Hydraulic Fracturing

Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Statewide NY

Food & Water Watch Targets NY Gov. Cuomo with Ad in NC
September 6, 2012September 6, 2012

The unreasonable, extremist and increasingly shrill organization Food & Water Watch (FWW), headquartered in Washington, D.C. (and attempting to interfere in New York’s debate over fracking) is targeting New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo with a full page advertisement in today’s Charlotte Observer. Wait, what? A full page ad in a North Carolina newspaper? Yep.

Gov. Cuomo will be in Charlotte today to speak to the New York delegation at the Democrat National Convention. He’ll then stick around to witness the sinking of the Titanic acceptance speech of Barack Obama. FWW apparently thinks Andy wants to run for president in 2016 and they want to run a head-fake on him that if he approves fracking in New York, his chances of winning in 2016 will be about the same as Obama’s chances of winning this year—close to nil. They also think Andy’s bound to pick up a copy of the Charlotte Observer while he’s in town, hence the ad.

Here’s a copy of the FWW propaganda ad appearing today:

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Health Impacts | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY DEC Continues Secret Meetings with Anti-Drilling Groups
September 5, 2012September 5, 2012

It’s now after Labor Day and still no word about a release of new drilling rules in New York State from the Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Last week MDN passed along word from the Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY) sounding the alarm that Gov. Cuomo was being pressured to postpone a decision on releasing new fracking rules until after the November election (see this MDN story).

We may now know why they sounded the alarm. In what appears to be a troubling trend, the DEC continues to have informal (we would call them secret) meetings with anti-drilling environmentalist organizations, like the Sierra Club, NRDC and Riverkeeper. If the DEC were doing this with landowner groups there would be an outcry from those very same organizations. At any rate, the latest attempt by anti-drillers to stall the release of fracking rules seems to center on the call for yet another study—this one on potential so-called health affects from drilling.

From the New York Times late last week:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Steuben County | Yates County

Anti-Drillers Hijack the Keuka Watershed Improvement Cooperative
September 5, 2012September 5, 2012

The board that oversees the Keuka Watershed Improvement Cooperative has voted to request Gov. Andrew Cuomo grant the Keuka watershed (Finger Lakes area of New York) protection against hydraulic fracturing—to put it “off limits”—as will be done with both the New York City and Syracuse watershed areas (if the draft version of the SGEIS drilling rules are passed as written).

But at least one village trustee in the area is concerned that the board has turned the Keuka watershed group into a lobbying (i.e. political) organization, and Penn Yan’s village attorney says the request’s language goes well beyond drilling restrictions.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Regulation | Statewide OH

Ohio Home Rule Movement to Regulate Drilling Picks up Steam
September 4, 2012September 4, 2012

The Akron Beacon Journal reports there’s a new movement gaining steam in Ohio to return “home rule” to local municipalities when it comes to oil and gas drilling. Home rule, for those unfamiliar, grants municipalities a say in whether, and where, drilling for natural gas and oil can occur within a township. Think of it as zoning, which is precisely what it is. The home rule debate is currently red hot in New York State where, similar to Ohio, the state previously passed a law removing the right of local municipalities to regulate drilling in any way (including bans). It’s also a hot topic in Pennsylvania where zoning provisions in the newly passed Act 13 law are now in PA Supreme Court awaiting a final decision.

Ohio passed a law in 2004 taking the right away from municipalities to regulate drilling. Now, some residents are trying to get the state legislature to reconsider it:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Wastewater

Is Marcellus/Utica Shale Wastewater Dangerously Radioactive?
September 4, 2012September 4, 2012

The Columbus Dispatch attempts to gin up anti-fracking sentiment by using a year-old study by the U.S. Geological Survey. The Dispatch’s argument, in a nutshell: A lot of Marcellus Shale wastewater coming from Pennsylvania to Ohio for disposal via deep injection wells is “radioactive” (i.e. dangerous if it should leak onto the ground). The Utica Shale in Ohio is like the Marcellus in Pennsylvania, ergo, fracking shale in the Utica will produce radioactive waste. Conclusion: Don’t frack.

From the article:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY Landowner Coalition Sounds Alarm on New Delay Request
August 31, 2012August 31, 2012

The Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY) yesterday emailed an “urgent call to action” to New York landowners and those in the state who support natural gas drilling. The JLCNY has received a tip from “credible sources” that Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been asked to once again delay the release of new drilling rules in New York, known as the SGEIS, until after the election on Nov. 6—effectively meaning “not until 2013.” The JLCNY call to action asks landowners and gas supporters to phone the governor’s office, along with the offices of other prominent politicians, asking them to not delay the release of new drilling rules.

The JLCNY does not comment on who the credible sources are, nor who is doing the asking for another delay. MDN has its own theories, but we’ll hold off for now on the speculation. The important thing (for those of us who support drilling and want the new DEC rules released NOW), is to pick up the phone and start calling.

Here’s the call to action email received by MDN:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA DEP Releases Draft New Rules for Streamlined Drill Permitting
August 31, 2012August 31, 2012

A couple of weeks ago MDN outlined the smear job being attempted by the AP against PA Gov. Tom Corbett over his executive order to streamline the process used by the Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) for permitting new gas and oil drilling (see this MDN story). Lord help us if a politician actually tries to reduce the red tape involved in legitimate businesses trying to do business!

The DEP has just submitted a draft for new rules to streamline the permitting process (embedded below). The DEP is now asking for public comments on the revised rules. As part of that process, they’ll hold two webinars for the public in September.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Sullivan County

Sullivan County, NY Town of Forestburgh Bans Fracking
August 31, 2012August 31, 2012

Sadly, another township in Sullivan County, NY has voted to ban hydraulic fracturing. Bans are currently illegal according to state law, but two court cases now on appeal will decide the matter.

The latest town in Sullivan to ban fracking is Forestburgh.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Statewide NY

Bloomberg Says “We Need that Gas” and Fracking Will Get It
August 31, 2012August 31, 2012

The conversion of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg from reticent to ambivalent to full-throated supporter of fracking is certainly welcomed, but also surprising. MDN has connected the dots on his eleventh-hour conversion in this MDN story.

During public appearances this week, Mayor Mike has addressed the fracking issue a number of times. Here are a few of his comments on the topic, in his own words:

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Chimera Energy | Energy Services | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

Chimera Energy Continues to Bash Away at Fracking
August 31, 2012August 31, 2012

Chimera Energy Corp is attempting to co-opt the anti-fracking movement to bolster its own new, and according to them, ground-breaking natural gas technology—a technology that does not use fracking (water-based or otherwise) to retrieve natural gas from shale deposits.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Statewide NY

Yoko Ono on Fracking: All We Need is … Logic?
August 30, 2012August 30, 2012

Yoko Ono and her son Sean Lennon launched the group Artists Against Fracking yesterday at a presser in New York City. Mark Ruffalo (“The Hulk” in the Avengers movie) joined them. The group, with supposedly over 180 artists as members, is targeting one person: Gov. Andrew Cuomo. They are attempting to pressure Cuomo into banning the miracle of hydraulic fracturing in New York State. Ono and Lennon sent him a letter on Monday with their artist buddies as signatories, requesting him to “just say no” (apparently there are some chemicals they do oppose).

The Ono/Lennon letter must be super secret because there are no public copies to be found, but somehow good ‘ole AP got their hands on a copy. Here’s the AP’s very few quotes and comments on the letter to Cuomo:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Meetings | New York | Schuyler County

Free Wine for Anti-Frackers at Finger Lakes Event
August 30, 2012August 30, 2012

Seeking to soften their image (as extremists) and win over a few more people with free wine, anti-frackers are holding another hippie-fest Big Splash event this Sunday along the shores of beautiful Seneca Lake, in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York.

According to the organizer, wine and music will make the dreary anti-fracking speeches they’ll have to endure go down just a little bit easier:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Regulation

France’s Fracking Ban Remains…Peut-être
August 30, 2012August 30, 2012

MDN has previously reported on the fracking ban in the country of France (see this MDN story). French leaders don’t seem to speak with each other about the question of “Will they or won’t they?” allow fracking someday. They do seem to be agreed that water-based fracking is banned and will remain so, but as for other kinds of fracking (or non-fracking) of shale gas, they tend to talk past each other.

Case in point: Here’s what the newly elected Prime Minister of France, Jean-Marc Ayrault, said last week about shale gas extraction and fracking:

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About MDN | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | MDN Resources | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

MDN Map of NY Counties Likely to See Initial Fracking [Free]
August 29, 2012September 11, 2012

MDN is excited to release an important new resource—a free map—to help you understand the situation in New York State with fracking. A copy of the map is embedded below.

In a nutshell, everyone is waiting (holding our collective breath) for the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to issue a final final final final version of new drilling rules (called the SGEIS) they’ve been working on for more than four years. Previous versions of the SGEIS were introduced but didn’t make the grade. This time, it’s really the final word.

Where will the first permits be issued? That’s what our map will help you figure out. And we tell you why.

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Broome County | Chemung County | Chenango County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY | Steuben County | Tioga County (NY)

NY Fracking Fight Heads to Townships – Rest of the Story
August 29, 2012August 29, 2012

An article in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal focuses on an issue MDN has covered for some time: how the fight over hydraulic fracturing in New York State has “gone local,” meaning it’s largely going to be decided town by town throughout the state.

The article notes a few statistics—about 100 or so towns have voted for either a short-term moratorium on fracking, or an outright ban. And about 60 or so towns have voted to “support” drilling. (Shameless self-promotion: MDN’s Marcellus and Utica Shale Databook Vol. 2 has the complete list of which towns have voted which way on the issue.)

But the pure numbers of “100 against, 60 for” does not come anywhere close to telling the whole story…

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Statewide NY

Why Mayor Mike Bloomberg Suddenly Loves Fracking
August 29, 2012August 29, 2012

Last week, New York City Michael Bloomberg “came out” as a supporter of natural gas and hydraulic fracturing (see this MDN story). He’s even committed $6 million of his own money to ensure it happens and is done right in New York and other geographies. Now we know why he’s become an overnight fan of fracking.

On Monday, Mayor Mike released the results of a study commissioned by NYC that looks at the role natural gas already plays for New York (very important), and the critical role it will play in a “sustainable energy” future for NYC once a new law goes into effect banning the use of No. 6 and No. 4 heating oil (eliminated in 2015 and 2030 respectively). A full copy of the study authored by ICF International, titled “Assessment of New York City Natural Gas Market Fundamentals and Life Cycle Fuel Emissions,” is embedded below.

Among the eye-popping conclusions in the study: Shale gas produced in the Marcellus and Utica Shale region right now makes up 30% of the gas flowing to NYC. By 2025, that number will be 80%.

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