Syracuse (WSYR-TV) - While the Department of Environmental Conservation continues to work on guidelines for it, the push to get the state to take its time with hydrofracking picked up more steam on Friday.
A small rally was held in front of the state office building Friday, but the main goal was to deliver almost 2,000 signatures to State Senators Dave Valesky and John DeFrancisco.
Rally organizers are calling on the senators to support a proposed hydrofracking moratorium. They say a planned EPA study on this type of gas drilling is critical to the state.
"We absolutely need to wait until we know the science behind hydrofracking before we go forward and let it happen in this state," said rally organizer Lindsay Speer.
Other states, such as Pennsylvania, have already allowed gas companies in to start hydrofracking for natural gas and it is already providing a cautionary tale for one community in particular in the area sitting on that much sought after natural gas.
That coveted Marcellus Shale and the gas trapped in it stretches through several states including Pennsylvania. Only about a hour and a half from Ithaca, just over the Pennsylvania border, is a place called Dimock, which has seen gas rigs popping up fast. Dimock has also had to deal with some environmental clean-ups because of hydrofracking.
In northeastern Pennsylvania rigs dot land in Susquehanna County - not far from Binghamton - that was once primarily used for farming. Natural gas, which has been trapped in what's called the Marcellus Shale for thousands of years, is now accessible through a process called hydrofracking. Companies drill almost a mile deep and then break off that main line horizontally to frack, or break into the rock, and get the gas. But, as people in Dimock Township found out, the chemicals used to do it can enter local water supplies and Tompkins County legislators nearby are watching the development with a careful eye.
"It is our responsibility as public officials, in my mind, that we take the time, we take the care to make sure this is done right and that for future generations they won't be stuck with polluted aquifers," said Tompkins County Legislator Pam Mackesey.
Tompkins County, like other Central New York municipalities, is bracing for the gas rush expected if the state finally allows hydrofracking in the area's Marcellus Shale. In its latest step, the county has formally asked for help from a regional coalition on how to handle all the drilling requests it anticipates may overwhelm staff.
"So that we will not be suffering the same kind of consequences that people in other parts of the country have suffered because they didn't take the time to develop the regulations and procedures that needed to take place," Mackesey said.
Numerous landowners are in favor of hydrofracking because they stand to benefit financially from the gas drilling. They protested in Albany last week, demanding that lawmakers stop delaying the laws that would allow it.
A Pennsylvania state regulatory board voted on Thursday in favor of proposed new standards to deal with polluted drilling wastewater. The rule is designed to take effect Jan. 1, but that could be delayed by the legislature.
