Area covered: Parts of Maine, NY
Membership: About 200 members with 6,000 acres
Contact: Steve Szczepanski, 607-766-9068, pszczepanski1@stny.rr.com
Contact: John Meyers, 607-748-2256, jmeyers@mainenygascoalition.com
Web: www.mainenygascoalition.com
Area covered: Kirkwood and some bordering properties
Membership: 300+ people with 11,500+ acres
Contact: Marchie Diffindorf, 607-775-3128, marchiediff@yahoo.com
Web: www.kirkwoodgascoalition.com
Area covered: Broome, Cortland, Chenango and Tioga counties, NY
Membership: Not disclosed
Contact: Charles Manasse, (607) 692-7900, (607) 692-3516, info@countylinecoalition.com
Web: //countylinecoalition.com
Area covered: Property owners with 10-acres or more in Town of Chenango, eastern Town of Union, southeastern Town of Maine, western Fenton and parts of Dickinson
Membership: About 160 people 9,000 acres
Contact: David Fendick, 607-729-9688, info@centralbroomeassociation.com
Web: //www.centralbroomeassociation.org
Area Covered: Apalachin, South Owego, Nichols and Campville, and Western Vestal
Contact: Loretta Sullivan, 607-625-4543, lorettas@stny.rr.com
Web: www.apalachinlandowners.blogspot.com
Area covered: Cattaraugus/Allegany Counties in NY; McKean/Potter Counties in PA
Membership in NY: Cattaragus County – 70,000 acres, Allegany County – 41,000 acres (111,000 acres total)
Membership in PA: McKean County – 78,000 acres, Potter County – 41,000 acres (119,000 acres total)
Contact: Janice L. Hancharick, 919-876-2917, jlhanch@nc.rr.com
The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking another run at regulating natural gas drilling in the United States by the back door with its claim that hydraulic fracturing “may” endanger water supplies. To know for sure whether or not hydraulic fracturing is “safe”—even though by its own admission more than 35,000 wells are now hydraulically fractured each year in the U.S.—the EPA will conduct the mother of all studies. The first step in the process is to create a plan for how the study will be conducted. We now have that plan.
Horizontal hydraulic fracturing not only benefits natural gas drilling, but also oil drilling in places far outside the Marcellus, like North Dakota, where the method has revived declining oil fields.
Looks like there’s about to be interest in drilling Marcellus shale gas wells in the Yellow Springs (Greene County), Ohio area from West Bay Exploration:
Read More “80,000 Fracked Wells in Ohio – Zero Groundwater Contamination”
The West Virginia legislature is considering a couple of bills that deal with rules for Marcellus shale gas development in the state. One of those bills contains a provision for forced pooling, a hot-button issue to be sure among landowners and mineral rights owners. The WV legislature may adopt a pooling provision that is used in the state currently for coalbed methane drilling.
Read More “WV Legislators Consider Forced Pooling for Marcellus Shale Landowners”
Looks like we have dueling pieces of legislation before the Maryland legislature, one bill that would force the state’s Department of the Environment to either officially approve or deny permits by Samson Energy to drill in Western Maryland. The other bill would put a hold on drilling until “further studies” can determine whether or not it’s safe.
Read More “Maryland Legislature Will Consider Whether or Not to Approve Hydraulic Fracturing”
On January 4, newly inaugurated Gov. Andrew Cuomo nominated Joe Martens to head up the all-important (to Marcellus Shale drilling in NY anyway), State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). The DEC is charged with drafting drilling regulations, and once in place, overseeing those regulations. Joe Martens’ nomination to head the DEC was viewed by most who support drilling as a bad omen. Why? Let’s take a look at who Joe Martens is, and what he has said on the topic of shale gas drilling in New York.
Since 1995 Joe has worked for the Open Space Institute (OSI), first as executive vice president and later as its president. The OSI buys private land in states along the East Coast of the U.S. to keep it from being developed. As it’s name implies, it wants to keep large tracts of open spaces undeveloped and pristine. Over 100,000 acres in New York State alone have been “protected” by the OSI. Most of the OSI’s land acquisitions and easements (laws to protect land they don’t actually buy but control) have come under Joe Martens’ reign as president.
Read More “Gov. Cuomo’s Nomination to Head the NY DEC: Will the Real Joe Martens Please Stand Up?”