New York, New Jersey considering gas drilling restrictions

FROM: The Forth-Worth Star Telegram (Posted Thursday, Jun. 30, 2011)

ALBANY, N.Y. -- New York environmental officials proposed a ban on drilling for natural gas with hydraulic fracturing in two major watersheds and on all state-owned lands while permitting it on private land only under "rigorous and effective controls" codified into state law.

Also Thursday, the New Jersey Legislature sent Republican Gov. Chris Christie a measure to ban fracking, which environmental groups say contaminates drinking water.

If Christie signs the bill, it will be the first statewide ban on fracking in the U.S. New York's legislature passed a similar ban in 2010 that was vetoed by Gov. David Paterson, who later imposed a temporary moratorium.

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The New York Department of Environmental Conservation released details Thursday of major revisions to a 2009 draft law and will give its recommendations to Gov. Andrew Cuomo today, the same day an executive order prohibiting fracking expires.

"This report strikes the right balance between protecting our environment, watersheds and drinking water and promoting economic development," department Commissioner Joe Martens said in a statement Thursday.

Martens said areas off-limits to drilling comprise about 15 percent of New York's part of the Marcellus Shale, a natural gas-rich rock formation that also underlies parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. The department's supplemental environmental study and revised draft recommendations will be subject to further public comment and revisions, a process likely to take months during which there will be no hydraulic fracturing.

Among the major provisions:

High-volume hydraulic fracturing would be prohibited in the New York City and Syracuse watersheds, which rely on surface reservoirs, including a buffer area around them.

Drilling would be prohibited within primary aquifers and within 500 feet of their boundaries.

Drilling would be prohibited on state land including parks, forest areas and wildlife management areas.

Wastewater from wells and other drilling waste would be subject to monitoring similar to that used for medical waste.

Drillers would be required to fully disclose all chemical additives used in fracking.

The state uses a generic environmental impact statement to spell out permitting rules for gas wells, allowing drillers to avoid costly impact studies for each well.

Environmental groups have pressed for that document to be codified into state law.

Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/06/30/3192521/new-york-new-jersey-considering.html#ixzz1Qs0teBoB