New York

Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

New York Caves to Anti-Drillers Again: Discloses Oil Train Movements
July 17, 2014July 17, 2014

When an oil train in New York explodes from a terrorist act, don’t say we didn’t warn you. The blood of it will be on the hands of eight environmental groups (including Earthjustice, Sierra Club and Riverkeeper). New York State officials caved and decided to turn over details about Bakken crude oil train movements through the Empire State in response to a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request (see NY Enviro Groups Seek to Use Oil Trains to Their Advantage). The anti-drilling (and complicit) Albany Times Union newspaper helpfully published the details…
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Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Norse Energy | Regulation | Statewide NY

JLCNY Says Appeal of Article 78 Lawsuit Decision is “Very Likely”
July 16, 2014July 16, 2014

New Yorkers continue to react to the dismissal of a court case brought by the 70,000-member Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY) and Norse Energy against state officials to force them to release six-year-delayed fracking regulations (see NY Pro-Drillers Lose 2nd Important Shale Drilling Court Case). Below we have reaction from the JLCNY, which says it’s “very likely” to appeal the ruling from the lower NY court in Albany County, along with copies of the court decisions…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Health Impacts | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Research | Statewide NY

NY Antis Release So-Called Compendium of Fracking Health Risks
July 16, 2014July 16, 2014

Apparently anti-drillers in New York State are tired of waiting for the State Dept. of Health (DOH) to release its findings on public healthy implications from proposed new fracking rules from the Dept. of Conservation (now six years overdue). So a group of anti-drillers calling themselves Concerned Health Professionals of New York (mostly it’s New York’s own anti-drilling diva Sandra Steingraber) put a couple of summer interns to good use and compiled a so-called “report” of alllllll the damage done by shale drilling–a compendium of its evil, nasty, vile effects. (Just don’t tell anyone in PA, WV, OH, TX, OK, CO, CA, ND or any other state where shale drilling is heavily done–those residents don’t realize they’ve been damaged)…
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Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Norse Energy | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY Pro-Drillers Lose 2nd Important Shale Drilling Court Case
July 15, 2014July 15, 2014

Yet another defeat for shale drilling in anti-drilling New York. First, the most important case that will hamper drilling in the Empire State was lost just a few weeks ago (see Shale Drilling in NY is Over – High Court Upholds Town Bans). Yesterday, a lower court decided to toss out the “Article 78” lawsuit brought by the 70,000-member Joint Landowners Coalition of New York and Norse Energy against Gov. Andy Cuomo, DEC Sec. Joe Martens, and former Dept. of Health Sec. Nirav Shah (see D-Day: JLCNY Files Lawsuit Today Against Cuomo, Martens, Shah). The Article 78 lawsuit would have forced them to finally release new drilling rules as they are obviously colluding to stop the release. Other states take two years or less to review and allow shale drilling (see today’s story about North Carolina). It’s been over six years in New York, and with this decision, there is literally no end in sight…
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New York | Tioga County (NY)

Pro-Drilling Rally to Support NY Gov Candidate Tomorrow
July 14, 2014July 14, 2014

Rob Astorino is running on the Republican ticket for governor, against Democrat Andy Cuomo. Astorino’s running mate, for Lt. Governor, is Chris Moss. Both are strongly pro-drilling and would move to immediately allow fracking in New York if elected. Of course, they don’t stand a prayer of a chance, much as we’d love to see them elected. (Sorry to be brutally honest, but you know us.) At any rate, pro-drilling landowner coalitions are urging their members to attend a rally where Astorino and Moss will speak–in Owego, NY–tomorrow night (Tuesday, July 14). The rally will be held at Hickories Park from 7:00-8:30 pm. Anti-drilling nutters are encouraging their protest brigade to turn up, so it’s important for pro-drillers to attend and and show your support for drilling in New York…
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Broome County | Lease & Royalty Payments | New York

Hope for NY Landowners? Kirkwood Coalition Gets Lease Offer
July 11, 2014July 11, 2014

Back in March, MDN started to hear rumors that the Kirkwood, NY Gas Coalition (outskirts of Binghamton, NY, in Broome County) would soon call for an all-hands meeting of coalition members to consider an offer to lease coalition land for drilling (see Kirkwood NY Landowner Group Actively Negotiating Lease Deal). Then all of the wheels fell off the wagon when NY’s highest court decided 3 of 5 town members can, at a whim, decide to ban shale drilling town-wide (see Shale Drilling in NY is Over – High Court Upholds Town Bans). We figured after that debacle the Kirkwood deal and any other pending deals would likely disappear like a summer morning fog when the sun rises. But what’s this? An offer has been made to members of the Kirkwood Coalition–and it appears to be a pretty good one…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY Enviro Groups Seek to Use Oil Trains to Their Advantage
July 9, 2014July 9, 2014

Spurred on by several accidents of trains transporting light crude oil from the Bakken Shale, one month ago the federal government ordered railroads to share more details about those shipments with the states through which they pass. One of those states is New York. Some (a lot) of Bakken crude goes to the Port of Albany, where terminals store the oil and transfer it to ships and barges heading down the Hudson River. New York State is still deciding what information, and how much, to share with the public. The information, according to railroad CSX, is supposed to be shared with first responders (and not the general public). That’s just not good enough for virulent anti-drilling groups like Earthjustice, the Sierra Clubers and THE Riverkeeper…
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Alternative Energy | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Otsego County | Regulation | Statewide NY | Tompkins County

MDN Calls on NY Towns to Ban Windmills; Boycott Cooperstown
July 1, 2014July 1, 2014

They’re noisy 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They use rare earth minerals in their manufacturing process and endanger Chinese workers who have to mine the toxic metals from the ground. They kill bald eagles and bats and all manner of birds. No one wants to live next to one going whup whup whup 24/7 (drives the neighbors insane). We’re talking of commercial windmills of course. Today MDN kicks off a campaign to get 170 New York townships to ban windmills. Oh, and while we’re at it, let’s also have town boards ban big solar farms too…
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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Reaction to NY High Court’s Ill-fated Decision to Allow Town Bans
July 1, 2014July 1, 2014

Yesterday MDN brought you the sad news that New York’s highest court has sided with towns giving them the right to completely ban shale drilling (see Shale Drilling in NY is Over – High Court Upholds Town Bans). Today we bring you reaction from several New York pro-drilling groups, along with quotes from others, both for and against drilling. This is a really bid deal–a “10” on the news scale. So we need to devote some time to reactions to the court’s ill-fated decision…
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Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Norse Energy | Regulation | Statewide NY

Shale Drilling in NY is Over – High Court Upholds Town Bans
June 30, 2014June 30, 2014

This is a very sad day indeed. We’ve just received word that New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, has reaffirmed two lower court rulings that allows entire townships in the state to strip away property owners’ rights to allow drilling, in contravention to the U.S. Constitution. The two cases, long chronicled here on MDN, are the “Middlefield” and “Dryden” cases (see NY Pro-Drillers File Final Briefs in Dryden/Middlefield Cases for background). What does it mean? In our opinion it means there will never be any meaningful shale drilling in New York. No driller in his right mind will roll the dice, lock up thousands of acres by spending millions of dollars, just to see it all disappear at the next town board election with a vote by 3 of 5 people. What a complete and utter tragedy this is for freedom-loving Americans who happen to live in the increasingly communistic state of New York. Below is a copy of the decision…
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Crestwood Midstream | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Inergy | New York | NGLs | Regulation | Statewide NY

JLCNY to Cuomo: Authorize Seneca Propane Storage Facility
June 27, 2014June 27, 2014

For years MDN has told you about the proposed Inergy (now Crestwood Midstream) plan to open a badly needed underground propane storage facility along the shore of Seneca Lake in New York–in an already depleted salt mining cavern. In March 2013, 12 virulent anti-drilling protesters were arrested for blocking access to the facility–a facility that hasn’t yet been fitted for propane (see NY Protesters Arrested for Blocking NatGas Storage Facility). We’ve also pointed out New Yorkers pay nosebleed rates for propane because our governor refuses to permit the facility (see Northeast Propane Shortage – Andrew Cuomo Partially to Blame). There is a new effort under way to get some action on the Seneca propane storage facility from the 70,000-member Joint Landowners Coalition of New York…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY Group Says EPA “Kill Coal” Regs Not Enough – Kill Natgas Too
June 25, 2014June 25, 2014

Sad and predictable. That’s how we label an article/press release published by the certifiably insane anti-drillers at the Catskill Citizens for (So-Called) Safe Energy. Their latest tirade is against the federal Environmental Protection Agency. You may recall the EPA recently declared war on electricity in this country (see Obama’s Climate Madness Metastasizes – EPA Kills Coal Electricity). It seems the Obama EPA’s plan to destroy electricity in this country by requiring a 30% reduction in carbon emissions (the stuff you breathe out with every breath) from electric plants isn’t good enough for the brainiacs at Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy. They want to drive the nail all the way in the coffin and take everyone back to the stone ages…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Otsego County | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide NY | Williams

Save the Bald Eagles in NY! Next Hurdle for Constitution Pipeline
June 24, 2014June 24, 2014

You’ve heard of save the whales, save the snail darters, and maybe even save the tree bats (see Natgas Jumps Thru Hoops for Bats While Solar Farm Torches Turtles). The latest anti-drilling faux excuse for stopping the already-authorized, permitted and public hearing’d to death Constitution Pipeline in upstate New York is, yes, save the American bald eagle! We learn from the anti-drilling Oneonta Star that bald eagles are rather discriminating. They don’t mind traffic noise from a busy interstate highway less than a half mile from their nests–but if Williams happens to do a little blasting of bedrock so they can lay pipe–that will scare the bald eagles right out of their tail feathers…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Millennium Pipeline | New York | Orange County | Pipelines

NY Anti-Driller Claims Compressor Station Causing Son’s Asthma
June 20, 2014June 20, 2014

A small group of virulent anti-drillers from New York City, who flee the city on the weekends and live in places like Orange County, NY, are once again slandering Marcellus drilling in New York State by targeting industry-related initiatives like pipeline compressor stations. To wit: A family who opposed the compressor station built by the Millennium Pipeline in Minisink, NY (southwest Orange County) now claim their 16-year old son has had a “sudden onset” of asthma which occurs only when they flee the city for the weekends to their summer home in Minisink. They conveniently blame the compressor station. What to do? Hire a so-called consultant to address a small group in the area, get a local reporter to show up and regurgitate a whopping pack of lies to scare everyone who reads the local rag…
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East Resources | Energy Companies | Erie County (NY) | New York

Will Marcellus Blood Money Buy the Buffalo Bills?
June 20, 2014June 20, 2014

If you’re an anti-driller in Western New York and a Buffalo Bills fan, you’re in a serious quandary. The Bills NFL franchise is for sale, for the first time ever, and it may be your single best hope for keeping the Bills in Buffalo is if Terry Pegula buys the team. As MDN previously reported, Pegula is the owner of the Buffalo Sabres NHL team. He’s also the founder and CEO of East Resources, an evil oil and gas company. Could it be that the Marcellus Shale–and money derived from it–will save the Buffalo Bills? Can anti-drillers ever live with themselves if that happens? Will anti-drilling Bills fans switch allegiance to their arch rivals the New York Giants or the hated Pittsburgh Steelers if Pegula buys the Bills with his Marcellus “blood money”? All burning questions for inquiring minds…
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Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Geologists Finally Get Some “Professional” Respect in NY
June 18, 2014June 18, 2014

It’s taken nearly 20 years, but finally this week a bill has passed both the New York State Assembly and Senate, and will almost certainly be signed by man-child Gov. Andy Cuomo, that recognizes “geologist” as a professional occupation (complete with state licensure requirements) on the same order as engineers, surveyors, etc. That is, “geologist” in NY has now received status as a “professional” occupation…
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