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Group Calls On Cuomo To Slow Down On Fracking
Binghamton, NY (WBNG Bingamton) Local leaders and members of a statewide coalition raise the alert about any possible hydrofracking demonstration project.
The coalition has received more than 2,300 signatures on a letter to the Governor.
They're concerned about any potential planning to site a a natural gas drilling test using hydraulic fracturing somewhere in the Southern Tier.
"If the Governor is really going to listen to executive order 41. Which really if you read it closely he can't go forward. Legally he can't go forward because they have not done sufficient research into many different areas and so I hope that he's listening," said Matthew Ryan, (D) Binghamton Mayor.
"If it isn't safe in the New York City watershed then it shouldn't be allowed anywhere else. Until all these safeguards have been adopted we don't think that the Southern Tier or any other area should be the learning experience for the fracking industry," said President of Toxics Targeting, Walter Hang.
Currently there is a statewide moratorium on hydrofracking.
The New York Department of Environmental Conservation has yet to finalize permitting regulations.
Southern Tier residents fear fracking test
Advocates against hydrofracking fear the Southern Tier will be used as a testing ground. Photo by AP.
Toxics Targeting, an environmental database website, has released a letter with more than 1,600 signatures requesting Gov. Andrew Cuomo block a feared three-year hydraulic fracturing test project in the Southern Tier, as well as continue to review the potential environmental impact.
Hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracking, is the process of blasting a mixture of water, sand and chemicals to break up rock and release natural gas.
"Pressure on Gov. Cuomo continues to build regarding the fate of Marcellus Shale gas extraction in New York," said Toxics Targeting President Walter Hang. "That is why we must make absolutely sure that no wretchedly bad compromise deals are struck to provide political cover for the powers that be."
The three-year hydrofracking demonstration described by the organization – but not widely publicized elsewhere – involves the Department of Environmental Conservation issuing permits for no more than 100 wells annually in the Broome, Tioga and Chemung counties. The wells would be monitored in a few major areas and would be a test to whether hydrofracking is safe.
"Shale gas extraction must not be allowed in the Southern Tier or any other areas of New York until it is safe for all areas of our state, including the New York City and Syracuse watersheds," wrote Hang. "Until there is a consensus among local, state and federal government authorities, as well as potentially impacted parties that these concerns have been fully resolved, we request that you maintain New York's horizontal hydraulic fracturing moratorium."
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Tioga County landowners look towards propane fracking
A moratorium on hydraulic fracturing is still in place in New York State. But now a group of Tioga County landowners are exploring an alternative to the controversial drilling technique. Our Melissa Kakareka has more.
TIOGA COUNTY, N.Y. -- A group of Tioga County landowners are hoping to bring an alternative form of natural gas drilling to the region.
"It's extremely environmental and it's one we think that can be applied here with great results," said Tioga County Landowners Group Chairman Nick Schoonover.
It's called propane fracking. The Tioga County Landowners Group entered into an agreement with Ecorp and Gasfrac Energy to bring the technique to Tioga County this week.
The process uses gelled liquid petroleum gas instead of water to break up rock and release natural gas in the earth.
"The LPG as a gelled agent goes into the earth transporting the sand, fracturing out into the shale and the LPG then at a point returns to a liquid state and then a gaseous state. So when it returns to the surface of the earth, it returns in a gaseous state with some methane," explained Schoonover.
The method would open up about 135,000 acres of land for drilling in Tioga County. Supporters say it is better for the environment than regular hydrofracking and also requires less truck traffic. But some opponents disagree and are hoping to see a more thorough environmental impact study by the DEC.
"It is not a silver bullet in any sense that there is no pollution problems. It doesn't eliminate what I believe is most significant problem with fracking, which is the brine or produced water," said President of Toxics Targeting Walter Hang.
"The idea is to see how it's accepted by everyone. I think it's a good sound solution and one that I hope we can get with all the environmental community on and go ahead with, because I think it has tremendous merit," said Schoonover.
The DEC says they will follow the guidelines set up for the technique in 1992. They may also conduct additional environmental impact surveys as landowners begin applying for permits.
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.
The method's never been used in New York and still needs to be tested by the Department of Environmental Conservation. The company GASFRAC primarily uses this method in Canada, and claims it wouldn't violate any provisions in New York's Environmental Impact Study.
The LPG Fracking method is similar to other horizontal fracking methods in that it uses a substance to crack the shale and release the gas. Walter Hang from Toxics Targeting in Ithaca says this method still doesn't get rid of the brine that comes back up with the gas.
“You're not using water to crack the rock but that does not eliminate the generation of the toxic brine if we don't have a good way to manage this contaminated brine then this proceeding should not be allowed to go forward.”
WENY's calls to the Chairman of the Tioga Landowners Group were not returned. We will keep you updated on this story as it develops.
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.
Because of that difference the Tioga landowners hope to get a permit to start drilling.
Supporters say the process is better for the environment because it doesn't produce the waste water hydrofracking does, but opponents disagree.
"The main focus here is on doing things with an environmental responsibility and doing it in such a way that we don't have to be concerned about our property that we want to protect. Whether it's a run-of-the-mill conventional well that might have been drilled decades ago or a horizontal hydrofracked well, or a well that is fracked with liquefied petroleum gas, they all produce this incredibly toxic brine," said Nick Schoonover, Chairman of the Tioga County Landowners Group.
The landowners would work with Gasfrac Energy Services, which would provide the liquid propane technology, and E-Corp, who would produce the gas.
Schoonover says the Tioga landowners would be entitled to up to two-thirds of the profits from each well under the deal.