New York Releases Fracking Report

Mr. H.

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Aug 19, 2009
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And it's a whopper. 1,500 paged 46 meg PDF.

On Wednesday, New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation released a long-awaited full draft of its report on the economic benefits, as well as the social and environmental risks, of hydraulic fracking in New York.

Revised Draft SGEIS on the Oil, Gas and Solution Mining Regulatory Program (September 2011) - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation

Individual chapters are downloadable.

The report explores the prospective economic benefits of fracking within the state in detail, reported the Wall Street Journal. The report says that fracking could bring 29,000 new jobs to the state, and generate anywhere from $621 million to $2.5 billion. Natural Gas and Energy companies say that drilling is safe in any location, and criticize the DEC report for advise against drilling in State Parks, as well as the following proposed regulatory measures.
 
And it's a whopper. 1,500 paged 46 meg PDF.

On Wednesday, New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation released a long-awaited full draft of its report on the economic benefits, as well as the social and environmental risks, of hydraulic fracking in New York.

Revised Draft SGEIS on the Oil, Gas and Solution Mining Regulatory Program (September 2011) - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation

Individual chapters are downloadable.

The report explores the prospective economic benefits of fracking within the state in detail, reported the Wall Street Journal. The report says that fracking could bring 29,000 new jobs to the state, and generate anywhere from $621 million to $2.5 billion. Natural Gas and Energy companies say that drilling is safe in any location, and criticize the DEC report for advise against drilling in State Parks, as well as the following proposed regulatory measures.

our energy reserves are a great and large answer to some of our economic troubles.

Extracting and selling the vast energy assets we have in the USA would lead to new wealth creation, new tax revenues, new job creation, and additional money to spur on the economy (from more jobs and more wealth leading to even more tax revenue)
 
It may very well sway legislators into passing bills that would allow the practice. At any rate, this is a very valuable report and could have impact nationwide.

I was in D.C. last March and while on my way out of a meeting, was stopped by someone who overheard the proceedings as he passed by in the hallway. He said he'd been involved in hydrology in NY state for 25 years and was dumbfounded by their ban on fracking.

Haven't gotten into the report yet, but will digest it as I find the time.

Stay tuned...
 
http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/materials_minerals_pdf/rdsgeisch6a0911.pdf

6.1.5.4 Conclusion
The Department finds that high-volume hydraulic fracturing activity is not consistent with the
preservation of the NYC and Syracuse watersheds as unfiltered drinking water supplies. Even
with all of the criteria and conditions identified in the revised draft SGEIS, a risk remains that
significant high-volume hydraulic fracturing activities in these areas could result in a degradation
of drinking water supplies from accidents, surface spills, etc. Moreover, such large scale
industrial activity in these areas, even without spills, could imperil EPA‘s FADs and result in the
affected municipalities incurring substantial costs to filter their drinking water supply.
Accordingly, and for all of the aforementioned reasons, the Department concludes that highvolume
hydraulic fracturing operations within the NYC and Syracuse watersheds pose the risk of
causing significant adverse impacts to water resources. As discussed in Chapter 7, standard
mitigation measures such as stormwater controls would only partially mitigate such impacts.
Such partial mitigation is unacceptable due to the potential consequences – adverse impacts to
human health and loss of filtration avoidance – posed by such impacts.
 
Economic benefits have to be weighed against environmental degradation. And a way of compensations, 100%, for those adversely impacted by the fracking.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/materials_minerals_pdf/rdsgeisch6a0911.pdf

As explained in the 1992 GEIS, potential migration of natural gas to a water well presents a
safety hazard because of its combustible and asphyxiant nature, especially if the natural gas
builds up in an enclosed space such as a well shed, house or garage. Well construction practices
designed to prevent gas migration would also form a barrier to other formation fluids such as oil
or brine. Although gas migration may not manifest itself until the production phase, its
occurrence would result from well construction (i.e., casing and cement) problems.
The 1992 GEIS acknowledges that migration of naturally-occurring methane from wetlands,
landfills and shallow bedrock can also contaminate water supplies independently or in the
absence of any nearby oil and gas activities. Section 4.7 of this document explains how the
natural occurrence of shallow methane in New York can affect water wells, which needs to be
considered when evaluating complaints of methane migration that are perceived to be related to
natural gas development.
 
Economic benefits have to be weighed against environmental degradation. And a way of compensations, 100%, for those adversely impacted by the fracking.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/materials_minerals_pdf/rdsgeisch6a0911.pdf

As explained in the 1992 GEIS, potential migration of natural gas to a water well presents a
safety hazard because of its combustible and asphyxiant nature, especially if the natural gas
builds up in an enclosed space such as a well shed, house or garage. Well construction practices
designed to prevent gas migration would also form a barrier to other formation fluids such as oil
or brine. Although gas migration may not manifest itself until the production phase, its
occurrence would result from well construction (i.e., casing and cement) problems.
The 1992 GEIS acknowledges that migration of naturally-occurring methane from wetlands,
landfills and shallow bedrock can also contaminate water supplies independently or in the
absence of any nearby oil and gas activities. Section 4.7 of this document explains how the
natural occurrence of shallow methane in New York can affect water wells, which needs to be
considered when evaluating complaints of methane migration that are perceived to be related to
natural gas development.
Good thing the tech has VASTLY improved since 1992 to make it much cleaner and safer ;)
 
http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/materials_minerals_pdf/rdsgeisch6a0911.pdf

6.1.5.4 Conclusion
The Department finds that high-volume hydraulic fracturing activity is not consistent with the
preservation of the NYC and Syracuse watersheds as unfiltered drinking water supplies. Even
with all of the criteria and conditions identified in the revised draft SGEIS, a risk remains that
significant high-volume hydraulic fracturing activities in these areas could result in a degradation
of drinking water supplies from accidents, surface spills, etc. Moreover, such large scale
industrial activity in these areas, even without spills, could imperil EPA‘s FADs and result in the
affected municipalities incurring substantial costs to filter their drinking water supply.
Accordingly, and for all of the aforementioned reasons, the Department concludes that highvolume
hydraulic fracturing operations within the NYC and Syracuse watersheds pose the risk of
causing significant adverse impacts to water resources. As discussed in Chapter 7, standard
mitigation measures such as stormwater controls would only partially mitigate such impacts.
Such partial mitigation is unacceptable due to the potential consequences – adverse impacts to
human health and loss of filtration avoidance – posed by such impacts.

Economic benefits have to be weighed against environmental degradation. And a way of compensations, 100%, for those adversely impacted by the fracking.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/materials_minerals_pdf/rdsgeisch6a0911.pdf

As explained in the 1992 GEIS, potential migration of natural gas to a water well presents a
safety hazard because of its combustible and asphyxiant nature, especially if the natural gas
builds up in an enclosed space such as a well shed, house or garage. Well construction practices
designed to prevent gas migration would also form a barrier to other formation fluids such as oil
or brine. Although gas migration may not manifest itself until the production phase, its
occurrence would result from well construction (i.e., casing and cement) problems.
The 1992 GEIS acknowledges that migration of naturally-occurring methane from wetlands,
landfills and shallow bedrock can also contaminate water supplies independently or in the
absence of any nearby oil and gas activities. Section 4.7 of this document explains how the
natural occurrence of shallow methane in New York can affect water wells, which needs to be
considered when evaluating complaints of methane migration that are perceived to be related to
natural gas development.

Thanks for culling these. It reaffirms what I had come to know already, that fracking is a containment issue and not an issue of the process itself.

It'll be interesting to follow the public input phase and subsequent debate in the NY statehouse.
 
I have never said otherwise. However, doesn't look at this point that the containment is taken that seriously by the people doing the fracking.
 
That's a bit of a presumption.

Considering the many thousands of wells that have been hydraulically fracked over the decades, I think there's a good track record here.

Industry is already familiar with the stringent monitoring and regulation of produced fluids, particularly salt water brine- which is by far more potentially damaging to the environment. And it's the intention of industry to work within the regulatory framework, not against it.

Again, this report is a positive development and I think it will go a long way toward separating fact from fiction, allowing the industry to proceed in the state of New York which will bring jobs and paychecks and revenues to municipalities and government alike.
 
Don't expect that to make a bit of difference to the bedwetting enviro-wackaloons.
of course not. It's no about science. It's about emotional needs to shut us down and make us just another third world nation for revenge of us being successful in the past.
 
That's not to say that there aren't legitimate concerns. The scope of the report is to get all the issues into the forefront in a pragmatic and objective manner. Hopefully it does just that. It's up to legislators in New York to digest the report, absorb public input, and decide if the risks- actual and not perceived- are worth the economic benefits.

There are a plethora of environmental tragedies taking place before our eyes on a daily basis that surmount this issue of fracturing. The droplets of gasoline that hit the ground as you move the gasoline hose from your car back to the pump add up to a horrendous amount of non point-source pollution. Agricultural practices are given a pass all the while poisoning plant, water, and wildlife. This is real, identifiable, documented pollution.

I've witnessed this witch hunt over the last 35 years and believe me, nothing has changed. If it's carbon based, it's bad. If you don't think it's bad, you will be made to believe it's bad. Ethanol good - oil bad. Get the picture? Wind, solar, hydro, thermal good. Hydrocarbons bad. Nevermind the fact that you can't take a shit in your home without the impact of some form of hydrocarbons. It's baaaaaaad, man.
 
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