Regulation

Last week New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens dropped a bombshell. He said even if new fracking rules are not officially adopted, he has the power to move forward with issuing permits for horizontal shale drilling/fracking (see Deadline for NY Fracking Regs Slips Again…Or Does It?). Was Martens being truthful? Is he mistaken? Or is he simply trying to get landowners to hold off on filing a lawsuit for “takings” that, if successful, might bankrupt the state over their illegal actions? Martens’ comments from last week are an ongoing source of debate and speculation. What, exactly, did he mean? Can he really do that?

Read More “What Did Martens Mean – Issuing NY Permits Ahead of New Rules?”

New York State is drama central when it comes to whether or not shale drilling will happen. The big drama is whether the dithering Andrew Cuomo will finally make a decision and stick to it—he’s been called “Hamlet on the Shale” for his indecisiveness by no less than the New York Times. The second biggest drilling-related drama concerns where drilling will happen and whether or not local municipalities can control it. A pair of court cases heads for a hearing in March to help determine that.

As MDN has covered ad nauseam in the past, the town of Dryden (in Tompkins County) and Middlefield (in Otsego County) were sued to overturn their bans on the practice of hydraulic fracturing. Those court cases will be heard in March at the Appellate Court level. The New York State Association of Towns filed an “Amicus Brief” (“friend of the court” brief) supporting the two towns’ right to ban fracking. However, a group of towns in the Southern Tier of New York have filed their own letter with the Appellate Court that says in essence, “Wait a minute, NYSAT doesn’t speak for us!”

Read More “Some NY Towns Want Fracking, Association Doesn’t Speak for Them”

No one likes to admit they were wrong, I know I don’t. Although MDN has attitude and edginess in its reporting (it is a blog/news site), I always try to be accurate and fair with the facts.

I ran what I consider to be a very important story on Friday about the potential locations of the first Marcellus and Utica wells to be drilled in New York when and if drilling begins (see Exclusive: First NY Marcellus Wells to be Drilled are Identified). There’s a decent chance I was wrong. Let me explain…

Read More “MDN Editor Jim Willis Corrects “First NY Marcellus Wells” Story”

It’s painfully obvious the reason New York is not moving forward with hydraulic fracturing is because of its governor, Andrew Cuomo. He’s the man the New York Times says “is becoming Hamlet on the Shale,” meaning he’s dithering and indecisive. Not good qualities to have if you’re a political leader seeking the highest office in the country.

Yesterday, Cuomo continued his pathetic excuses about why there’s an ongoing delay with fracking in New York State. Also yesterday, the group representing 77,000 landowners with more than a million acres of land to lease fired back at the DEC’s latest delay. Plus, we have a bit more insight from a pro-fracking lawyer about Joe Martens’ mysterious statement of moving forward with permits even without new regulations. Read on…

Read More “NY Frack Update: Cuomo Dithers, Landowners Mad, Lawyer Explains”

This is without a doubt the most difficult article MDN has had to author—on many levels. Yesterday, New York’s Commissioner of the Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC), Joe Martens, announced he would not release the Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS) today, Feb. 13, because of a delay he’s blaming on the state health department. We previously reported that if the SGEIS was not released today, final regulations would not be adopted by Feb. 27 to allow fracking to move forward. In a statement yesterday, Martens seemed to say that’s not necessarily the case. His statement is confusing and contradictory, and frankly no one fully understands it.

MDN will break this all down and tell you what we know, what we don’t know, and what we think will happen. We have statements from State Health Commissioner Shah and DEC Commissioner Martens along with comments from various organizations with their interpretation of what it means. We will take you through the process chapter and verse—so this is a long post. We won’t keep you in suspense: We don’t know exactly what to make of Martens’ comments. It’s muddled, we believe intentionally so. The real person to keep your eye on in this theatre of the absurd is Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who seems to want to have his cake and eat it too…

Read More “Deadline for NY Fracking Regs Slips Again…Or Does It?”