New York

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

NY DEC Com. Martens Gives Update on SGEIS Health Review
October 22, 2012October 22, 2012

We now know a bit more about where things stand with the “health review” taking place of New York’s proposed new drilling regulations (called the SGEIS). When Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Joe Martens announced he was asking NYS Health Commissioner Nirav Shah to conduct a review of the SGEIS’ handling of potential health impacts of fracking on residents, he said that Shah would assemble a panel of “outside experts” to advise him.

It appears the outside experts have been identified but haven’t agreed (yet) to the money being offered by the DEC and Health Department to do the work. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking on a Nov. 29 deadline. Martens says it’s still possible to make that deadline. Here’s what he said on Friday to reporters:

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Anschutz Exploration | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Norse Energy | Otsego County | Regulation | Statewide NY | Tompkins County

Important Developments in NY Fracking Ban Court Cases
October 18, 2012October 18, 2012

There’s been an important development in two cases on appeal in New York State courts that challenge municipal bans of fracking. The two cases challenge municipal fracking bans in the Town of Dryden, NY (see this MDN story for background) and the Town of Middlefield, NY (see this MDN story for background).

According to lead attorney Tom West, all the necessary paperwork for both cases has been filed (called “perfecting” the case). West believes both cases will make it onto the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court docket for an early February hearing of oral arguments. The Appellate Division typically issues an opinion 6-8 weeks following oral arguments, so we should have a decision by late spring. In addition and of keen interest, the plaintiff in one of the cases has changed.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Sullivan County

RIP Fracking Supporter Noel van Swol of Sullivan County, NY
October 17, 2012October 17, 2012

Tragedy struck on Monday after the pro-fracking rally in Albany, NY when long-time resident of Sullivan County, NY (and outspoken supporter of fracking) Noel van Swol died in a car crash on his way home from the rally:

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Albany County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Public Opinion | Regulation | Statewide NY

1,000 Pro-Drillers Rally in Albany with a Message of ‘Jobs’
October 16, 2012October 16, 2012

$math challenged$ Are AP reporters math-challenged, or do they intentionally lie about the events they cover? Yesterday a rally was held in Albany, NY to support shale gas drilling in the state. According to a reporter from Middletown who covered the event, there were “about 1,000” people in the crowd. But the AP (and almost all stories found in the media today about the event use the AP’s coverage) said there were “several hundred” in attendance. If you look closely, you’ll see the AP story was posted at 3:02 am yesterday, before the event took place!

Enough of the rant against mainstream media bias which we all know exists. Yesterday a group of 1,000 or more gathered at the Corning Preserve on the Hudson River in Albany for a rally. The group then marched to the Capitol with signs, chanting as they went. Here’s reporting from someone who was actually there:

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Erie County (NY) | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Research

UB Defends Shale Institute & Study in Response to SUNY Board
October 15, 2012October 15, 2012

An update on the witch hunt at University at Buffalo (UB). You may recall that UB had the temerity, the gall, to establish a Shale Resources and Society Institute (SRSI) in April of this year. When said institute turned out its first report in May, which detailed how environmental problems caused by Marcellus Shale gas drilling in Pennsylvania were isolated, mostly minor and on the decline, the anti-drillers just about came off the rails. It was an all-hands-on-deck, we-must-obliterate-the-credibility-of-the-report-and-the-people-who-wrote-it campaign. And so the witch hunt began (see this MDN story).

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Carrizo Oil & Gas | Energy Companies | New York | Tioga County (NY)

Carrizo Says Owego, NY Well Vertical Only (for Now)
October 12, 2012October 12, 2012

Yesterday MDN told you about an exploratory shale well being drilled in Tioga County, NY, just a few miles outside of the Town of Owego by Carrizo Oil & Gas (see this MDN story). We said that Carrizo was drilling a vertical well with plans to turn it horizontal when and if the fracking moratorium in New York is lifted. Were we wrong?

According to an interview given by Carrrizo to NGI’s Shale Daily publication, the well being drilled near Owego will not be turned horizontal. This is what was said:

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Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Otsego County | Pipelines | Statewide NY | Williams

Who is Behind StopThePipeline.org?
October 12, 2012October 12, 2012

A so-called “grassroots coalition” has formed to oppose the proposed 120-mile Constitution Pipeline. The Constitution will be built by Williams and Cabot Oil & Gas, stretching from the Marcellus Shale gas fields of Susquehanna County in northeaster Pennsylvania through New York State to Schoharie County (see this MDN story for background).

A “group” opposing the new pipeline has sprung up with an impressive web presence at the URL StopThePipeline.org. But who’s behind this group? And what are their true aims? MDN has done a bit of nosing around.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Regulation | Sullivan County

Town of Highland, NY Gets Sued Over Gas Drilling Ban
October 11, 2012October 11, 2012

MDN is not used to breaking the news, but that’s what we’ll do today. The Town of Highland, located in Sullivan County, NY, is about to be sued by the Highland Field & Stream Club over the town’s vote to ban gas drilling.

MDN received the following email notification from the attorney for the Highland Field & Stream Club:

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Carrizo Oil & Gas | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Tioga County (NY)

Carrizo Drills Exploratory Marcellus Well – in New York
October 11, 2012October 11, 2012

What does Carrizo Oil & Gas know about the New York moratorium on fracking we don’t? The moratorium has been in place for 4 1/2 long years now. There are some signs the moratorium may soon end—witness the parade of mainstream news sources granting political cover and “permission” to Gov. Cuomo to make a pro-fracking decision. But the standard operating procedure by the DEC’s Joe Martens until now has been stall and delay.

Enter Carrizo. Today’s Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin announces that Carrizo is drilling an exploratory vertical shale gas well outside of Owego, NY (Tioga County), squarely in the “hot zone” of the Southern Tier where gas drilling will take place. Their aim? Find out if shale gas is present in the vertical well, and then turn the well horizontal when and if the moratorium is lifted.

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

Horseheads, NY Board in No Hurry to Ban Fracking
October 11, 2012October 11, 2012

Board members for the Town of Horseheads, NY (Chemung County) are in no hurry to pass a fracking ban or moratorium. They’re waiting to see what the town zoning board says after they’ve studied proposed new drilling rules from the state Dept. of Environmental Conservation. The town board is also waiting to see whether or not the DEC even bothers to release new rules to allow fracking. Until then? No hurry, man.

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Broome County | DTE Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Susquehanna County

Bluestone Gathering Pipeline Gets NY Approval
October 10, 2012October 10, 2012

MDN friend Andy Leahy, intrepid writer of the NY Shale Gas Now blog site, has returned! Yeah! Andy’s first post since being back from a several month hiatus is an important one—one that somehow slipped by the MDN radar. The Bluestone Pipeline, a 37-mile gathering line that runs through Susquehanna County, PA and into Broome County, NY (Town of Sanford) connecting to both the Millennium and the Tennessee interstate pipelines received approval from New York State. (See this MDN story for background on the Bluestone Pipeline.)

Andy reports the developer plans to break ground in New York as early as October 20. For a full analysis and rundown on the project now that it’s moving forward, see Andy’s post by clicking the link below.

*NY Shale Gas Now (Oct 9, 2012) – Bluestone Pipeline Green-Lighted; Local Press Still Asleep at Keyboards
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pipelines | Statewide NY

NYC Pipeline Protesters Get Naked, Paint Themselves Green
October 10, 2012October 10, 2012

Oy vey! Just when you think you’ve seen and heard it all (from the loony lefties who oppose shale gas drilling), they outdo themselves once again. A group of protesters who oppose the construction of a new pipeline from New Jersey to New York City, commonly called the Spectra Pipeline after the company building it, got naked (we kid you not) and painted their bodies green, parading themselves up and down the West Side Highway—all in an attempt to call attention to their opposition. Attention they got!

Here’s what The Village Voice reports:

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

NY Daily News Says it’s Time to Frack
October 10, 2012October 10, 2012

The parade of mainstream media outlets offering NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo “permission” to make a pro-fracking decision continues. On Monday we told you about an editorial by the Washington Post and an article by the AP. Today? The New York Daily News. An editorial by the Daily News (presumably written by Mort Zuckerman) says this, in part:

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

Broome County Republicans to Cuomo: Drill Now or Move On
October 9, 2012October 9, 2012

An article published last weekend by Gannett tackles the tricky middle ground NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo is trying to navigate when it comes to fracking. MDN has gone on record with our disappointment in Cuomo and Dept. of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens. The Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY) is on record expressing their disappointment too (see this MDN story).

The Gannett article doesn’t add much in the way of news to the fracking-in-New-York issue, but it is noteworthy for one reason: Two prominent Upstate New York Republican politicians, both from Broome County, are quoted essentially telling Cuomo to make a decision and be done with it. To wit:

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

York, NY Votes Down Fracking Moratorium
October 9, 2012October 9, 2012

Town council members for York, NY (Livingston County) recently voted against a proposed fracking moratorium for the town. Unlike their unwise neighbors in Avon, NY (see this MDN story), York town board members took the time to carefully review the situation and instead of making a hasty political statement, they voted to remain neutral, saving the town a lot of money in legal fees to defend an illegal moratorium (the City of Binghamton’s moratorium was recently overturned).

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Broome County | Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pipelines | Taxation

NY Town’s Taxes Decrease Thanks to Marcellus Activity in PA
October 9, 2012October 9, 2012

Even though New York has not allowed high volume, horizontal hydraulic fracturing (yet), some communities along the border with Pennsylvania, like MDN’s own community—the Town of Windsor (Broome County, NY)—are seeing tangible benefits. Those benefits are for every single resident, not just landowners who have leased or energy companies who drill. Windsor’s school tax bill for residents just went down! When’s the last time you heard anyone in NY say that?

MDN doesn’t know for sure, but we’d wager a large sum Windsor is the only school district in the entire state where taxes have gone down this year. Why?

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