Legislators In Albany And New York Float Hydrofracking Bills
Gas industry says legislation in response to Marcellus Shale propsal would kill all drilling efforts
Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:56:00
Gov. David Paterson has made clear that he will wait for the state Department of Conservation to finish studying the risks of the proposal before making any final decisions on drilling in the Marcellus Shale.
That could take months, however, and several state legislators who fear the drilling could contaminate New York City’s water supply say they are not content to let the process drag out any longer.
They are pushing a set of bills that would either impose tight regulations on the drilling or possibly kill the Marcellus Shale proposal altogether.
State Sen. Tom Duane and Assembly Member James Brennan have introduced two bills that would prohibit any permits for oil or gas drilling from being issued for two years, prohibit drilling within five miles of the New York City water supply and ban drilling anywhere within the Delaware River watershed.
Duane acknowledged that his ultimate goal is a statewide ban on all hydrofracking, the controversial drilling method, which extracts oil by propelling liquid deep into rocks, that has been proposed for the Marcellus Shale project.
“There is no safe hydrofracking technology,” Duane said. “Maybe someday, but certainly not now.”
The natural gas industry believes these bills are so onerous that, if passed, would essentially stop the controversial project in its tracks.
“If the goal is to chase industry out of New York, this over-legislating will do the trick,” said Jim Smith, of the Independent Oil and Gas Association of New York State.
Meanwhile, Assembly Member Robert Sweeney, chair of the Environmental Conservation Committee, is set to introduce a set of five bills requiring drillers to provide more extensive environmental impact statements, banning hydrofracking fluids that pose risks to human health, regulating where hazardous waste can be discarded and increasing the amount of money drilling companies must set aside for clean-up afterward.
Although Sweeney’s bills are seen by the natural gas industry as less extreme than the Duane/Brennan legislation, business groups still oppose them.
“These bills would simply put up unnecessary roadblocks to drilling, to creating economic opportunity, tax revenue for the state and badly needed domestic natural gas,” said Michael Moran, spokesman for the Business Council of New York. “We would be opposing the bills in total.”
The bills introduced by Duane and Brennan have already attracted a number of Democratic co-sponsors in the Assembly from both upstate and downstate. Opponents of the drilling say the argument against hydrofracking has also been boosted recently by a report released by the city Department of Environmental Protection.
According to New York City Council Member Jim Gennaro, chair of the Environmental Council Committee, said many now consider the study the definitive scientific case against hyrdofracking—and that even without legislative intervention, the drilling will be hard-pressed to move forward.
“The Paterson Administration has to respond to an incredible amount of science and advocacy that has been put forward,” said Gennaro, who chairs the Council Committee on Environmental Protection. “It will be very difficult for them to do that.”
The federal government also may get involved. Gennaro said he recently met with a regional Environmental Protection Agency administrator who the agency may now get involved in the debate over hydrofracking because of the new study. And a bill is working its way through Congress that would close a legal loophole exempting natural gas companies from the Safe Drinking Water Act and water contamination-related liabilities.
Several upstate lawmakers, however, expressed resistance to legislative meddling into the project including State Sen. George Maziarz, chair of the Energy Committee.
He noted that response to the Marcellus Shale drilling was overwhelmingly positive at a recent meeting of the New York State Association of Counties. Outside of New York City, support for the project remains strong, he said.
“I think some of my colleagues need to understand the importance of these jobs to upstate New York,” Maziarz said.
That could take months, however, and several state legislators who fear the drilling could contaminate New York City’s water supply say they are not content to let the process drag out any longer.
They are pushing a set of bills that would either impose tight regulations on the drilling or possibly kill the Marcellus Shale proposal altogether.
State Sen. Tom Duane and Assembly Member James Brennan have introduced two bills that would prohibit any permits for oil or gas drilling from being issued for two years, prohibit drilling within five miles of the New York City water supply and ban drilling anywhere within the Delaware River watershed.
Duane acknowledged that his ultimate goal is a statewide ban on all hydrofracking, the controversial drilling method, which extracts oil by propelling liquid deep into rocks, that has been proposed for the Marcellus Shale project.
“There is no safe hydrofracking technology,” Duane said. “Maybe someday, but certainly not now.”
The natural gas industry believes these bills are so onerous that, if passed, would essentially stop the controversial project in its tracks.
“If the goal is to chase industry out of New York, this over-legislating will do the trick,” said Jim Smith, of the Independent Oil and Gas Association of New York State.
Meanwhile, Assembly Member Robert Sweeney, chair of the Environmental Conservation Committee, is set to introduce a set of five bills requiring drillers to provide more extensive environmental impact statements, banning hydrofracking fluids that pose risks to human health, regulating where hazardous waste can be discarded and increasing the amount of money drilling companies must set aside for clean-up afterward.
Although Sweeney’s bills are seen by the natural gas industry as less extreme than the Duane/Brennan legislation, business groups still oppose them.
“These bills would simply put up unnecessary roadblocks to drilling, to creating economic opportunity, tax revenue for the state and badly needed domestic natural gas,” said Michael Moran, spokesman for the Business Council of New York. “We would be opposing the bills in total.”
The bills introduced by Duane and Brennan have already attracted a number of Democratic co-sponsors in the Assembly from both upstate and downstate. Opponents of the drilling say the argument against hydrofracking has also been boosted recently by a report released by the city Department of Environmental Protection.
According to New York City Council Member Jim Gennaro, chair of the Environmental Council Committee, said many now consider the study the definitive scientific case against hyrdofracking—and that even without legislative intervention, the drilling will be hard-pressed to move forward.
“The Paterson Administration has to respond to an incredible amount of science and advocacy that has been put forward,” said Gennaro, who chairs the Council Committee on Environmental Protection. “It will be very difficult for them to do that.”
The federal government also may get involved. Gennaro said he recently met with a regional Environmental Protection Agency administrator who the agency may now get involved in the debate over hydrofracking because of the new study. And a bill is working its way through Congress that would close a legal loophole exempting natural gas companies from the Safe Drinking Water Act and water contamination-related liabilities.
Several upstate lawmakers, however, expressed resistance to legislative meddling into the project including State Sen. George Maziarz, chair of the Energy Committee.
He noted that response to the Marcellus Shale drilling was overwhelmingly positive at a recent meeting of the New York State Association of Counties. Outside of New York City, support for the project remains strong, he said.
“I think some of my colleagues need to understand the importance of these jobs to upstate New York,” Maziarz said.
