Broome County Gas Leasing

ALBANY - Opponents of natural gas drilling in the Southern Tier's Marcellus Shale formation today are cheering the state Senate's approval of a short-term moratorium late Tuesday night.

The measure sailed through the Senate, 48-9. If approved by the Assembly and Gov. David Paterson, permits to drill for natural gas in the formation would be delayed until May 15, 2011.

Now focus turns to the Assembly, where supporters of the drilling moratorium believe it could be taken up soon.

Broome County won't be leasing its lands for natural gas drilling anytime soon. The county Legislature shot down a second offer from Inflection Energy. Our Rob Wu explains why most legislators were not in favor, and what this result may mean for the people of the county moving forward.

BROOME COUNTY, N.Y. -- It was a resounding no to Broome County's second natural gas lease offer from Denver-based Inflection Energy.

**LINK to VIDEO**

Dozens of gas drilling demonstrators gathered outside the Broome County Legislature to get their voice heard.

The group gathered to oppose the Inflection Energy proposal to lease mineral rights on Broome County public property.

The group believes there was not enough analysis of the Marcellus Shale, and that could be dangerous.

A $7.8 million lease offer for the natural gas rights to thousands of acres of Broome County land was overwhelmingly rejected Thursday night by the Broome County Legislature.

BINGHAMTON -- A proposed plan for a state-mandated review of a Broome County natural gas lease drew concern from a Department of Environmental Conservation official in September, according to internal correspondence.

Betty Ann Hughes, then the DEC's chief of State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) and training, said in a pair of messages that without the county completing some analysis of "the potential impacts of typical development activities" on land offered for lease, she would be "concerned that the lease action and supporting SEQR record could be vulnerable to challenge."

This was the scene last month's EPA gas drilling hearing in Binghamton, Thursday night it was a much quieter picture as the public gave their opinion on the county becoming the lead agency that will review a generic lease for oil and natural gas drilling.

BINGHAMTON -- In the highly polarizing debate about the natural gas rush in the Southern Tier, environmentalists and landowners don't agree on much.

On Monday, they were nearly unanimous in their opposition to a proposed lease deal between Broome County and a Denver energy company. Of 22 people who spoke at a public hearing on a $16 million land deal before the county legislature, 18 were against it.