New York

Industrywide Issues | Landfills | New York | Steuben County

Steuben County, NY Landfill Ready to Accept Shale Cuttings
August 8, 2012August 8, 2012

The Steuben County landfill in Bath, NY is now approved and ready to accept “shale cuttings,” or leftover soil and rock that comes from shale gas drilling. They join neighboring Chemung County that has accepted shale cuttings for over a year now, and Allegany County.

Although they don’t expect to receive much in the way of cuttings this year from Pennsylvania drillers because of a slowdown in drilling, Steuben officials want to be ready “just in case” Marcellus drilling in New York ramps up.

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

NY Town with Permits wants Food Grade Fluids in Fracking
August 7, 2012August 7, 2012

The Town of German, NY, located in Chenango County—one of the “Lucky Five” counties that may see limited fracking if Gov. Cuomo signs off on it—took a vote and sent a letter to both Gov. Cuomo and Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Joe Martens asking them to require drillers to use “food grade fluids” when and if fracking begins. Why is that letter important for this tiny town with a population of 370? Because three permits to drill in the Utica Shale are pending for the Town of German, and the town board’s letter to the DEC may be interpreted as a “don’t drill here” indication.

Both Com. Martens and Gov. Cuomo have stated when and if drilling permits are issued, they’ll go only to “supportive” communities. Sure sounds like German is not being all that supportive with their letter.

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Industrywide Issues | New York | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide NY | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

OH River Valley Commission Names Pro-Drilling Chairman
August 3, 2012August 3, 2012

The Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO), established in 1948 to control and abate pollution in the Ohio River Basin, has elected a pro-drilling attorney as their new chairman. Kenneth Komoroski from Pittsburgh, PA assumed his new position on July 1, although the press release was not issued until August 1. Komorski was appointed to the Commission in 2003 by then President George W. Bush.

ORSANCO is an interstate commission representing eight states and the federal government. Member states include: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. While ORSANCO does not have the same broad powers as the Susquehanna River Basin Commission or Delaware River Basin Commission to issue permits and control shale gas drilling, some of their regulatory power does impact the drilling industry, especially on matters of drilling wastewater disposal.

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

Does Marcellus Shale Gas have Cancer-Causing Radon?
August 2, 2012August 2, 2012

MDN has previously written about anti-drillers who try to use the scare tactic that “there’s radon in Marcellus gas” and the radon is going to cause lots of new cases of lung cancer in New York City (see this MDN story). No one in the mainstream press is picking up on this latest anti-drilling meme, so the same groups have issued a new press release hoping to keep the issue alive (see their press release below).

In a nutshell, they argue that Marcellus Shale gas is extracted in areas of the northeast where there’s lots of naturally occurring radon, and because the gas gets to market so quickly (Pennsylvania Marcellus gas fields are “right next door” to NYC), the radon has no chance to naturally dissipate. When radon hits the air, it dissipates and becomes harmless. Radon has a half life of 3.5 days—breaking down and becoming harmless at that point. The concern, apparently, is that the gas will get to market and used in under 3.5 days.

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Broome County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY | Tompkins County

NY Anti-Drillers Target Cuomo Big Money Supporters
August 2, 2012August 2, 2012

Anti-drilling groups from the Southern Tier of New York State sent a letter to the top 1,000 big money contributors to Gov. Andrew Cuomo yesterday asking them to pressure Cuomo to ban fracking in the state. The letter was a joint effort of New York Residents Against Drilling (NYRAD), Walter Hang from Toxics Targeting, and the Mayor of Binghamton, Matt Ryan.

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Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Lenape Resources | Litigation | Livingston County | New York | Regulation

NY Driller Threatens DEC with Lawsuit over Town Bans
August 1, 2012August 1, 2012

In the misguided attempt to ban hydraulic fracturing in New York, one town took their ban vote too far. MDN reported about the bone-headed vote by the Town of Avon (Livingston County, NY) on June 28 to ban drilling activity in the town with a broadly worded zoning ordinance (see this MDN story).

A local driller with wells in Avon, Lenape Resources, warned Avon that the broad language they intended to use in their zoning ordinance would cause Lenape to shut down 16 existing conventional (vertical-only) gas wells they operate in the town along with a gas pipeline. Avon town board members didn’t listen and passed the new ordinance. Lenape president John Holko promptly shut down all of his wells in the town, ending free gas for some local residents, and low cost gas for the town itself. A really dumb move on the part of Avon.

There is a new development in this ongoing situation.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Tioga County (NY)

Village of Owego, NY Votes to Ban Fracking for 1 Year
July 31, 2012July 31, 2012

Last night the Village of Owego (Tioga County, NY) became the second municipality in the Marcellus gas-rich Southern Tier area of New York state to vote for a temporary ban on fracking. The village board voted to ban fracking for one year to give the village a “time out to look at the documentation,” referring to the village’s master plan for not only drilling but flooding.

Towns, villages and cities across the state expect new drilling rules will soon be released by the Dept. of Environmental Conservation. In anticipation of that, many are voting to either ban fracking, or voting to support the DEC’s forthcoming rules. Owego is only the second municipality in the rumored five county area likely to receive permits for fracking when the time comes. Those counties (in what is referred to as the Southern Tier) are Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Tioga and Steuben.

The City of Binghamton—with a Democrat Mayor and an all-Democrat city council—rammed through a fracking ban last December, while they still had a stacked deck (before new incoming Republican council members were seated in January).

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

Guest Post: Anti-Drilling Bias at Lebanon, NY Town Board Meeting [Free]
July 31, 2012July 31, 2012

The following guest viewpoint was written by Bryant La Tourette, a Chenango County landowner, businessman and member of one of the largest landowner coalitions in the Marcellus and Utica Shale region. Bryant has attended 19 town board meetings throughout the shale region, most recently the Town of Lebanon, NY just last week (see this MDN story warning of the impending meeting).

Bryant provides an eyewitness account of what happened at the meeting, including an anti-drilling bias by the town supervisor running the meeting.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Statewide NY

Anti-Fracking Chefs Cook with NatGas for Fundraiser
July 31, 2012July 31, 2012

A column in the New York Daily News by Bill Hammond points out the rank hypocrisy of “Chefs for the Marcellus”—a group of anti-fracking foodies who threw a big fundraiser and cooked up a storm for patrons willing to shell out $125. How did they cook all that delicious food? You guessed it—on stoves that use natural gas, much of it gas provided by hydraulic fracturing—the very thing they’re trying to ban.

Hammond’s excellent column starts this way:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Public Opinion | Statewide NY

Poll of NYers Finds Continued Even Split on Drilling Issue
July 30, 2012July 30, 2012

Last week Quinnipiac University released the survey results for the latest New York State poll they conduct periodically. For some time they have asked the same questions regarding shale gas drilling in the state. The results from the latest survey, along with a summary of previous surveys going back one year, are embedded below.

MDN likes to give you the full, unvarnished survey results so you can see for yourself the language used in the questions, and the breakout of the responses between downstate and upstate. What does the latest survey show? What it’s shown for the past year or more: New Yorkers are divided 50/50 on the question of drilling in the Marcellus Shale.

Read More “Poll of NYers Finds Continued Even Split on Drilling Issue”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Tompkins County

Warning: Caroline Residents to be Stripped of Property Rights
July 30, 2012July 30, 2012

The Town of Caroline in (where else?) Tompkins County, NY is getting ready to strip away the property rights of their citizens. All that stands in the way is a sham public hearing and a town board vote and poof—the property rights for thousands of residents—guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution—are gone. This is something that is happening (distressingly) with an increasing frequency in New York State.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Statewide NY

Alec Baldwin’s Anti-Fracking (and Entertaining) Blog Post
July 26, 2012July 26, 2012

The anger-challenged actor Alec Baldwin writes an anti-fracking blog post for the Huffington Post. It’s meant to bring pressure on one person: NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The post is incoherent (and narcissistic), as is usual for Baldwin. MDN only mentions and links to it for entertainment value, since you know, Alec is an entertainer (the one job he’s good at—when he’s not in an out-of-control rage).

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

Surprising Revelations about Cuomo’s Fracking Plan [FREE]
July 25, 2012July 25, 2012

Gov. Cuomo’s rumored plan to begin horizontal hydraulic fracturing of shale for oil and gas (mostly gas) in New York State is an important issue that threatens to fracture the alliance of those of us on the pro-drilling side of the debate. Many people (including MDN) are rightly outraged that not all landowners in all areas of the state will be given the opportunity to participate in drilling—at lease initially (if you believe the rumors about the governor’s plan).

But a highly placed source with knowledge of both the landowners’ plight and the governor’s thinking recently spoke to MDN to let us know we’re viewing this issue through the wrong end of the telescope and that landowners outside of select counties have not been left out. Let me explain…

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

2 More NY Southern Tier Towns Vote to Endorse Drilling
July 24, 2012July 23, 2012

Two more townships in Chenango County, NY have passed resolutions supporting whatever plan the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) proposes with respect to horizontal hydraulic fracturing for the Marcellus and Utica Shale. Anti-drillers would say they’ve voted to support drilling, although the resolutions simply state they will leave it up to individuals to decide.

The towns of Coventry and Greene voted to adopt a resolution in favor of drilling. Of the townships located in the Lucky Five Counties (Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Steuben and Tioga) that have voted on the topic of drilling, the vast majority have voted in favor, or more accurately with a neutral resolution saying they won’t ban it.

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

Sen. Libous Responds to Chenango County, NY Rumor
July 23, 2012July 23, 2012

MDN recently told you about the CNY Landowner’s Coalition sounding the alarm that Chenango County, NY may not be included in the initial hydraulic fracturing “test run” that is rumored to be coming from Gov. Andrew Cuomo (see this MDN story). Coalition members number in the thousands and represent over 240,000 acres of land—the largest single coalition MDN is aware of. So when they mobilized their members to write and call Gov. Cuomo and State Sen. Tom Libous (their representative in Albany), that’s just what happened. And the politicians noticed.

At a recent pro-drilling event, Sen. Libous responded to the rumor that Chenango County would be dropped from the rumored plan to allow fracking in “The Lucky Five” counties:

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Broome County | Delaware County | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Schoharie County | Susquehanna County | Williams

Williams Holds Public Sessions for New Constitution Pipeline
July 23, 2012July 23, 2012

MDN editor Jim Willis attended a “meet and greet” session by Williams about their proposed new Constitution Pipeline. This is a first-hand account of that meeting.

Gas production from northeastern Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale is so plentiful, new pipelines are necessary to move it to market. That was the message from Williams Corporation last Wednesday night at the West Windsor Fire Hall located just miles outside of Binghamton, NY.

Williams was on hand to discuss the proposed Constitution Pipeline, a joint venture between Williams and Cabot Oil & Gas to build a 121-mile pipeline from the Marcellus-rich area of Susquehanna County, PA north to Schoharie County, NY.

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