Marcellus Shale Press Coverage

Steuben County is home to 619 unplugged and abandoned gas, oil and other wells that are a threat to public health and safety, according to the head of an Ithaca-based environmental database firm.

Another 41 of these wells are in Chemung County, 46 in Tompkins County, 11 in Broome County and seven in Tioga County, said Walter Hang, president of Toxics Targeting Inc.

There are allegations that the State Department of Environmental Conservation has breached the public trust.

Those harsh words come from the President of the environmental database firm in Ithaca called Toxics Targeting. Walter Hang says an extensive review of the DEC Mineral Resources annual reports shows that the agency has failed to protect the environment and people from some past gas drilling. Hang says the DEC has allowed improper gas and oil regulation for decades. Allegations include the DEC failing to do enough to protect water supplies and allowing billions of gallons of contaminated production brine to be put in lagoons, pits, streams and on roads without treating it first to remove chemicals. Hang also says that decades ago the DEC identified thousands of unplugged gas wells, but has allowed them to remain.

ALBANY, N.Y. — State regulators claim a strong record of oil and gas drilling oversight, but their own reports reveal thousands of unplugged abandoned wells and other industrial problems that could pose a threat to groundwater, wetlands, air quality and public safety.

Annual reports and incident reports prepared by Department of Environmental Conservation staff and reviewed by The Associated Press run counter to the agency's long-stated assertion that the types of problems reported in other states have been prevented in New York by strong regulations.