Gas Drilling News and Resources
Otsego 2000 feels strongly that the draft New York DEC regulations governing horizontal hydraulic fracturing of natural gas wells in Otsego County and elsewhere in New York pose unacceptable risks to our water, environment, agriculture, and infrastructure. They fail to safeguard our drinking water supplies, don’t take into account considerable seismic activity in our region, and don’t provide the necessary resources to local and county governments to prepare for the onslaught of heavy truck traffic, emergency response training, or wastewater treatment and disposal. Nor is there anything approaching adequate staff resources within the DEC to monitor the potentially high number of wells across New York State. In short, New York is not ready for high volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing of the Marcellus and Utica Shales. Otsego 2000 has been waging a campaign to educate state and local leaders as well as citizens on the many adverse and irreversible impacts that this method of natural gas drilling can have on our region.
State Supreme Court Upholds Town's Right to Home Rule
Judge Rumsey has upheld a zoning law which prohibits natural gas drilling, exploration, or related activities in the Town of Dryden, Tompkins County. Read the decision here.
Responding to the 2011 dSGEIS:
Articles, Papers, and Documents About Gas Drilling:
Elisabeth Radow; New York State Bar Association Journal, November/December 2011
Paul Rubin, Hydroecologist, HydroQuest PA. November 15, 2011
David Slottje, Esq. October 17, 2011
Middlefield Neighbors, October 13, 2011
Ron Bishop, Ph.D, C.H.O; October 6, 2011
New York Water Rangers, October 6, 2011
August 23,2011
by Harry Levine, Advocates for Springfield, August 15, 2011
By Nicole Dillingham, August 15, 2011
By Anne Marie Garti, August 1, 2011
By Anthony R. Ingraffea, Ph.D. P.E., July 25, 2011
By Helen Slottje, Esq. and David Slottje, Esq. July 25, 2011
By Karen Edelstein, Cornell University, www.fractracker.org, July 25, 2011
By L. W. Allstadt, July 25, 2011
By Douglas Zamelis, Esq. June 30, 2011
By Robert Feller, Esq.May 12, 2011
By Robert W. Howarth, Renee Santoro, Anthony Ingraffea
By GreenPlan Inc, May 2011
By Jessie Ravage, Historic Preservation Expert
By Nicole Dillingham
An article by Michelle Kennedy, Esq.
by Ron Bishop, SUNY Oneonta and Sustainable Otsego
Presentation by James "Chip" Northrup and Jeffrey Reynolds
A presentation by James "Chip" Northrup
a video by The Ecologist featuring interviews with Professor Tony Ingraffea, Lou Allstadt, and James "Chip" Northrup
by Nicole Dillingham, September 28, 2010
- Form Letter: Withdraw the NYS DEC Draft SGEIS Governing Horizontal Hydrofracking
- Radioactive Waste in Horizontal Hydrofracking
by James L. “Chip” Northrup, September 20, 2010
- Hydrofracking in Drinking Water Watersheds
by Win McIntyre, April 2010
- Comments on the Draft SGEIS Governing Hydrofracking and Gas Drilling
by Otsego Lake Watershed Supervisory Committee, October 2009
- Potential Relationships Between Hydrofracking and Drinking Water Resources
by Dr. Ronald E. Bishop, September 2010
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Potential Leaks from High Pressure Hydrofracking of Shale
by James Northrup, September 2010
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Comments on the Scope of the Proposed EPA Study of Hydraulic Fracturing
by Paul A. Rubin, September 2010
- Cabot Oil & Gas Company fined by PA Department of Environmental Protection
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection recently fined Cabot Oil & Gas for violations on wells drilled in the Marcellus shale near Dimock, Pennsylvania. Of 62 wells drilled, Cabot was cited or fined on 32 of them, 8 of which polluted 10 local water wells. This indicates that there could be as much as a 52% probability of environmental damage for each shale gas well drilled, and a 13% probability of gassing a water well. In these instances, well casing failure was blamed for gassing the aquifer. Since these wells will be fracked multiple times to prolong their productive life, the odds of gassing the aquifer may increase each time they are fracked.
By Sustainable Otsego, August 2010, 27-minute video (for 4:45 minute video, click here)
Scroll down for additional documents and links:
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Communities that have Experienced Hydraulic Fracturing Methods
prepared for Otsego 2000, Inc., March 25, 2010
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Unanswered Questions: The Economic Impact of Gas Drilling in the Marcellus Shale
by Jannette M. Barth, Ph.D. of JM Barth & Associates, Inc. March 22, 2010
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Otsego 2000’s comments on the DEC’s draft GEIS governing gas drilling
by Nicole Dillingham, December 31, 2009
Communities that have Experienced
Hydraulic Fracturing Methods
March 25, 2010, Otsego 2000, Inc.
The attached document prepared for Otsego 2000 is a compilation of memoranda derived from press reports which provide summaries of issues in seven communities across the country where horizontal hydraulic fracturing is being used as a means of extracting natural gas from underlying rock formations. The communities are: Dimock, Pennsylvania; Dish, Texas; Shreveport, Louisiana; DeBerry, Texas; Pavillion, Wyoming; Farmington, New Mexico; and Silt, Colorado. [25 page document]
Unanswered Questions:
The Economic Impact of Gas Drilling in the Marcellus Shale
March 22, 2010 prepared by Jannette M. Barth, Ph.D. of JM Barth & Associates, Inc.
Author Dr. Jannette Barth highlights the flaws in the economic impact studies being used to assert the potential financial benefits of gas drilling as proposed in New York State. She asserts these existing studies document conditions and are based on assumptions that are not directly transferable to New York. Dr. Barth encourages an independent and thorough economic analysis be done for policy makers before decisions with irreversible consequences are made. [15 page document]
Coalition Against Unsafe Gas Drilling
Whether our drinking water comes from private wells or surface reservoirs, all New Yorkers should have the right to safe drinking water and equal protection under the law. In the flawed draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement, the DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) failed to prove that drilling will not damage our drinking water, will not destroy our roads, will not reduce our home equity, and will not affect our health.
Otsego 2000, Sustainable Otsego, the Otsego County Conservation Association, and Advocates for Springfield have joined together to coordinate an assertive response to educate and defend against the threats posed by the rush to approve hydrofracking.
Otsego 2000 is collecting donations to contract with experts and attorneys to defend our homes, our water, and our health. None of the funds targeted to this effort will be used for administrative purposes.
To donate by credit card, click on the “Donate Now Through Network for Good” button on the upper right side of this page. Designate your contribution as “Gas Drilling” and 100% of your donation will be used to support this effort.
NYS DEC dSGEIS for NATURAL GAS EXTRACTION
OTSEGO 2000 RESPONDS:
COOPERSTOWN, NY. DECEMBER 31, 2009, Otsego 2000 provided extensive comments on the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s “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.”
Two sets of comments were submitted to DEC.
The first, “Comments of Otsego 2000 in Opposition to the dSGEIS for Gas Drilling in the Marcellus Shale” written by Board President Nicole Dillingham:
The second set of comments were written and compiled by the law firm of Zarin and Steinmetz representing Otsego 2000.
For your convenience, a hardcopy of these documents can be viewed at the Cooperstown Public Library.
For additional information:
EPA Comments on NYS DGSEIS:
http://www.epa.gov/region2/spmm/r2nepa.htm#r2letters.
Region 3 hotline takes NYS complaints: www.epa.gov/region03/marcellus_shale/tipline.html
NYC DEP Comments:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/pdf/natural_gas_drilling/nycdep_comments_final_12-22-09.pdf
NYC DEP Consultant’s, Hazen and Sawyer Report on Potential Impacts to NYC Watershed:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/pdf/natural_gas_drilling/12_23_2009_final_assessment_report.pdf
OTSEGO 2000 responds to draft regulations from the DEC governing NATURAL GAS DRILLING
Concerned about environmental impact of horizontal high-water volume drilling, Otsego 2000 has issued a position paper outlining our concerns and suggesting changes to the proposed regulations.
Letter to the NYS Division of Mineral Resources: Dept. of Oil and Gas Regulation
Position Statement on Natural Gas Drilling in the Lake Otsego Watershed and Otsego County
SUPPORT LOCAL MILK NOW
Please sign COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELING (COOL) Petition
By Caroline Scott-Thomas
04-Mar-2010
New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has added her voice to a call for country of origin labeling (COOL) to be expanded to dairy products, following a further recall last month of melamine-tainted milk from China.
Country of origin labeling was introduced in the United States in 2008, requiring origin labeling of meats, nuts and raw produce, but not dairy products or processed foods. Then in October last year, Ohio's Senator Sherrod Brown introduced legislation in Congress
to extend COOL to dairy products. The bill proposed retaining the exemption for processed foods, but if passed, it would require COOL labeling for dairy products including milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream, and butter.
Following the recall of 170 tons of Chinese milk powder last month, tainted with the industrial chemical melamine, Gillibrand has announced her push for the legislation, and has also said she wants to overhaul the keeping of dairy product inventories, in an effort to dispel the problem of artificially depressed milk prices.
"All consumers have the right to know whether the milk, yogurt and cheese that we buy are made in Upstate New York or China," Gillibrand said. "This legislation supports both families and farmers by requiring country of origin labeling on all dairy products. With increasing dairy imports and alarming news about tainted products overseas, country of origin labeling provides critical information to parents and all adults that will help them make smart choices for their families."
You can view this petition at:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/tell-a-friend/6948688
Our Comments on the
Jordanville Wind Power Project
Regarding the Supplement to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement:
In light of what Otsego 2000 officials, their consultants, and a number of other interested parties agree are “serious
flaws that make the document inaccurate and misleading,” the Warren Town Board is being asked to require that Community Energy Inc. amend its recent Supplement to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement of the Jordanville Wind Power Project.
Only then, say Otsego 2000 representatives, will the “hard look” required by law under New York’s Environmental Quality Review Act have been taken. Click here to view comments submitted by Otsego 2000.
Harry Levine of Advocates for Springfield has also commented in writing on the SDEIS, on behalf of that organization, concurring
that the SDEIS has failed to document a range of environmental impacts and appropriate mitigation. Click on the links below to read those comments:
• Letter to Bernard Melewski, legal counsel, Town of Warren
• List of concerns about the Jordanville SDEIS
• Exhibit A - SDEIS Section 3.9, Socioeconomics
• Exhibit B - SDEIS Section 3.5, Aesthetic/Visual Resources
and Night Lighting
Additional comments submitted included:
• Report: "Evaluation of Environmental Noise Analysis for 'Jordanville Wind Power Project,'" by Richard H. Bolton, President, Environmental Compliance Alliance, at the request of Advocates for Stark
• Letter to Warren Town Board regarding lack of detail in the SDEIS regarding the project decommissioning fund and construction bonding, written by Sue Brander of Advocates for Stark
• Review of SDEIS sections 3.1 and 3.2 by Nicholas Pressly, Environmental Projects Manager, Pressly & Associates, Inc.
About Nicholas Pressly
Regarding the Draft Environmental
Impact Statement:
Otsego 2000 has contracted with various experts to comment on the
Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Jordanville Wind Power Project, culminating in the document "Legal, Visual, Cultural Landscape & Noise Reports for Otsego 2000 and Advocates for Stark to the Town of Warren Town Board." The following are reports and studies that were completed as part of this review:
Viewshed Analysis, Visibility Study, Jordanville Wind Energy Project - August 2, 2006
Completed by Stone Environmental, Inc. for Otsego 2000
Three maps - click on links to view:
• 399’ map, shows the visibility of the project based on the height of the turbine (to the tip of the blade)
• 262’ map, shows the visibility of the project at nacelle height (approximates nighttime visibility of the project)
• 199’ map, shows visibility of the project if the height of the turbine was lower so no nighttime lighting would be required
About Stone Environmental, Inc.
Methodology Used in Preparing Photomontages and a Nighttime Photosimulation for the Proposed Windfarm in Jordanville, NY - August 2, 2006
Prepared by James A. Zack, President Xtra-Spatial Productions, LLC for Otsego 2000
About James A Zack
Photosimulations of Pt. Florence
• original digital photograph
• original photo, blue sky added, no turbines
• simulated blue sky, with turbines
• original photo, with turbines
• nighttime with turbines
Photosimulations prepared by James A. Zack,
Xtra-Spatial Productions, LLC
Photosimulation of Thayer Farm, blue sky with turbines
Review of Jordanville Wind Power Project DEIS Visual Impact Assessment & Cultural Resources Survey
and
List of Images Referenced
August 2, 2006
Completed by Heritage Landscapes for Otsego 2000
About Heritage Landscapes
DEIS Noise Impact Preliminary Review - August 2, 2006 Completed by Ronald Bielinski, PE, AIA, CIH, INCE for Otsego 2000
Assessment of Potential Impacts to Local Water Resources, As Well As the Upper Susquehanna River and Mohawk River Watersheds
Completed by Pressly & Associates, Inc. for Otsego 2000 and Advocates for Stark
For more information about the Jordanville Wind Power Project, click here.
To read the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Jordanville Wind Power Project, click here.
For DEIS supporting figures and appendices, click here.
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