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NYC Opposition to DEC Fracking Rules Continues: Natural Fractures, Brittle Rock, Aging Tunnels…Oh My!

lions-tigers-bears-oh-myIt’s going to be a long summer for both those for and against drilling in the Marcellus Shale in New York State. The state DEC released new draft drilling regulations just last week and already there’s plenty of jockeying going on to either support or oppose the new regulations. A public comment period of 60 days (August & September) will be followed by more tweaking of the rules before a final version is approved by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Even though the new draft rules put the New York City watershed area off limits to drilling, that doesn’t seem to be good enough for some Downstaters:

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New Compressed Natural Gas Filling Station Opens in Pittsburgh – How Does $1.85 per Gallon (Gas Equivalent) Sound?

Giant Eagle, a grocery and convenience store chain with 222 stores in western PA, Ohio and West Virginia, has just opened the first of three compressed natural gas (CNG) filling stations in the Pittsburgh area. The company is planning to replace its entire truck fleet (over 200 trucks) with CNG trucks in the coming years. The best part: How does paying $1.85 a gasoline-equivalent gallon grab you? Yes, CNG vehicles cost more (and right now only Honda in the U.S. makes one), but as the infrastructure is built, more auto manufacturers are likely to start making CNG vehicles.

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New Siena College Poll Shows New Yorkers Evenly Divided on the DEC’s New Hydraulic Fracturing Rules

A new poll just released by Siena College’s Siena Research Institute finds New York residents are pretty evenly split (for and against) the Department of Environmental Conservation’s draft regulations that will allow hydraulic fracturing and drilling in the Marcellus Shale.

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