New York City Opposes State on Natural Gas Drilling
There is an intense debate unfolding in New York over the wisdom of extending natural gas drilling rights in the state's portion of the massive Marcellus Shale. This geological formation stretches across the southern tier of New York State and through portions of Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland, and a sliver of Virginia. Depending on whose estimate you subscribe to, and there are many, the Marcellus Shale holds somewhere between 168 trillion and 516 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. That's a broad estimate, to be sure, but even on the low end it would nicely supplement America's annual consumption of 25 trillion cubic feet.
Natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale is also an economic moneymaker. In Pennsylvania, where drilling is already under way, a Penn State study anticipates 98,000 new jobs and an additional $14.7 billion for the state's economy in 2010. In New York, Gov. David Paterson recognizes the economic benefits of drilling, and the state could certainly use a boost. With that in mind, last year Paterson called on the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to draft regulations for drilling in the Shale.
Extracting the gas from the hard rock involves a complex process called hydraulic fracturing. This includes the use of sand, chemicals, and lots of water — upwards of three million gallons per well. Chesapeake Energy Company and other producers have been using this process without incident in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, and they stand by the safety of the procedure. Environmentalists are worried, though, because the chemicals could seep into the watershed that supplies all of New York City and the surrounding region.
The New York City Council held hearings last week that led to a resolution calling on Gov. Paterson to ban drilling near the watershed. In all fairness, the watershed only accounts for some 8 percent of the entire New York portion of the Marcellus Shale, so it may seem that the Big Apple isn't asking for a lot. But the City Council didn't even think it necessary to invite representatives from the energy companies involved to testify about the process. This made for a rather one-sided discussion whose outcome seemed pre-ordained.
The City Council and the Natural Resources Defense Council have also expressed disapproval at the DEC's draft report on the proposed drilling rules. They want to extend the report's comment period 90 days beyond the current November 30, 2009, deadline. They have also called for hearings on the proposed rules to take place in New York City, which has already proven itself to be anything but neutral territory on the issue.
It can be argued that the City Council is merely acting in the best interests of its constituents. But in the process they are also stalling a decision process that has already taken a year to develop. Furthermore, the economy of the entire state is on standby while they continue to deliberate.