Paterson Rejects Pleas On Drilling

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Despite pleas from dozens of environmental groups statewide, at least four in Otsego County, Gov. David Paterson is standing firm.
In a statement issued to The Freeman’s Journal, Paterson said he will not derail the dSGEIS process to create regulations for horizontal hydrofracking for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale Formation that undergirds the county and much of southeastern New York.
“More than 10,000 comments were filed with the DEC from stakeholders on both sides of this issue,” Paterson stated, “and the DEC should have the opportunity to review those comments and issue a final GEIS.”
Some definitions:  dSGEIS is draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement.  DEC is the state Department of Environmental Conservation.  The horizontal hydro-fracking method would pump millions of gallons of often-toxic chemicals into the ground to break up the shale and allow the gas to surface.
Locally, Otsego 2000, the Otsego County Conservation Association, the Butternut Valley Alliance and Trout Unlimited are among the groups concerned hydrofracking could taint aquifers and wells.
They – and other groups and individuals statewide – have been asking the governor to throw out the dSGEIS process and start again; some have called for an outright hydrofracking ban.
Concern reached a crescendo in the days leading up to Dec. 31, the deadline for comment on the dSGEIS.
Just before Christmas, New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection issued a report recommending no hydrofracking be allowed in the Catskill counties where the city’s reservoirs are located.
Upstate groups – Otsego 2000 notable among them – is questioning why precautions applied to the city’s water supply shouldn’t apply to everyone else.
Two days before the deadline, PEF Encon, which represents DEC workers, took the unusual step of breaking with the department on a policy issue and asked that the dSGEIS be thrown out.
In his statement, Paterson pointed out that, in response to public concern, he had already extended the comment period 90 days.
He said he is “fully committed to protecting New York’s environment and its drinking water, and the state continues to have some of the strictest environmental regulations in the nation.”