New York

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?”

Landowners in New York State wait with bated breath for next Wednesday, Feb. 13 (one week from today), to see if the Dept. of Environmental Conservation publishes a final version of new fracking regulations. If the DEC misses the deadline next Wednesday, the new rules will almost certainly not be released on Feb. 27, which is the final deadline to release those rules or… or the process restarts. More public comments. More posturing by environmental extremists. More everything. If the deadline next Wednesday is missed, all bets are off on whether New York will ever see fracking in our opinion.

What does “the industry” think? Perhaps the best barometer of what drillers are thinking comes from Brad Gill, the executive director of the Independent Oil & Gas Association of New York (IOGA of NY). He was in Albany yesterday to meet with lawmakers. Here’s what he said:

Read More “NY Drillers: “Optimistic” DEC will Meet Feb 13 Fracking Deadline”

Pennsylvania is doubling their natural gas output every year by using fracking. So is West Virginia. Ohio has now joined the fracking club and is ramping up their natural gas production. All of the states in the northeast “neighborhood” are fracking—without water contamination, without pollution problems, without a negative impact on “public health,” et cetera et cetera. All except New York, which continues to dither over its decision to frack. Why? Politics. Not science, not health concerns. Politics.

In testimony before the NY legislature yesterday, Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Joe Martens acknowledged if the DEC doesn’t meet a Feb. 13 deadline to publish final drilling rules the review process will need to restart—yet he also told legislators there is no projected date for finishing shale gas drilling rules and it will depend on recommendations from a health review the DEC will receive “in a few weeks.” MDN finds Martens’ comments from yesterday troubling…

Read More “Martens Prepares to Blame Shah if Fracking Doesn’t Happen in NY”