November 9, 2009, Binghamton Press and Sun: Natural gas quest: State files show 270 drilling accidents in past 30 years

Natural gas quest: State files show 270 drilling accidents in past 30 years

link to complete article is here: http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20091108/NEWS01/911080372&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL
By Tom Wilber
[email protected]

The state's depiction of a clean, tightly regulated natural gas industry just got a shot of muck in the eye...

 

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November 9, 2009, Albany Times Union: Is Marcellus Shale too hot to handle? State officials unsure of how to handle radioactive

Is Marcellus Shale too hot to handle?
State officials unsure of how to handle radioactive wastewater created by drilling process
 link to complete article is here: http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/storyprint.asp?StoryID=863369
By ABRAHM LUSTGARTEN, ProPublica
First published: Monday, November 9, 2009
As New York gears up for gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale, state officials have made a potentially troubling discovery about the wastewater created by the process: It's radioactive. And they have yet to say how they'll deal with it...

 

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November 6, 2009, Albany Times Union Editorial: A drilling chant: Slow, baby, slow

A drilling chant: Slow, baby, slow

First published: Friday, November 6, 2009

The rush to drill for natural gas in New York seems to be slowing a bit. We're encouraged -- guardedly so -- by the Department of Environmental Conservation's decision to give the public an extra month to weigh in on the state's proposed new gas drilling rules.

That's a good start. We urge DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis to keep that schedule flexible.

The extension of the public comment period to Dec. 31 was probably a lot harder for the DEC than it might seem. State agencies are big battleships when it comes to making mid-course corrections, even on the easiest of issues. In this case, the issue is the more than 800-page set of rules written by the DEC itself. The agency could easily have taken a defensive posture and said it was sticking to its timetable. It could have said this has been studied and talked to death -- which it has not.

This one-month extension, then, is no small deal. It acknowledges deep and widespread concerns about the plan to extract natural gas from the vast Marcellus Shale formation that covers six states. In New York, it lies under the Southern Tier and the Catskills, including the watershed that supplies New York City with water that is so pristine it doesn't have to be filtered. That, as they might say in Brooklyn, is somethin' you don't mess with.

The industry maintains that its method of extracting the gas, hydraulic fracturing, is safe, but environmental and other groups have voiced concerns about the potential for damage, especially to drinking water. The process involves forcing millions of gallons of water mixed with various chemicals into the deep rock to crack it and break open pockets of natural gas. Critics say accidents could contaminate both underground and surface water, risks the industry says are negligible. It asks New York to shrug off incidents in other states as rare.

Whether the protections the DEC proposes are as good as the agency says remain to be seen. Pennsylvania thought it had done an exhaustive job when it pulled together a list of 31 chemicals used in the drilling process. Now, we find in New York's documents, a much higher number: 260. It's understandable that the public might be developing some trust issues when it comes to the assurances of the industry and its regulators.

We credit the DEC for learning far more already that any other state, or the federal government for that matter, about this undertaking. There may be many more questions, however, as the public looks even closer. New York City is awaiting a consultant's report on the potential threats drilling poses to its water supply, a document that isn't expected to be done by the DEC's deadline. Mr. Grannis should give the city the time it needs.

As we've said before, the gas isn't going anywhere. There is no reason New York can't take the time to get this right. And quite a few million reasons not to get it wrong.

The issue:

The state slows down the review of new gas drilling rules.

The stakes:

New York can't deliberate enough when it comes to water quality.

To comment: [email protected]
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November 5, 2009, Wayne Independent: Gas company slapped with environmental violations

By Steve McConnell


Dimock Township, Pa. -

A natural gas drilling company must provide a permanent supply of water to 13 homes in Dimock Township, Susquehanna County along with correcting problems at its production sites that caused methane to pollute drinking water in this small rural community, environmental regulators said....

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November 4, 2009: DEC Extends Public Comment Period for Marcellus Shale Draft SGEIS

 

1109

News from New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

For more information contact: Yancey Roy, 518-402-8000

DEC Extends Public Comment Period for Marcellus Shale Draft SGEIS

ALBANY, NY (11/04/2009)(readMedia)-- The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation today announced it has extended the public comment period on the draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS) governing potential natural gas drilling activities in the Marcellus Shale formation from Nov. 30 to Dec. 31.....

 

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October 30, 2009, The New York Times: Fight Over Shale Gas Drilling Not Over

link to complete article is here:
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/30/fight-over-shale-gas-drilling-not-over/

October 30, 2009, 8:03 am

Fight Over Shale Gas Drilling Not Over

By Jad Mouawad

Two days ago, my colleague Clifford Krauss and I wrote about Chesapeake Energy’s decision not to drill in the New York watershed — the environmentally sensitive region that supplies unfiltered water to nine million people.

The announcement was greeted with a sigh of relief from local politicians and environmental groups, who feared the impact of industrial drilling on New York’s drinking water.

“It has become increasingly clear to us over the past few months that the concern for drilling in the watershed has become a needless distraction,” Chesapeake said in a statement after our story ran.

The fight, however, is not over.

Many groups quickly pointed out that the company’s pledge does not lift the risk of future drilling in the watershed. Some groups suggested that Chesapeake should transfer its leases to the City of New York and are calling for the state to issue an outright ban to drilling in the watershed.

“That way, we can make sure this protection is permanent,” Deborah Goldberg, from Earthjustice, said in a statement. “Otherwise, these leases could be sold to other drilling companies that won’t keep the promise.”

The debate has also shifted to the state’s proposed new regulations for the development of natural gas from a geological formation known as the Marcellus Shale, which runs from New York to Tennessee. The New York watershed only covers 4 percent of the state. That leaves plenty of room for drilling elsewhere.

Last month, the state’s environmental agency issued its proposed guidelines for the new technology used to extract gas from the shale rock, called hydraulic fracturing.

Critics contend that the new rules are inadequate and would do little to prevent spills and other types of pollution that have become common in other parts of the country where hydro-fracking has become more common.

To extract the gas, companies inject water mixed with chemicals at very high pressure to blast the shale rocks and allow gas to flow out more easily. The technology has vigorously expanded in recent years, allowing for enormous growth in the nation’s natural gas reserves.

But it has also raised broad concerns about toxic spills, pollution and waste-water disposal.

The full name of the 800-page report is “Draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement on the Oil, Gas and Solution Mining Regulatory Program; Well Permit Issuance for Horizontal Drilling and High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing to Develop the Marcellus Shale and Other Low-Permeability Gas Reservoirs.”

James L. Simpson, a lawyer at the environmental group Riverkeeper, said the review fails to address critical issues linked to drilling, such as air emissions, increased traffic, or the so-called secondary impact from drilling, including all the ancillary services that would be needed for the industry to deploy throughout the state.

“We don’t think the Department of Environmental Conservation has the resources to review all the permits and supervise this process,” Mr. Simpson said. “The agency is cash-strapped and has been losing staff in recent years. Yet they intend to evaluate this on a permit-by-permit basis, so we can expect thousands of permits to flood the agency. We think they are not capable of processing these, let alone supervising or enforcing them.”

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October 30, 2009, The New York Times: Fight Over Shale Gas Drilling Not Over

link to complete article is here:
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/30/fight-over-shale-gas-drilling-not-over/

October 30, 2009, 8:03 am

Fight Over Shale Gas Drilling Not Over

By Jad Mouawad

Two days ago, my colleague Clifford Krauss and I wrote about Chesapeake Energy’s decision not to drill in the New York watershed — the environmentally sensitive region that supplies unfiltered water to nine million people.

The announcement was greeted with a sigh of relief from local politicians and environmental groups, who feared the impact of industrial drilling on New York’s drinking water.

“It has become increasingly clear to us over the past few months that the concern for drilling in the watershed has become a needless distraction,” Chesapeake said in a statement after our story ran.

The fight, however, is not over.

Many groups quickly pointed out that the company’s pledge does not lift the risk of future drilling in the watershed. Some groups suggested that Chesapeake should transfer its leases to the City of New York and are calling for the state to issue an outright ban to drilling in the watershed.

“That way, we can make sure this protection is permanent,” Deborah Goldberg, from Earthjustice, said in a statement. “Otherwise, these leases could be sold to other drilling companies that won’t keep the promise.”

The debate has also shifted to the state’s proposed new regulations for the development of natural gas from a geological formation known as the Marcellus Shale, which runs from New York to Tennessee. The New York watershed only covers 4 percent of the state. That leaves plenty of room for drilling elsewhere.

Last month, the state’s environmental agency issued its proposed guidelines for the new technology used to extract gas from the shale rock, called hydraulic fracturing.

Critics contend that the new rules are inadequate and would do little to prevent spills and other types of pollution that have become common in other parts of the country where hydro-fracking has become more common.

To extract the gas, companies inject water mixed with chemicals at very high pressure to blast the shale rocks and allow gas to flow out more easily. The technology has vigorously expanded in recent years, allowing for enormous growth in the nation’s natural gas reserves.

But it has also raised broad concerns about toxic spills, pollution and waste-water disposal.

The full name of the 800-page report is “Draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement on the Oil, Gas and Solution Mining Regulatory Program; Well Permit Issuance for Horizontal Drilling and High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing to Develop the Marcellus Shale and Other Low-Permeability Gas Reservoirs.”

James L. Simpson, a lawyer at the environmental group Riverkeeper, said the review fails to address critical issues linked to drilling, such as air emissions, increased traffic, or the so-called secondary impact from drilling, including all the ancillary services that would be needed for the industry to deploy throughout the state.

“We don’t think the Department of Environmental Conservation has the resources to review all the permits and supervise this process,” Mr. Simpson said. “The agency is cash-strapped and has been losing staff in recent years. Yet they intend to evaluate this on a permit-by-permit basis, so we can expect thousands of permits to flood the agency. We think they are not capable of processing these, let alone supervising or enforcing them.”

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October 30, 2009, The New York Times: Fight Over Shale Gas Drilling Not Over

link to complete article is here:
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/30/fight-over-shale-gas-drilling-not-over/

October 30, 2009, 8:03 am

Fight Over Shale Gas Drilling Not Over

By Jad Mouawad

Two days ago, my colleague Clifford Krauss and I wrote about Chesapeake Energy’s decision not to drill in the New York watershed — the environmentally sensitive region that supplies unfiltered water to nine million people.

The announcement was greeted with a sigh of relief from local politicians and environmental groups, who feared the impact of industrial drilling on New York’s drinking water.

“It has become increasingly clear to us over the past few months that the concern for drilling in the watershed has become a needless distraction,” Chesapeake said in a statement after our story ran.

The fight, however, is not over.

Many groups quickly pointed out that the company’s pledge does not lift the risk of future drilling in the watershed. Some groups suggested that Chesapeake should transfer its leases to the City of New York and are calling for the state to issue an outright ban to drilling in the watershed.

“That way, we can make sure this protection is permanent,” Deborah Goldberg, from Earthjustice, said in a statement. “Otherwise, these leases could be sold to other drilling companies that won’t keep the promise.”

The debate has also shifted to the state’s proposed new regulations for the development of natural gas from a geological formation known as the Marcellus Shale, which runs from New York to Tennessee. The New York watershed only covers 4 percent of the state. That leaves plenty of room for drilling elsewhere.

Last month, the state’s environmental agency issued its proposed guidelines for the new technology used to extract gas from the shale rock, called hydraulic fracturing.

Critics contend that the new rules are inadequate and would do little to prevent spills and other types of pollution that have become common in other parts of the country where hydro-fracking has become more common.

To extract the gas, companies inject water mixed with chemicals at very high pressure to blast the shale rocks and allow gas to flow out more easily. The technology has vigorously expanded in recent years, allowing for enormous growth in the nation’s natural gas reserves.

But it has also raised broad concerns about toxic spills, pollution and waste-water disposal.

The full name of the 800-page report is “Draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement on the Oil, Gas and Solution Mining Regulatory Program; Well Permit Issuance for Horizontal Drilling and High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing to Develop the Marcellus Shale and Other Low-Permeability Gas Reservoirs.”

James L. Simpson, a lawyer at the environmental group Riverkeeper, said the review fails to address critical issues linked to drilling, such as air emissions, increased traffic, or the so-called secondary impact from drilling, including all the ancillary services that would be needed for the industry to deploy throughout the state.

“We don’t think the Department of Environmental Conservation has the resources to review all the permits and supervise this process,” Mr. Simpson said. “The agency is cash-strapped and has been losing staff in recent years. Yet they intend to evaluate this on a permit-by-permit basis, so we can expect thousands of permits to flood the agency. We think they are not capable of processing these, let alone supervising or enforcing them.”

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October 27, 2009, New York Times: Gas Company Won’t Drill in New York Watershed

Gas Company Won’t Drill in New York Watershed

By JAD MOUAWAD and CLIFFORD KRAUSS

Published: October 27, 2009

link to complete article is here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/28/business/energy-environment/28drill.html

New York Times Article

Bowing to intense public pressure, the Chesapeake Energy Corporation says it will not drill for natural gas within the upstate New York watershed, an environmentally sensitive region that supplies unfiltered water to nine million people.  

The reversal seems to signal a more conciliatory tone from the gas industry, which is facing mounting opposition in New York to its drilling practices. The decision also increases the pressure on state regulators to reverse their decision to allow drilling within the watershed. 

“We are not going to develop those leases, and we are not taking any more leases, and I don’t think anybody else in the industry would dare to acquire leases in the New York City watershed,” Aubrey K. McClendon, the chief executive officer at Chesapeake Energy, said in an interview on Monday in Fort Worth. “Why go through the brain damage of that, when we have so many other opportunities?” 

He spoke on the eve of the first scheduled hearing on proposed state rules governing the drilling, on Wednesday in Loch Sheldrake in Sullivan County. 

Chesapeake, one of the nation’s biggest gas producers, is the largest leaseholder in the Marcellus Shale, a subterranean layer of shale rock that runs from New York to Tennessee. The shale is believed to hold substantial natural gas reserves.  

But extracting gas from shale relies on a method called hydraulic fracturing that has stirred broad concerns. Water, laced with chemicals, is blasted down gas wells at high pressure to break the rock and allow gas to flow out more easily. The technology has vigorously expanded in recent years, allowing for enormous growth in the nation’s natural gas reserves. 

But the concerns include the use of chemicals, the disposal of wastewater and the danger of leaks and spills into groundwater and deep aquifers. There also has been a string of explosions from Wyoming to Pennsylvania. 

Under energy legislation passed in 2005, the industry won an exemption from the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.  

Chesapeake acquired 5,000 acres in the watershed when it bought Columbia Natural Resources a few years ago, and it is currently the only leaseholder in the area.  

Over all, Mr. McClendon said, the company’s holdings in the watershed are “a drop in the bucket” compared with the Marcellus field’s potential. He suggested that Chesapeake had more to lose by drilling there than by forgoing it, even though he contended such drilling would do no harm. 

“How could any one well be so profitable that it would be worth damaging the New York City water system?” he said. 

But Chesapeake and other companies are still expected to drill for gas in areas of the state outside the watershed.  

State officials have been eager to embrace the drilling because of its potential economic benefits, especially in the current downturn. This month, the state’s environmental agency said it would allow companies to drill throughout the state, imposing few specific limits on operations.  

The proposed regulations, which were requested last year by Gov. David A. Paterson, do not ban drilling in the watershed, as many New York City officials and environmental advocates had urged, but would require buffer zones around reservoirs and aqueducts.  

Gas industry representatives say the rules, if enacted, will be among the most restrictive in the country. Opponents say they would be inadequate to prevent contamination. 

The New York watershed is an area of about one million acres, representing 4 percent of the state’s total surface. Thanks to gravity, water from the region’s rivers and streams flows to six reservoirs in the Catskills, and then, through a series of aqueducts and tunnels, to the taps of New Yorkers. This system provides unfiltered drinking water for half the state’s population, including 8.2 million people in New York City and about one million people in Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess Counties.  

Some New York City politicians welcomed Chesapeake’s decision and said they hoped it would have a broader impact. “To proceed with drilling doesn’t make any business sense and doesn’t make environmental sense, and I think Chesapeake understands this, and I am happy they have come to that decision,” said James F. Gennaro, chairman of the City Council’s Committee on Environmental Protection. “If only we could get the state government to come to the same realization. It is strangely ironic.” 

Chesapeake’s announcement was also praised by environmental advocates. They said the company’s position should encourage the state to reverse its decision and impose an outright drilling ban throughout the watershed.  

“When the industry says it will not drill in the watershed, it sends a strong message to state regulators that drilling there is inappropriate,” said James L. Simpson, an attorney at Riverkeeper, an environmental group. 

Hydraulic fracturing pumps huge volumes of water laced with chemicals like benzene into the shale to break it and release the natural gas. The process has been linked to contamination of water wells and the death of livestock exposed to potassium chloride, one of the chemicals used. 

State environmental regulators have said they saw no “realistic threat” to water quality that would warrant a drilling ban in the two watersheds in the Catskills region. Their review noted that the city controlled a large amount of the land surrounding the reservoirs and could deny permission to drill in those areas. 

In addition to the forum on Wednesday, hearings on the state’s proposed regulations are scheduled Nov. 10 in New York City, Nov. 12 in Broome County and Nov. 18 in Steuben County. 

Chesapeake said it had started to publicize the chemical components of the fluids it uses during drilling, down to the percentages for each chemical used since last year, acknowledging criticism that companies had not been transparent enough. “The industry is moving quickly to complete disclosure," Mr. McClendon said. 
 
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October 30, 2009, The New York Times: Fight Over Shale Gas Drilling Not Over

link to complete article is here:
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/30/fight-over-shale-gas-drilling-not-over/

October 30, 2009, 8:03 am

Fight Over Shale Gas Drilling Not Over

By Jad Mouawad

Two days ago, my colleague Clifford Krauss and I wrote about Chesapeake Energy’s decision not to drill in the New York watershed — the environmentally sensitive region that supplies unfiltered water to nine million people....

 

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