CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE

The latest in a series of minor earthquakes in northeast Ohio hit on Saturday, this time reaching a magnitude of 4.0 on the Richter scale.

The tremor sent some stunned residents running for cover as bookshelves shook and pictures and lamps fell from tables.

The quake struck Saturday afternoon in McDonald, outside of Youngstown, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The area has experienced at least 10 minor quakes in 2011, though Saturday's temblor was stronger than others, which generally had a magnitude of 2.7 or lower.
This time, some residents reported feeling trembling farther south into Columbiana County and east into western Pennsylvania.

Many of the quakes have struck near an injection well used to dispose of brine water that is a byproduct of oil and gas drilling. Thousands of gallons of brine are injected into the well daily, and much of it is shipped in from out of state.

(Click to read the entire article)

Never in the media or at meetings about hydrofracking that I have attended have I heard of a complete, impartial and professional geological study of this region that pinpoints underground streams vulnerable to the effects of hydrofracking.

High above some of the Finger Lakes exist deep underground streams. These supply many country wells. Some of them contribute to our lakes.

My own well is about 80 feet deep and the water has always tested pure and safe. A longtime well-driller of our area told me that our water, and others of the area, comes from a stream uphill and deep within the ground. Certainly, some of the regional vineyards might be affected by these very streams.

Do those who propose hydrofracking pay any attention to the location of these underground streams in relation to proposed drilling sites?

Such professional and unbiased surveys have been done for more than 100 years by the U.S. Geological Survey. I believe Cornell University may have done the same in various parts of Schuyler and other affected counties.

We are told that hydrofracking activities would provide considerable new employment. Once the drilling is done and wells with pipelines established, how many permanent jobs would there be for local workers?

Penn Yan Village officials plan to spend up to $15,800 to hire an outside firm to submit an electric rate adjustment filing with the Public Service Commission.

The village is seeking a mini-rate case, meaning it will ask for an adjustment to generate up to $300,000 in annual electric revenues. The last electric rate adjustment was done in 1998.

This move is based on information village board members and Municipal Board members learned during a Dec. 7 external audit meeting.

William Frietag, of Bollam, Sheedy, Torani & Co. told village officials during the audit meeting that a municipality going so long without a rate adjustment in New York State is “almost unheard of. Either your rates were a little high at first or the things you could control, you controlled nicely.”

“Your cash balances have been good, which is why the rates have held up so long,” he said.

According to the audit, Penn Yan’s expenses per retail customer are all below other municipal averages.

(Click to read the entire article)

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli became the first statewide official to submit formal comments on the Department of Environmental Conservation’s hydrofracking proposal, using the opportunity to make a renewed push for a gas-drilling accident fund his office would oversee.

DiNapoli submitted a five-page letter to DEC Commissioner Joe Martens today, criticizing the agency’s draft proposals for failing “to adequately address the issue of remediation of contamination resulting from natural gas production.”

High-volume hydrofracking involves a pressurized mix of water, sand and chemicals that is blasted deep underground to unlock gas from shale formations. The gas-rich Marcellus Shale sits underneath the Southern Tier and parts of the Catskills.

In August, DiNapoli proposed a bill that would create a fund—paid for by a fee on gas drillers—that would cover the cost of cleanup from gas-drilling accidents when liability is up in the air. Gas companies, however, were cool to the idea, and the bill has yet to pick up a majority sponsor in the Senate.

(Click to read the entire article)

COHOCTON — While many town boards in Livingston County are looking at passing moratoriums on hydrofracking, the Town of Cohocton has taken a different step.

During its Dec. 19 regular meeting, Town resident Harold Kiesl asked the board if they intend to pass a moratorium on hydrofracking, or publicly state where the board stands on the issue as a whole.

Zigenfus said the town is waiting to see what the final Department of Environmental Conservation’s recommendations are, plus receive recommendations from the town and village planning board before going further with discussing a moratorium.

But Zigenfus said he has already been looking at “home rule” issues, which has been brought to the Town recently.

Town attorney Pat McAllister explained further, stating there is complexity at this time on the state constitutional home rule – a municipality’s right to pass local zoning laws – regarding hydrofracking.

(Click to read the entire article)

Eco Politics Daily, a blog of the New York League of Conservation Voters, is reporting that New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens has said the agency plans to have a consultant study how natural gas exploration will impact such things as the housing market and emergency services if high volume hydraulic fracturing is approved in New York state.

An earlier report by the outside firm, Ecology & Environment, released in September, concluded that natural gas drilling in New York could create anywhere from 6,000 to 37,000 jobs.

Also, according to the report by Eco Politics Daily, the consultants are being asked to recommend taxes and fees that could be levied on drillers to cover industry oversight, which DEC official estimate could cost about $20 million per year and call for 140 new DEC workers in the first year and 226 by the fifth year of drilling.

The Patterson Republican held a conference call with Assemblyman Robert Castelli, R-Golden’s Bridge, to push a one-year moratorium on hydrofracking in New York. (Hydrofracking is the much-debated technique used with gas drilling that is currently on hold in the state.)

The bill, which Ball said is currently being drafted with Assembly EnCon Chair Robert Sweeney, a Democrat, is sure to gain the support of the heavy Democratic majority in the Assembly, but will be a much tougher sell in the Republican-held Senate. The Senate’s second-ranking member, Tom Libous of Binghamton, has been an outspoken advocate of hydrofracking and drilling, and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos has pledged support as well. (Skelos, as minority leader in 2010, voted in favor of a six-month moratorium on hydrofracking.)

If nothing else, the push shows how split the Legislature is on hydrofracking. Democrats in both houses are generally opposed, but feelings are mixed in the Senate Republican majority.

Shortly after the conference call ended, Ball’s office sent out another statement blasting Rep. Nan Hayworth, the freshman Mt. Kisco Republican. Ball has taken several shots at Hayworth in recent months, fueling speculation that he may be gearing up for a primary challenge in 2012 (Speculation that, to this point, Ball hasn’t denied).

(Click to read the entire article)

If the state does look to add regulators to watch over the natural gas industry, it won't be part of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's initial budget proposal next year, according to the state's environmental agency.

Department of Environmental Conservation spokeswoman Emily DeSantis said in an email Monday that additional funds for regulating hydraulic fracturing and gas drilling "will not be included in the executive budget," which Cuomo will propose in mid-January.

The DEC is in the middle of soliciting public comment on a series of regulatory proposals that would allow high-volume hydrofracking, a process in which mass amounts of water mixed with sand and chemicals are blasted deep underground to unlock natural gas. High-volume hydrofracking was put on hold by the state in July 2008.

(Click to read the entire article)

Marcellus Shale natural gas production is expected to keep rising in 2012, yet landowners may find that signing lease deals isn't as easy as in years past.

Though still in its early stages, industry experts say that the business of Marcellus Shale gas drilling is starting to change, as new forces emerge.

Among them: lawmakers putting regulations in place that will create more drilling opportunities in shale states other than Pennsylvania; Shell's coming decision on where to build a massive processing plant; and the great unknown, the market prices for natural gas.

Drillers have swarmed in recent years to the lucrative Marcellus Shale region primarily beneath Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia and Ohio. Pennsylvania is the center of activity, with more than 3,000 wells drilled in the past three years and thousands more planned. Critics say a drilling method known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, could poison water supplies, while the natural-gas industry says it's been used safely for decades.

2012 could lessen the spotlight on Pennsylvania. Other states are moving toward updating laws to regulate drilling, and the industry is starting to explore a new gas resource — the Utica shale, which lies under the Marcellus formation.

(Click to read the entire article)