Marcellus Shale News Compilation

Propane Fracking in Tioga County

Landowners in Tioga County say they will start applying to the DEC for permits to start fracking for natural gas, but the process is called propane fracking.

This uses liquefied petroleum gas, not a water and chemical solution, to break up rock and release gas underneath.

It's not hydrofracking which is currently banned but under review in New York State.

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LPG Fracking Coming to Tioga NY?

Tioga County (WENY) - Deep shale hydrofracking could be coming to the Southern tier a lot sooner than a lot of people think. A company has come up with a way to do it without using millions of gallons of water.

And a group of about two-thousand local land owners, called Southern Tier Energy Partners, signed an agreement with 2 companies that want to start drilling in a matter of months. The Method is known as LPG Fracturing. It uses gelled liquid petroleum gas instead of chemically infused water and sand.

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Propane fracking deal reached in NY; Plan would open 130,000 acres in Tioga County for drilling

The leadership of a group of landowners in Tioga County, New York has reached an agreement with gas drillers to begin developing the Marcellus Shale using liquid propane as a fracking agent.

Brokers of the deal, between eCorp, GasFrac Energy Services, and the Tioga County Landowners Association, believe that fracking with natural gas is not included under a New York state moratorium that prevents drillers from using high volume hydraulic fracturing. The moratorium was put in place in 2008 due to environmental concerns, pending the completion of a review by the state DEC.

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Area official questions use of brine on roads

COOPERSTOWN -- In the summer of 2010, residents of the Otsego County town of Pittsfield said they noticed a tanker truck equipped with nozzles spreading what they later learned was natural gas well brine on town roads.

They said they had a number of questions, including: Who permitted it and why? Where was the brine from? Did the liquid being spread pose a potential health hazard?

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DEC Fracking Permits Comment Draws Wide Response

State DEC commissioner Joe Martens' comments that some fracking permits could "conceivably" be issued before the end of 2012 have unleashed a flood of reaction from all sides of the fracking debate.

Pro-frackers say it's further proof New York is ready to drill.

Others don't see how the DEC could get through the 45,000 comments it just received on it's latest environmental impact statement, or SGEIS, by the end of the year.

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Drilling Protest On Campus

Dickinson, NY (WBNG Binghamton) People against hydrofracking head to a school campus to get their voices heard.
On Friday morning, New York Residents Against Gas Drilling (NYRAD) were loud about their message on the Broome BOCES campus.

They say they wanted Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo and State Senator Tom Libous to hear them as the leaders drove on their way to a breakfast at BOCES.

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Anti-Fracking Protest on BOCES

Anti-fracking advocates were hoping that getting up early would help them catch the attention of two elected officials.

Concerned citizens about hydrofracking gathered Friday morning outside Glenwood BOCES to request that Assembly Woman Donna Lupardo and Senator Tom Libous sign a pledge for the DEC not to lift its current defacto moratorium on hydrofracking until all 17 of their concerns have been met.

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Experts: Gas drilling won't start in N.Y. in 2012

JOHNSON CITY -- Area experts on natural gas drilling agree: New York's swath of the Marcellus Shale isn't likely to be tapped in 2012.

Panelists on both sides of the issue discussed the future of natural gas drilling in the Southern Tier at a roundtable discussion hosted by Press & Sun-Bulletin on Thursday at the Gannett Central N.Y. Production Facility.

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Strictly Business: Is this the year for fracking in N.Y.?

I'm beginning to wonder if high-volume hydraulic fracturing, the method of extracting natural gas from tight shale formations underground, will ever be allowed in New York.

I don't say that because opponents have successfully lobbied against it. I say that after looking at the enormity of the task now facing New York's Department of Environmental Conservation.