Shame on the EPA for Changing a Meeting on Hydraulic Fracturing the Night Before it’s Scheduled (Updated)
UPDATE (Aug 11): Below is my original post, in all of its flawed glory. A confession: I’ve made a mistake, and I prefer to correct the record right here, up high for everyone to see. Part of my “rant” below is based on a simple and stupid mistake I made–the original EPA meeting was scheduled for August 12, not August 10. I had it incorrectly listed in my calendar. So my original contention that the EPA changed the meeting the night before was plain wrong. Second, it seems there was a dispute between the EPA and Binghamton University where the event was to be held about the amount of money needed to handle a larger than anticipated crowd. The number BU requested went from $6,000 to $40,000 and the EPA resisted and did not have much of a choice but to try and change the venue. Yes, I can point out that the EPA has no problem wasting $1.5M of taxpayer money on a new study of hydraulic fracturing when they just did one a few years ago and hey, what’s another $36K? But I won’t. I’ll simply say, I was wrong. When you make a mistake in public, you need to correct it in public.
Tuesday, August 4, was a sad day for New Yorkers who, after more than two years of waiting, found out they will have to wait longer to begin drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale. On Tuesday, the New York Senate voted 48-9 to prevent hydraulic fracturing (drilling) of gas wells in the Marcellus and Utica Shale formations in New York State. The moratorium, sponsored by State Senator Antoine Thompson (Democrat-Buffalo), prevents gas drilling for another nine months, until May 15, 2011.