Fwd: ALL POINTS NY ALERT: Tioga Gas Lease w/Gas Frac

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: William Huston <williamahuston@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Mar 28, 2012 at 7:56 PM
Subject: ALL POINTS NY ALERT: Tioga Gas Lease w/Gas Frac
To: June <junebugabele@msn.com>, sustainableotsego@lists.riseup.net, averettr@frontiernet.net


Looks like we've got to get on this one fast, folks.

http://blogs.democratandchronicle.com/voteup/2012/03/28/tioga-county-fracking-deal-leaves-dec-with-choice/

Is it true that Gas Fracking is covered under 1992 GEIS?
Seems unlikely.

There was nothing remotely like fracking for gas with propane
in deep shale formations along long laterals in 1992.

Horizontal Propane Fracking in Deep Shale*
 is just as much NEW franken-tech as HHVHF.
(* we need an acronym!)

If it is true, then I agree with Ellen,
I think an we should file an injunction immediately.

I hope the state and regional leaders are going to have a pow-wow on this.

Sounds like a great project for this new coalition group!

Stay cool people. Remember to breathe.
Wm.

On Wed, Mar 28, 2012 at 7:35 PM, Ellen Cantarow <ecantarow@comcast.net> wrote:

IS A SUIT PLANNED?

Helen?

Ellen Cantarow

-----Original Message-----
From: sustainableotsego-owner@lists.riseup.net
[mailto:sustainableotsego-owner@lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of June
Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2012 5:36 PM
To: sustainableotsego@lists.riseup.net
Subject: [sustainableotsego] Tioga County Fracking Deal Leaves DEC With
Choice

Tioga County Fracking Deal Leaves DEC With Choice
Posted by: Jon Campbell - Posted in Uncategorized on Mar 28, 2012

A framework deal struck between a Tioga County landowners group and a
Houston-based energy company could leave the state Department of
Environmental
Conservation with an interesting choice.

The leaders of the Tioga County Landowners Group, which represents about
135,000 acres and 2,000 200 families in the rural Southern Tier county in
the
gas-rich Marcellus Shale region, has agreed in principle to enter into a
partnership with eCorp International to drill for natural gas underneath the
land.

But here's the catch: eCorp would use a technology pioneered by Canadian
company GasFrac, which uses liquified petroleum gas (LPG) with a handful of
chemical additives to fracture underground shale formations rather than the
water/sand/chemical mix used in high-volume hydrofracking. That means that,
as
of now, it would be covered under the DEC's 1992 permitting guidelines for
conventional gas drilling, and not under the yet-to-be-completed guidelines
for
high-volume hydrofracking.

High-volume hydrofracking has been held up in New York as the DEC completes
its
review of permitting guidelines, called the Supplemental Generic
Environmental
Impact Statement. It's an addition to the 1992 document, the Generic
Environmental Impact Statement.

"DEC has met with landowner group representatives and company technical
people
on this issue previously," DEC spokeswoman Emily DeSantis said in a
statement.
"If we receive a formal application, we will follow the current permitting
process as set forth in the 1992 SGEIS, however, our review may require
additional information and additional (State Environmental Quality Review
Act)
analysis, including an (environmental impact statement), if warranted."

What that means is this: The DEC would review any formal permits for LPG
fracking under the 1992 document, but it's reserving the right to require
further environmental reviews of the technique, which has been used in
Canada
but not in New York.

That's what sparked the DEC's current review of high-volume hydrofracking
back
in 2008, when gas companies had applied for permits under the 1992
permitting
document. The agency eventually decided that it needed to conduct further
review of hydrofracking with more than 300,000 gallons of water, and put a
hold
on permits until the ongoing review is finalized.

Chris Denton, an Elmira-based attorney representing the Tioga County
landowners
group, said the deal will be presented to the individual landowners in the
group in the coming weeks. He said the decision to go with GasFrac was based
on
the environmental benefits of using LPG rather than an effort to speed the
process up.

Visit the Sustainable Otsego website:
http://sustainableotsego.org/

Sign the petition to ban hydrofracking in NYS here:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/NY-Statewide-Ban-On-Natural-Gas-Drilling/

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