond simply carbon emissions). I’m going to be very frank and document how I’m leaning and why, which, as far as I know, is something most people don’t do – especially people trying to be experts. But I’m personally fed up with the only stories we hear coming from very obvious backgrounds – if it’s from the industry, it’s in favor of shale gas development. If it’s from an environmentalist group, it’s anti-gas. Maybe there is no in between. But how can someone who is ‘neither’, or an average person, actually make a real decision about this?
That’s what I’ll try to foster.
The Page, which will be set up after this one becomes too large, is in the works, and will contain as many relevant articles as I can. I will also be using the new platform over at Learnist (see here) to help me document and collect articles, and hopefully further discussion.
I welcome all comments and hope we can learn and make the best possible decision for the future of New York, the USA, and the world.
- – -
Jesse Parent is a researcher, analyst, and editor focusing on energy & resources, technology, and global affairs. For more of Jesse’s thoughts throughout the week and to see what news he’s following, you are invited to join the conversation via Twitter and Facebook. Visit Jesse Parent [INFLUENCE] to view Case Studies, Commentary and more.
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http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/news/natural_gas_drilling.shtml
To document my current train of thought (again, this is how I’m leaning, and not my final decision):
1.?? Date unknown, probably spanning a few years ago: AGAINST. The first time I learned about hydraulic fracturing, I was pretty turned off by it – it didn’t make sense. It seemed like a way to waste a massive amount of water and overall produce very little net energy. I didn’t know much about it, but I heard it was expanding quite a bit. I saw “Gasland”, and read some things, but didn’t think it was much an issue.
2.?? Some months prior to July: FOR. I was in favor of hydro-fracking for New York because I realized the mounting global energy demand and other forms of pressure. The reasoning had to do with thinking that it might be foolish for protestors to try to ban fracking in New York state – the global demand for energy was simply to strong, and I wouldn’t count on politicians to do much about this. (But then again, NYC has enough money and interest to say they didn’t want any fracking close to them…). At this time, I sided with fracking because I thought it would be better to allow it and push for the highest regulatory standards possible – as that may have the best net overall effect on NY’s energy, and energy production around the world.
3.As of July: AGAINST. With many parts of the worlding looking for US technologies and experience in Shale gas, the US, and particularly New York state, has an ability to set precedents. If New York can set a precedent of not exploiting obvious resources like this, it could actually impact other areas around the globe. Furthermore, gas drilling companies are still refusing full disclosure of all chemicals going into the ground – and if I was a local resident to one of these sites, I would want to know everything, and fight daily non-stop to have full disclosure, because my health and the health of my children is on the line. I don’t have children, but I know that certain chemicals can disrupt genetic structures, and I don’t want to be drinking them or past on contaminated genes.
So that’s where I stand so far.
Nice to read an overview of your thought process. I recently listened to an interview with William Engdahl that I think may interest you. While I think the interview is interesting overall, it is a bit long. The part that is the most interesting is after minute 23. in this part Engdahl talks about a new way of finding natural gas. He says that there is scientific evidence that gas is not produced by a process of decay of plants etc. but rather produced inside the earth itself. Developing these possibilities could provide us with gas for at least 1000 years says Engdahl. According to Engdahl, the US and oil companies allegedly cover up this development to protect their interests.
the interview can be found here:
Personally I am still very skeptical about all this and I will need to do more research. Have you ever heard about this technology?
I haven’t heard about any of this actually. I’ll look into it though, thank’s for sharing.
[I that video you linked, though, wasn't about the topics you listed]
See also my Learnist board about this subject: http://learni.st/users/jesse.parent/boards/2649-hydraulic-fracturing-in-new-york
I may move towards more involvement using the Learnist platform in my writinsg here, stay tuned.
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