There are arcane battles aplenty in the environmental world, where the average citizen can only hope that one expert is more believable than another. Hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus Shale in the New York City watershed also pits clean water against the national hunger for new sources of energy.
The practice of "fracking" -- fracturing deep rock with pressure and chemicals, including benzene, in order to capture natural gas -- has gained national prominence as environmentalists ramp up the call for more regulation by state and federal governments, and more transparency by the industry about the practices and chemicals it uses. Fracking has been implicated in a range of environmental impacts, including groundwater and well contamination and the poisoning of cattle, due to improper or uncontrollable use of chemicals.
But one industry trade organization, Energy In Depth, has devoted web pages to proving that fracking has always been effectively regulated on a state by state basis, and to fighting federal regulation. The industry won an exemption under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, and decries additional attempts to hinder exploration and production through regulation. See this shale blog.Here in New York, Chesapeake Energy has just withdrawn its proposal to "frack" the Marcellus Shale, a stretch of rock that underlays the New York City Watershed in Sullivan County and runs to Tenessee, after stinging rebukes from environmental organizations that the health and integrity of the watershed would be threatened. Riverkeeper, which has been tracking and reporting on the issue since 2004, hailed the victory as an indication that even Chesapeake Energy has determined the proposal is environmentally unsound. In an editorial two weeks ago, The New York Times had called for a ban on fracking in the city's watershed.
But has Chesapeake Energy withdrawn?
The Times, in back-to-back, follow-up articles, indicated first that Chesapeake is done with the watershed, and three days later that the company may be sitting on its holdings for a better time. The latter may be true. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has released its draft regulations. The company may be waiting to take the measure of the regulatory environment once the new rules are final.
Chesapeake Energy sounds less like an environmental convert and more like a business looking for a more friendly regulatory climate for energy exploration and production. Speaking to the Times about the controversy over drilling in the watershed, "Aubrey K. McClendon, the chief executive officer at Chesapeake Energy, said in an interview on Monday in Fort Worth. 'Why go through the brain damage of that, when we have so many other opportunities?'"
You can download the proposed DEC regs here (warning this is a 23 MB pdf file)
Public hearings on the new state regulations will take place as follows (doors open at 6 PM in each location):
- Wednesday, October 28, Sullivan County Community College, E Building, Seelig Theatre, 112 College Rd., Loch Sheldrake, NY 12759.
- Tuesday, November 10, Stuyvesant High School, High School Auditorium, 345 Chambers Street, New York, NY 10282.
- Thursday, November 12, Chenango Valley High School, High School Auditorium, 221 Chenango Bridge Rd., Chenango Bridge, NY 13901.
- Wednesday, November 18, Corning East High School Auditorium, 201 Cantigny Street, Corning, NY 14830.
