Binghamton (WSYR-TV/AP) - Hundreds of people turned out Monday afternoon for the first of four public hearing sessions on hydrofracking. The Broome County Forum Theater, in Binghamton, is one of only four spots in the country where the Environmental Protection Agency is looking for comments on the design of its upcoming study of the controversial drilling method.
Very few will argue just how vast a supply of natural gas there is trapped in what's called the Marcellus Shale deep underground through several states including New York. The economic impact of the gas is estimated to reach into the billions. Opinion splits, however, on how to obtain that gas.
Gas companies favor hydrofracking, a drilling technique that involves blasting millions of gallons of chemical-laced water mixed with sand into the ground to release the gas. "Your agency has repeatedly and correctly ruled that the individual states are well equipped to regulate our industry, and that hydrofracturing is inherently safe," Brad Gill of the Independent Oil and Gas Association told the EPA panel.
Many people and communities disagree, however, and worry about the environmental impact of the drilling method. "Preliminary analysis suggest that high-volume fracking with horizontal drilling may actually increase our carbon footprint and accelerate climate change," said Martha Robertson, Chairperson of the Tompkins County Legislature.
Congress has ordered EPA to conduct a new fracking study and EPA is considering how broadly to construct it, since the agency's 2004 study that declared the technology safe was widely criticized as flawed. The earlier study had enabled passage of 2005 energy legislation exempting fracking from federal regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act, leaving regulation to individual states.
The Marcellus rush is barely two years old in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, where thousands of wells have been fracked. Some geologists estimate the Marcellus contains more than 500 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, of which fracking could recover 50 trillion cubic feet - enough to supply the entire East Coast for 50 years. The proximity of the gas stores to the large East Coast energy market makes it particularly valuable.
With the meetings in Binghamton, the EPA is explicitly seeking help designing its upcoming study, but also heard comments on the merits of hydrofracking. Ideally, the agency would like to know where people may see gaps in current knowledge or data the agency should know about from both the public and the industry.
"I think it's very important not only to know the list of chemicals used for fracking but also the concentrations and the actual formula mixtures that are going down in the hole. Then what's coming back we should also sample what's in the tankers," Tompkins County resident Dan Brown said to the EPA panel.
"In fact in all of the industry records in the U.S. I know of no actually factually supported case of contamination of an aquifer by hydraulic fracturing," Madison County resident David Keefe said during his speech.
While formal comments were being heard and recorded inside the theater, several other people were making their opinions known outside. As with the people speaking formally inside, the protesters outside were divided on the subject of hydrofracking.
"Kids can't drink gas" and "Protect our water. Stop fracking America," were some of the signs carried by opponents. Supporters, including union workers eager for jobs, carried signs that said "Yes to science, no to paranoia" and chanted "Pass gas now!"
"They aren't looking at the facts they're going on mass hysteria, they hear the sky is falling. They aren't looking at the facts," said Cheryl Firtsch, who supports hydrofracking.
"We have some well sites probably about 50 yards from our territory and that has us very concerned because as you know they can drill sideways as a matter of fact that's the process," said Onondaga Nation Faithkeeper Oren Lyons.
Paul Rush of New York City's Department of Environmental Protection noted that half the state's population, residing in New York City and its environs, depend on unfiltered water from the Catskills-Delaware watershed that is in the Marcellus Shale region. Two DEP studies showed serious risks to the watershed if gas drilling is allowed there. He urged the EPA to read the studies posted on the DEP's website.
"There's no way this can be done safely. It will toxify the air, water and soil," said protester Kathy Shimberg, 73, of Mount Vision, N.Y., wearing a T-shirt that read "Love N.Y.? Don't frack it up."
A second four-hour meeting was held Monday evening, and two more sessions will be held on Wednesday. In all, the EPA hopes to hear from more than 400 people in Binghamton.
The EPA already held it's three other public hearings in Dallas, Denver and Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. It plans to start its hydrofracking study early next year.
EPA holding upstate NY hearings on gas drilling
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (AP) - Hundreds of people on both sides gathered Monday for what are expected to be contentious public hearings on a federal environmental study of a natural gas drilling technique aimed at tapping a rich formation beneath much of the Northeast.
Opponents of the process - hydraulic fracturing, or fracking - carried signs saying "Kids can't drink gas" and "Protect our water. Stop fracking America." Supporters, including union workers eager for jobs, carried signs that said "Yes to science, no to paranoia" and chanted "Pass gas now!"
The Environmental Protection Agency is holding four-hour hearings in Binghamton beginning at noon and again at 6 p.m. Two more sessions are scheduled for Wednesday.
The EPA is considering how broadly to construct its study of fracking, ordered last year by Congress after the agency's 2004 study that declared the technology safe was widely criticized as flawed. That study had enabled passage of 2005 energy legislation exempting fracking from federal regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
The drilling technique involves blasting millions of gallons of chemical-laced water mixed with sand into the ground and then horizontally to release natural gas from rock formations thousands of feet underground. Opponents say the process can poison drinking water but the industry, strongly opposed to federal regulation, contends there's no proof that fracking chemicals have contaminated drinking water.
The hearings come as a gas rush barely two years old is under way in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, with drilling companies tapping into the vast and lucrative Marcellus Shale region underlying those states, New York and Ohio. Some geologists estimate the Marcellus might contain more than 500 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, of which 50 trillion cubic feet might be recoverable by fracking - enough to supply the entire East Coast for 50 years.
The proximity of the gas stores to the large East Coast energy market makes it particularly valuable. But its location brings drilling to a densely populated region and fears of water contamination of the Delaware River watershed that provides drinking water for 17 million people from Philadelphia to New York City.
"There's no way this can be done safely. It will toxify the air, water and soil," said protester Kathy Shimberg, 73, of Mount Vision, N.Y., wearing a T-shirt that read "Love N.Y.? Don't frack it up."
"Gas is not a clean fuel and the extraction process is massively unclean," she said.
New York's Department of Environmental Conservation has upheld issuing drilling permits until it draws regulations to govern the process. Complaints of wellwater contamination and surface spills of post-fracking water have forced revision of state rules in Pennsylvania, where more than 1,600 wells have already been drilled in the Marcellus Shale and more than 4,000 permits have been granted.
Drilling companies have used fracking to release natural gas from other shale reserves around the country. EPA earlier held hearings in Colorado, Texas and Pennsylvania.
The two sides gathered for the Binghamton hearings were kept at either end of a street on Monday, separated by a long neutral zone and observed by a heavy police presence.
Alex Parillo, representing about 1,000 workers at Laborers Local 785, said allowing the drilling would bring much needed jobs to the economically struggling region.
"It's a big jobs issue for us," Parillo said. "We see industries coming into New York with their hands out, looking for tax abatements and bringing in out of state workers. Here we have an industry, they don't have their hands out. They embrace the local work force. They just want guidelines to do it right. The DEC will have the strictest regulations in the world."
Parillo said local laborers have a stake in safeguarding the environment.
"We're going to be on the front lines and make sure it's done right," he said.
Claude Crispell of Burdette has been working on pipelines all his life and said it's one of the safest jobs he's ever had.
"I don't see a problem with drilling here," he said. "The DEC has studied it for three years and says it's safe."
Hydrofracking is the focus in Binghamton
Sept. 13
Binghamton (WSYR-TV) - The controversial gas drilling method known as hydrofracking will be the focus of a government hearing in Binghamton on Monday.
Protestors argue the process hurts the environment and drinking water, while those in favor say it's safe and effective.
Hydrofracking is the process of using sand, water and chemicals to release natural gas from the ground.
Today's Environmental Protection Agency hearing will be at the Broome County Forum Theater and broken into two parts. The first session will run from noon to 4 p.m. and the second will be held from 6 to 10 p.m.
A second round of hearings will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 15. The hearings were originally slated for the Oncenter in Syracuse in August. The hearings were cancelled because of logistical problems.
Hydrofracking meeting relocated to Syracuse, then postponed
Aug. 10
Syracuse (WSYR-TV) - First it was scheduled for Thursday in Binghamton; then it was moved to the Oncenter in Syracuse; and now a hydrofracking public meeting has been postponed.
Thousands of people were expected to attend, both for and against the controversial natural gas drilling method. Onondaga County wasn't approached until yesterday to host the meeting hosted by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Binghamton University was the original host, but the quoted cost of $6,000 was increased to $39,000 when the school learned an increased number of attendees were expected. A university spokesman told NewsChannel 9 the price went up when school officials realized the magnitude of the meetings and the safety and security measures they would have to take. The EPA then looked for a new spot within 40 miles and couldn't find one and so they worked out a deal with the Oncenter.
Syracuse University Professor of Earth Sciences Don Seigel was all set to testify on the benefits of hydrofracking, when he heard the news that the event had been postponed. "I had to spend some time to craft a two-minute statement," Seigel said. "Professors tend to talk a lot, so two minutes is a short period of time."
On the flip side of the issue, Dereth Glance of Citizens Campaign for the Environment was scheduled to speak against the method. "The vast majority of people we know want cradle to grave approach on the analysis EPA is doing at congress' request on hydraulic fracturing," Glance said.
Onondaga County agreed Monday at 5 p.m. to house the meeting. The Oncenter could have easily handled the 1,200 people who had registered. A spokesperson says they then learned there could really be between 2,000 and 12,000.
Onondaga County did not feel it could arrange on short notice the necessary security for potential protests, rallies, and crowds outside the meeting itself, and the EPA said it respects and understands that decision.
"I think this could get very feisty. I'd hope the environmental groups who are opposed would view this as an opportunity to get their view out in a way of decorum," said Seigel.
The EPA says its three previous hydrofracking meetings in other states were successful. The agency is committed to holding this final one.
"We're hopeful that it will be in Syracuse, at least one upstate city," Glance said.
The Deputy County Executive for Physical Services told NewsChannel 9 that the department needed time to talk to the Mayor's office, City Police, and every other agency involved in an event of this size. They wouldn't even have had time to process permits for the people who wanted to rally. County Executive Joanie Mahoney is working to make the event happen in Syracuse in September but the EPA won't guarantee that. They just say it will be somewhere in Upstate New York.
EPA moves hydrofracking meeting to Syracuse
Aug. 9
Syracuse (WSYR-TV) - The Environmental Protection Agency has moved its public hearing on hydrofracking set for Thursday from Binghamton to Syracuse. As many as 8,000 people are expected to attend.
According to a statement issued by Binghamton University, the number of expected attendees was originally set at 1,200. Because the expected number of attendees ballooned to 8,000, the University had to quote the EPA a new price. "Because we are a public University and responsible to the taxpayer, and as we do for all contracted events, a price was developed to ensure that the campus would remain cost neutral."
In a statement issued by the EPA, the agency wrote that the OnCenter's Crouse Hinds Theatre was available at a better cost. "This new facility provided a contract with acceptable terms and conditions and will provide ample space at a cost that is fair and reasonable to taxpayers."
Three 4-hour-long sessions will be held and the OnCenter Complex in downtown Syracuse Thursday. The first will be at 8:00 a.m., the second at 1:00 p.m. and the third will be held at 6:00 p.m.
Anyone who preregistered to speak or attend the event while it was still scheduled for Binghamton University will remain preregistered for the new location. Those who would like to
register can do so online or by calling 1-866-477-3635.
Last week, the State Senate passed a moratorium on drilling. That bill should go before the Assembly in the fall.
EPA moves NY drilling hearing, expecting crowds
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - In anticipation of as many as 8,000 people at a public hearing on natural gas drilling, the Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday that it was moving it from Binghamton University to a Syracuse convention center 65 miles north.
The hearing is the fourth and last by the EPA around the country to get public comment on its study of hydraulic fracturing of natural gas wells. Critics say the technology, which blasts chemical-laced water into the earth, could poison water supplies. The industry says it's been used safely for decades.
The EPA said 300 people have signed up to speak at Thursday's sessions and 1,200 are expected to attend. But C. Peter Magrath, interim president of Binghamton University, said information from law enforcement and various interest groups suggest that an estimated 8,000 people could descend on the campus, prompting the university to raise its cost estimate to cover increased security and a larger meeting area.
Judith Enck, regional administrator for the EPA, said Binghamton presented a new cost estimate that was five times what had been agreed upon previously, forcing the agency to find another location that was more affordable to taxpayers.
Thursday's hearing will be held at the Oncenter Complex in Syracuse. There will be three four-hour sessions.
Previous hearings were held in Colorado, Texas and Pennsylvania.
Advancements in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, significantly increased yield from shale gas wells and led to the current natural gas boom, starting with the Barnett Shale in Texas.
The technology has drawn intense scrutiny since the focus of gas drilling companies has shifted in recent years to the Marcellus Shale, a massive rock formation underlying New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia.
Environmental groups, residents and civic leaders fear potential contamination of watersheds in the densely populated region if fracking isn't more tightly regulated. Fracking was exempted from the Safe Drinking Water Act in 2005 after an earlier EPA study declared fracking wasn't a threat to water supplies. That study has since been criticized as flawed.
The new EPA study, to be completed in 2013, could lead to new federal regulations. However, the industry says state regulation is sufficient and has worked well.
New York state has had a virtual moratorium on drilling since it started developing its own stricter permitting guidelines in 2008.
The last-minute change of venue for Thursday's hearing has environmental groups scrambling to change plans that have been in the works for months.
Roger Downs, of the Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter, said his group has invested a great deal of time and money lining up speakers and musical groups for a rally on the Binghamton campus, as well as booking buses and hotel rooms for fracking opponents.
Ramsay Adams, executive director of the community-based environmental advocacy organization Catskill Mountainkeeper, said the sudden change of venue raised doubts about whether the EPA can be trusted to provide real answers about the safety of fracking.
"Binghamton is at the heart of the gas drilling debate in New York," Adams said. "For EPA to move its public hearing overnight, further from Marcellus ground zero, raises questions about their intentions."
