NYPIRG joins bipartisan lawmakers asking Cuomo to scrap fracking regs

The New York Public Interest Research Group last week joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers in calling on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to withdraw the Department of Environmental Conservation's revised draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement on hydraulic fracturing, or "hydrofracking."

Hydrofracking, the blasting of a mixture of water, chemicals and sand into the ground to break up rock formations and release natural gas deposits, emerged a contentious issue last summer upon the governor's proposal to lift a state moratorium on the process. Proponents have argued the drilling process would be a job creator, with opponents pointing to the potential for negative environmental impacts from hydrofracking.

The DEC is in the midst of reviewing the more than 60,000 public comments received in regard to the revised draft, which was released last September. 

"Not only is this a dangerous and dirty industrial activity, but the state's review is completely inadequate and fatally flawed," said Brendan Woodruff, NYPIRG hydrofracking campaign organizer. "The state did not conduct an assessment of the potential impact that fracking could have on public health, they have no plan to dispose of the millions of gallons of toxic wastewater and they have failed to address the financial impact this will have on local governments, including damage to roads and increased costs for emergency services."

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Waterless Fracking Method Could Sidestep NY Gas Drilling Ban

A plan to extract shale gas and oil from 135,000 acres in Tioga County, N.Y., could break through the state's hydraulic fracturing moratorium, because the wells would be fracked not with water but with liquefied petroleum gas, or LPG, a mixture of mostly propane.

A relatively new technology, LPG fracking doesn't fall under New York's current hydraulic fracturing moratorium. Instead it could be permitted under the New York Department of Environmental Conservation's 1992 Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement, according to Emily DeSantis, the DEC's director of public information.

DeSantis said LPG fracking would also require an additional assessment under the state'sEnvironmental Quality Review Act, or even a separate environmental impact statement "if the proposed activity may result in significant adverse environmental impacts not previously or adequately addressed."

New York placed a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing in 2010, after environmentalists and some residents began worrying that hydraulic fracturing might contaminate the watershed that supplies water to New York City and other parts of the East Coast.

The moratorium won't be lifted until a new Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement is complete. The DEC expects to finish the work on that document by the end of the year.

The Tioga County Landowners Association announced in March that the 2,000 families it represents will lease 135,000 acres to Houston-based eCorp International. The fracking will be done by Calgary-based GasFrac Energy Services, which pioneered the LPG process.

InsideClimate News and the Albany Times Union reported in November that while LPG fracking still faces skepticism and comes with its own risks, it has several environmental benefits. By forgoing the use of water, it eliminates an entire waste stream—the toxic "flowback" water. GasFrac also claims that LPG requires 75 percent fewer truck trips and a smaller well-pad than hydraulic fracturing.

Details of the Tioga County contract are still being worked out, but under the tentative plan the landowners will form a Limited Liability Company and will essentially be given stock in the venture, in addition to royalty payments of 12.5 percent of the value of the oil or gas that is retrieved. eCorp will provide financing and GasFrac will frack the wells, which could extract natural gas from the Marcellus Shale and also oil from the less-explored Utica Shale. eCorp estimates that each well will be about three to five acres large and will drill under roughly 3,200 acres of surrounding land.

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Niagara Falls says ‘no' to fracking wastes

A Niagara Falls water treatment plant won't accept wastewater from hydraulic fracturing after all.

The Niagara Falls Water Board, a public benefit corporation that provides water and sewer services to the city, had considered accepting fracking waste. They were examining the idea because of its revenue potential. In an article last month, the Associated Press said that there are no treatment plants in New York that can handle fracking fluid.� But an official at the Niagara Falls treatment plant told the AP that the facility, which was built to handle chemical waste, could handle fracking waste by adding some equipment.

Monday night, however, the Niagara Falls city council passed a law banning fracking-related activities, including the treatment of used fracking fluid, reports the Niagara Gazette. While the water board, not the city, operates the treatment plant, the ban would still prevent the treatment of fracking wastewater.

Niagara Falls has a long history of chemical production, and it has the infrastructure to go along with it. But the city is also the site of one of the nation's most notorious toxic disasters: Love Canal. If any place is going to be sensitive to new toxic activity, it's probably going to be Niagara Falls.

In fact, city officials have said as much. Consider this quote from City Council member Glenn Choolokian in an Associated Press article about the ban: "We can't be a test case. We've been through Love Canal. We don't want another Love Canal."

http://www.rochestercitynewspaper.com/news/blog/2012/03/Niagara-Falls-says-no-to-fracking-wastes/

From Gung-Ho to Uh-Oh: Charting the Government’s Moves on Fracking

Fracking has only recently become a household word, but government involvement with the drilling technique goes back decades. President Obama haschampioned the potential of natural gas drilling combined with more regulation. While there has been mounting evidence of water contamination, few regulations have been implemented. The graphic below traces officials' moves -- and levels of caution -- over time.

Follow the link to follow the chart: http://www.propublica.org/special/from-gung-ho-to-uh-oh-charting-the-governments-moves-on-fracking

Gas patch scientists explain how hydraulic fracturing can permanently contaminate public water supplies

As recently as a week ago one contamination expert went on the record explaining exactly how the hydraulic fracturing process could contaminate water supplies.  The expert is Dr. Conrad ‘Dan’ Volz, former director of the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Healthy Environments and Communities, who has testified on hydraulic fracturing before Congress and appeared as an expert as part of water contamination investigations on ABC news.

Volz spoke with Checks and Balances Project director Andrew Schenkel last week at a public hearing on fracking in Pennsylvania.

“[Wells] are going to leak and they are going to leak when the cement shrinks and when the cement shrinks it pulls away from the geological layer that it is sealed from and then it serves as a conduit as straight into ground water aquifers,” Volz said. When asked if the chemicals could travel miles upward towards aquifers that lie well above the bottom of hydraulically fracked wells, Volz replied, “of course”

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APNewsBreak: Ohio AG seeks tougher drilling laws

By JULIE CARR SMYTH 
Associated Press

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Ohio's top law enforcer is seeking tougher environmental sanctions on polluters in the oil and gas industry and full disclosure of the chemicals used in the drilling technique called fracking.

In an Associated Press interview Wednesday, Attorney General Mike DeWine further called for his office or another state agency to be empowered to help landowners with complaints about lease agreements for drilling.

He said a recent legal review by his staff revealed "Ohio's laws simply are not adequate" in the three areas.

DeWine said civil penalties in the state should be raised from a maximum of $20,000 for the duration of a violation to $10,000 a day. That would bring fines in line with states such as Pennsylvania, Colorado and Texas.

He says other states also require chemicals be disclosed.

FRACKING, FAIRNESS AND THE FUTURE

Excerpts:

"In New York, a memo from the New York Department of Transportation revealed that “Pavement structural damage done by the passage of a single large truck is equivalent to that done by about 9,000 automobiles.”xi Areas with heavy drilling are expecting 1.5 million heavy truck trips annually and could see an increase in peak hour trips by 36,000 trips per hour. A similar impact can be expected in Ohio. This type of traffic—on rural roads that aren’t designed for such loads— will quickly result in expensive maintenance costs In New York, a memo from the New York Department of Transportation revealed that “Pavement structural damage done by the passage of a single large truck is equivalent to that done by about 9,000 automobiles.”xi Areas with heavy drilling are expecting 1.5 million heavy truck trips annually and could see an increase in peak hour trips by 36,000 trips per hour. A similar impact can be expected in Ohio. This type of traffic—on rural roads that aren’tdesigned for such loads— will quickly result in expensive maintenance costs."

"The increased demand for housing has driven up rent in rural areas, which, in turn, has displaced many long-time residents. Areas that saw few homeless people have experienced a sudden increase in family homelessness and in families doubling or tripling up in their living quartersThe increased demand for housing has driven up rent in rural areas, which, in turn, has displaced many long-time residents. Areas that saw few homeless people have experienced a sudden increase in family homelessness and in families doubling or tripling up in their living quarters."

"In addition to being associated with possible health consequences, hydraulic fracturing is connected to multiple environmental concerns, such as increased air pollution and a probable contamination of local water supplies."

Read more at: http://innovationohio.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Fracking-Fairness-and-the-Future-Full-Report.pdf