In the ongoing PR battle waged in New York State by nutjobs and wackos who spin lies that hydraulic fracturing (or fracking) will ruin the bucolic countryside and turn it into an industrial wasteland, one of their favorite lies is that fracking will tank New York’s Finger Lakes wineries. For those who don’t know, the Finger Lakes region in central New York contains world class vineyards and wineries. A minor digression: MDN editor Jim Willis, when he was a (much) younger man, was a staffer in the Ronald Reagan White House. He recalls his surprise at seeing not California champagne (from Ronald Reagan’s home state) being served in the White House, but instead New York champagne being served. Such is the storied reputation and history of New York’s wineries.

Anti-drillers would have you believe a few gas wells anywhere close to a winery would close it down. The truth of the matter is, dozens of gas wells have been located within one mile of wineries–for decades. Some, perhaps all of those wells (we’re guessing) used low-volume fracking. What? You mean there’s fracking in NY right now? YES. It’s not horizontal, high-volume fracking, but low-volume vertical fracking–and it’s been going on for decades in NY and continues to be used down to this very day. The only difference between low- and high-volume fracking is, well, more water and sand. But back to those wineries that somehow have not been devastated by gas wells that exist within a mile. Here’s some perspective from our friend Joe Massaro at Energy in Depth–who grew up visiting the Finger Lakes region…
Read More “Dozens of Producing Gas Wells Exist <1 Mile from NY Vineyards”