Central New York Landowner’s Coalition Rally: Coalition Lawyer Scott Kurkoski
The second speaker at the April 10 large meeting of the Central New York Landowner’s Coalition (CNYLC) at the Unadilla Valley Central School featured someone MDN reported on previously. Scott Kurkoski is a lawyer specializing in mineral rights with Levene, Gouldin & Thompson, a law firm located in Vestal, NY. He is the official lawyer for the CNYLC.
Kurkoski opened his remarks by thanking Richard Lasky and the Steering Committee of the CNYLC for the excellent work that they do on behalf of landowners everywhere. He said the purpose of the meeting is to listen to the next speaker, Don Zaengle, a consulting geologist for the Coalition. Mr. Zaengle previously worked 20 years for Shell Corporation. Mr. Zaengle’s talk will be about the geology of the CNYLC—it is important for landowners to understand the geology and how it affects the lease terms they will ultimately receive.
Kurkoski gave an overview of the relatively brief history of drilling in the Marcellus Shale in New York State. He said after the stock market crash of 2008, Chesapeake Energy, one of the world’s largest natural gas drillers (and the largest in the U.S.) was in such poor shape financially they had to strike a deal with Norwegian company StatoilHydro to “stay alive.” Two short years later with the start of drilling in the Marcellus in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, Chesapeake has “taken off” (like a rocket). According to Kurkoski, “Our area [the Marcellus Shale] is the focus of the world. It is a world-class natural gas play.”
In 2008, landmen started going door-to-door saying inaccurate things to landowners in an attempt to get them to sign leases. At that point, coalitions started to form to help protect landowner interests and to seek out reliable information so landowners could negotiate with confidence with energy companies. Coalitions, according to Kurkoski, have the best interests of landowners as their sole aim.
Energy companies are looking for entire regions to drill—regions with the kind of shale characteristics that match their drilling goals. Kurkoski said, “You just can’t get a good deal on your own—the best way is with a coalition.”
So what is going on currently with New York State and drilling? About 21 months ago New York Gov. David Patterson issued a moratorium on horizontal drilling that uses hydraulic fracturing. That is, drilling in the Marcellus Shale was banned until the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) could update the Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) that all companies must follow when drilling. The GEIS is a set of guidelines for drilling. The new changes to the guidelines are called Supplemental, hence SGEIS.
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