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Middlefield, NY Lawsuit: The Town’s Counterargument

point counterpointMDN recently reported about two lawsuits filed (so far) in New York State that will set precedent in the state on the issue of whether or not local municipalities (i.e. townships) can ban gas drilling altogether within their borders.

One of those lawsuits, filed against the Town of Middlefield in Otsego County, was filed by landowner Jennifer Huntington (see the MDN story here). Her lawsuit says the town’s ban violates state law which stipulates only the state can regulate oil and gas drilling. The key word there is “regulate.”

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Range CEO Says Everyone Should Disclose Fracking Chemicals

John Pinkerton will step down as CEO of Range Resources by the end of this year. Having been in the industry for two decades, and with nothing to lose, he minces no words and spoke bluntly at a recent conference about the need for energy companies to fully disclose all of the chemicals they use in hydraulic fracturing. He said there are no secrets and everyone uses pretty much the same fracking recipes:

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New Drilling-Related Jobs Coming to NY Next Year

When drilling finally starts in New York State, one of the immediate benefits to the state will be jobs. And not all of those jobs will be in the drilling industry. Some of them will be for the agency that oversees drilling in New York, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

The latest word is that the DEC is looking to hire an addition 142 workers starting next year, many of them in New York’s Southern Tier area where drilling will happen first.

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