Horizontal Hydrofracking
This is a new form of natural gas drilling that is a combination of two existing extraction technologies; horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. Horizontal drilling, as its name suggests, is the ability to drill up to two miles horizontally from a surface point. Hydraulic fracturing, meanwhile, is the process of injecting millions of gallons of water, sand, and chemicals into the ground to break apart the rock. This new technique is necessary to extract the gas in our region due to the fact that the gas is located in the Marcellus shale. The Marcellus is a thin layer, roughly 50 to 100 feet thick, located a mile deep that has natural gas trapped in its pores. Since the gas is trapped in the pores the gas companies need to break apart the rock to allow the gas to escape. They also need to drill horizontally in order to recover an economically appreciable amount of gas due to how thin the layer is. Thus, for years geologists have known about the gas that has existed under us, there just was never a way to recover it.
Why it is controversial:
This form of drilling has exploded (literally and figuratively) around the nation since 2005 when hydrofracking was exempt from a number of important federal environmental regulations including the clean water act. These exemptions made it economically viable for companies to begin hydrofracking operations since they no longer had to properly dispose of their waste. Luckily for us here in New York State, we have had a moratorium on this practice in place since 2008 while the DEC studies the process to determine if it can be done safely. While the DEC has been studying the issue, experiences in other states have shown us that this is an activity that can lead to widespread environmental catastrophe. In neighboring Pennsylvania, who also overlies the Marcellus, there have been explosions at well sites, well blowouts that have sent chemical laden water into streams and rivers and widespread drinking water contamination. And these are just a few of the more than 2,000 incidents that the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection lists.
Where we are at now:
With all of the negative impacts that this activity can lead to the DEC must be taking a hard line with the industry and ensuring that the health of New Yorkers and our environment will be protected. Well, not really. Back in 2008 the DEC released their draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (dSGEIS), which provided a blanket set of regulations that the industry would have to adhere to in order to get a permit to drill. But the dSGEIS was fatally flawed from the start, as it was simply a few additions to their 1992 gas drilling regulations, which were derived in the 1980’s to guide traditional vertical natural gas drilling in Western New York. Horizontal hydrofracking is a much more involved process than simply drilling a hole straight down and hitting gas. The lack of actually studying this new technique was the study’s major flaw. But that draft met an untimely end as during a public comment period over 13,000 New Yorkers wrote to the DEC demanding that a more thorough study be conducted. Thus, the DEC went back to work and in the meantime refused to issue any permits for horizontal hydrofracking until they had finalized their report. It appeared as though the DEC was ready to issue an updated report back in December 2010, when the legislature passed a six-month moratorium on horizontal hydrofracking. Then Governor Paterson vetoed that moratorium, but also issued an Executive Order directing the DEC to re-open the dSGEIS and “comprehensively analyze” the activity and report back on or around June 1st, 2011. This spring Governor Cuomo ordered the DEC to have their report ready to give to him on July 1st.
Fast forward to July 8th and the DEC issued the environmental impacts section of their latest dSGEIS, while waiting to include reports from outside consultants on the socio-economic impacts until July 31st. With all of the pressure that has been put on the DEC and the high environmental stakes in play one would assume that the DEC would have released a stringent set of permit conditions that would ensure New Yorkers that this activity can be done safely and that we will not see widespread environmental catastrophe as other states have. But instead, they once again rushed an inadequate environmental review out the door to meet a political deadline set by Governor Cuomo.
The main flaw of the new dSGEIS is that it inherently admits that hydrofracking is not safe. The DEC has proposed banning hydrofracking in the New York City and Syracuse watersheds, on primary aquifers (which provide drinking water to large populations) and on state owned land while allowing it on private lands that make up 85% of the Marcellus region. Instead of conducting a thorough study and determining whether or not this activity is safe, they simply said that drilling is not safe enough to take place in sensitive areas, yet can take place elsewhere. If hydrofracking is not safe enough for any part of New York State then it is not safe enough for any of New York State. It is either safe or it isn't.
The DEC also did not take public health impacts into consideration. At all. The lack of studying the public health impacts demonstrates how the DEC has only looked at what they consider the environmental impacts, while ignoring the cumulative impacts that this activity will have.
While the DEC attempted to create a set of restrictions for the placement of sites, most of these can be waived by the landowner. For example, the DEC proposes a 500-foot setback from any drinking water well, yet the landowner can choose whether or not they want to abide by this. This not only puts the individual at risk, but it also does not conform to federal secondary mortgage guidelines that banks use to issue mortgages. Issuing mortgages may seem trivial compared to water contamination, but if the DEC’s proposals are used to site drill pads through a large chunk of the state there will be a lot of properties that are essentially taken off the real estate market since it is no longer possible to get a mortgage for those properties. This poses a serious economic problem to a region where an average family’s wealth is located in their house. For a temporary “boom” you systematically wipe out the wealth and savings of rural residents.
And finally, and most egregious, they are going to issue permits BEFORE they undertake formal rule making. The DEC has stated that as soon as they sift through all of the public comments that this new document generates they are going to issue permits based on the document before enshrining these proposals into law.
What people can do:
So now that we know that Governor Cuomo and the DEC are not going to conduct an adequate environmental review it is up to us to let them know that the people of this state will not stand idly by and watch our region become an industrial wasteland. Thus, your homework is twofold: First, call or write Governor Cuomo today and let him know that if hydrofracking is not safe enough for portions of New York then it is not safe enough for any of New York. You can reach him at:
The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo
Governor of New York State
NYS Capitol Building
Albany, 1224
Second, later this fall the DEC is going to open a public comment period on the revised dSGEIS and we need to generate as many comments on it as possible. Back in 2008 the DEC received 13,000 comments on their proposal and it took them a year and a half to sift through and respond to those comments. If we can generate even more now it will send a strong signal that New Yorker’s demand that the DEC do its job and adequately ensure that all New Yorkers are protected.
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