Strict new gas-drilling regulations are still not sufficient to protect New York City’s water supply from the risk of contamination, according to politicians and environmental advocates seeking a ban on drilling in the city’s upstate watershed.
Drilling opponents, energy companies, gas leaseholders and others with an interest in natural gas drilling in southern New York will get to state their positions Wednesday evening in the first of four public hearings on new regulations proposed by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
The agency released the proposed regulations on Sept. 30 and set a 60-day public comment period.
The new rules were drafted as a supplement to existing state regulations on oil and gas exploration, in response to concerns about gas extraction from deep shale formations using horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. In that process, millions of gallons of water combined with chemicals are injected after a well is drilled, fracturing the shale to release the gas.
Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” is widely used in the Marcellus Shale formation, a layer of rock about 6,000 feet below ground that extends from southern New York, across Pennsylvania, into eastern Ohio and parts of West Virginia.
Officials estimate Marcellus Shale has the potential to yield as much as 489 trillion cubic feet of gas — enough to supply all U.S. needs for nearly two decades.
Environmentalists and residents worry about accidents that could result in contamination of water supplies by chemicals added to the fracking water or brought up from the shale thousands of feet underground.
The Marcellus Shale region includes about one million acres of forest, lakes and streams comprising the watershed that provides drinking water for 8 million New York City residents.
Although hydraulic fracturing is generally safe, the technique has been blamed for a number of water pollution cases around the country. (AP)
