Statewide NY

An amazingly balanced and non-partisan article by WNYC News delves into the 13-member Advisory Panel appointed by Joe Martens, Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), to advise the DEC on issues with implementing the new Marcellus drilling regulations. The article, which MDN highly recommends you read, points out the confusion among the panel members about what, exactly, they are supposed to do.

It also recounts the rushed and last-minute approach Martens took in creating and appointing members to the panel. The article points out how the panel is stacked with members who are largely anti-drilling (MDN’s words, the article refers to them as environmentalists). Even the so-called industry representative on the panel, Mark Boling from Houston-based Southwestern Energy, is colluding working with the Environmental Defense Fund on a new “industry code of conduct.” He admits his views are not mainstream in the energy industry.

Read More “NY DEC Hydraulic Fracturing Advisory Panel Appointed by Joe Martens in Disarray”

The Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY) is encouraging landowners in New York State to thank Gov. Andrew Cuomo for his actions in lifting the gas drilling moratorium, and encourage him to keep the process moving along quickly. How? By printing and signing a letter saying just that. The JLCNY has produced a form letter supporters can use (see below).

MDN heartily endorses the letter and encourages drilling supporters to sign and send it at their earliest opportunity.

Read More “New York Landowner Group Sponsors Letter Writing Campaign to Thank Gov. Cuomo and Commissioner Martens”

It’s going to be a long summer for both those for and against drilling in the Marcellus Shale in New York State. The state DEC released new draft drilling regulations just last week and already there’s plenty of jockeying going on to either support or oppose the new regulations. A public comment period of 60 days (August & September) will be followed by more tweaking of the rules before a final version is approved by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Even though the new draft rules put the New York City watershed area off limits to drilling, that doesn’t seem to be good enough for some Downstaters:

Read More “NYC Opposition to DEC Fracking Rules Continues: Natural Fractures, Brittle Rock, Aging Tunnels…Oh My!”

The new draft regulations that will finally allow Marcellus Shale drilling in New York State were published less than one week ago, but already Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Joe Martens is coming under fire for one of the key compromises in the rules. Politicians in New York City were steadfastly opposed to drilling anywhere in the Upstate watershed areas, which is where New York City gets its drinking water from. Mayor Bloomberg and others claimed the risk was simply too high—that if the city’s drinking water supply were ever compromised, a filtration system would need to be installed costing billions. And so to assuage those fears, the DEC has said no drilling in both the NYC and Syracuse watershed areas.

Read More “NY DEC Commissioner Says No Double Standard in Putting Some Watersheds Off Limits to Gas Drilling and Not Others”

New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner, Joe Martens, visited Binghamton, NY yesterday. He met with local politicians and with the editorial board of the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin (PSB) to answer questions about the new drilling regulations that will allow hydraulic fracturing to begin in New York State. During his meeting with the PSB, Martens said that local government ordinances that ban gas drilling will likely have to be decided in court.

Read More “NY DEC Commissioner Joe Martens Says Local Bans on Hydraulic Fracturing Will Be Decided in Court”

As part of the new Marcellus drilling regulations in New York, DEC Commissioner Joe Martens created a Hydraulic Fracturing Advisory Panel. The new panel is initially composed of 13 people from environmentalist organizations, with a few industry and elected officials thrown in (see the list here). Panel members are charged with making suggestions to Martens on fracking in New York—oversight of how the DEC implements it, and potential changes to make it better.

An excellent analysis piece from Tom Shepstone at the Energy in Depth Northeast Marcellus Initiative website exposes the stacked deck Martens has created and poses the very real possibility that Martens is intentionally trying to undermine Gov. Andrew Cuomo on the issue of drilling in New York.

Read More “NY DEC Commissioner Joe Martens Stacks New Fracking Panel with Anti-Drillers”

You can now download a preliminary copy of New York’s new Marcellus drilling regulations at the Energy in Depth Northeast Marcellus Initiative website. This is an incomplete draft released on released July 1, 2011 to some members of the media at the NY Department of Environmental Conservation’s press conference last Friday. This incomplete draft has 736 pages of the final draft report which will be 900+ pages, due to be released in two days (on July 8).

Read More “Preliminary (but Incomplete) Copy of New York Marcellus Drilling Regulations Available for Download”