New York

New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Joe Martens continues the delay and stall tactics he’s become known for on the issue of shale gas drilling in the state. The latest Martens delay came this week when he asked an outside consulting firm—Ecology & Environment—to take a closer look at costs fracking would create for local communities.

Read More “NY DEC Joe Martens – Another Week, Another Delay in Fracking”

An opinion column in today’s New York Post aptly nails the situation on gas drilling in New York State. In fact, the title says it all, “Fracking in NY: death by 1,000 stalls?” MDN has been a Johnny-one-note on this topic with our assertion that Joe Martens, Commissioner of the NY Department of Environmental Conservation and the man whose job it is to get drilling going in the state, is intentionally delaying drilling because he doesn’t want to see it happen. The Post agrees.

The Post column says, in part:

Read More “Gas Drilling’s Death by 1,000 Stalls in NY”

As I reported yesterday, I attended the Nov. 30 New York City hearing convened by the Department of Environmental Conservation on proposed new draft drilling regulations called the SGEIS, or Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (see MDN story here). I arrived at the TriBeCa Performing Arts Theater about 10:30 am to wait in line. Upon arriving, there were maybe 75 people in line. I immediately spotted my friend Bill desRosiers, field director with Energy in Depth – Northeast Marcellus Initiative who invited me to stand with him and his colleagues in line. Normally I don’t jump lines, but since there were perhaps 20 people between Bill and the end of the line, and the theater holds 1,000, I decided to stay and hang out.

Little did I know that our little group of pro-drillers was about the only group of pro-drillers that would attend the morning session. A few more showed up to be sure, but almost all of those who attended the morning, and according to accounts I’ve read for the evening session too, were against Marcellus Shale drilling. As I joined Bill (and later friends Tom Shepstone and Rachael Colley, also from EID-NMI), we were surrounded by anti-drillers. In fact, this gentleman was standing immediately in front of us, pointing his sign toward the street:

Read More “Further Reflections on the Nov 30 NYC DEC Hearings”

Yesterday was an interesting experience for MDN editor Jim Willis, sitting in the NY Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) hearing in New York City. The hearing was the last to be convened by the DEC to accept public comments on new draft drilling regulations proposed by the DEC that will allow high volume hydraulic fracturing to commence in New York State (ie allow shale gas drilling).

The crowd at the TriBeCa Theater in lower Manhattan was almost all anti-drilling—the vast majority were from New York City, were Democrat, and were boisterously loud against fracking. They believe it cannot and should not (indeed will not) ever be allowed in New York State. As Josh Fox, creator of the Gasland movie said during his comments, he believes talking about “how” drilling can be done safely is the wrong premise. He believes the argument should be about “whether it is done at all”. And many echoed his sentiment.

Read More “Final NY DEC Hearing in NYC – Surreal”

The last two circus shows public hearings sponsored by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) on proposed changes to draft shale gas drilling regulations will be held on Wednesday (today) in New York City at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center (Manhattan) from 1-4 pm and again from 6-9 pm. MDN editor Jim Willis is attending the 1 pm session (if he can get in!). A full report will follow on Thursday or Friday.

Meanwhile, a crowd of some 500 pro- and anti-drilling advocates showed up on Tuesday in Loch Sheldrake (Sullivan County), NY for the next to last pair of hearings. See today’s Story Links for early coverage from Loch Sheldrake.

Read More “MDN Hits the Road for the NY DEC Hearings at Tribeca”

Yesterday’s Buffalo News has an excellent analysis for the prospects of shale gas drilling in New York, given New York’s extreme delays and proposed restrictive drilling regulations. MDN is a supporter of drilling in New York and has nothing but best wishes for landowners in our home state. But the stark reality, as we’ve been pointing out, is that “if you build it, they will come” makes for a nice movie, but doesn’t necessarily translate into reality for drilling in NY.

Read More “Will NY be Too Expensive to Drill in the Marcellus?”

As MDN reported yesterday, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) is set to vote on new drilling rules to allow limited drilling in the DRBC jurisdiction on Nov. 21 (see this MDN story). The DRBC has five voting members: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, and the federal government.

According to NY State DEC Commissioner Joe Martens, New York will be a “no” vote on the new regulations at that meeting, no doubt to the delight of anti-drilling groups. His reasoning?…

Read More “Joe Martens Says NY Will Vote “No” on DRBC Drilling Rules”

The Independent Oil and Gas Association of New York (IOGA NY), after studying the new draft drilling rules issued by the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) wrote a letter to DEC Commissioner Joe Martens and Gov. Andrew Cuomo on September 2 stating that the new rules, as written, are not acceptable if the state wants there to be any shale gas drilling. A copy of the 15-page letter with attachments (31 pages total) was obtained by Gannett News and can be downloaded below.

Read More “IOGA NY Strongly Worded Letter to DEC Commissioner Martens”