Gas Drilling in NYS

My Town knows it's here & I personally think it could be a positive thing if oversite & transparency are implemented---We have your typical rebel rousers (over-educated morons) that feel NYS will have no environmental resources left if they do start drilling--I've attended several meetings & a few things have come to pass--Taylor Valley State Lands will not be touched--fragging fluids will be made public & what to do w/ them--horizontal drilling will be clarified---the biggest proplem I see is that Albany wants the money & has told DEC not to be real negative in this research process--we are mainly concerned w/water table & road use--ours are mostly gravel--our 10 wheel plow trucks tear them up bad in the winter-history shows (looking at Penna)thousands of BIG trucks going 24-7,for however long the well is producing---somebody needs to be liable for this stuff & were saying it will be the drilling co's--we will mandate a bond before anything gets started you can't tell a man what to do on his own land & we already have several people that have signed contracts--all we can do as a Town is cover our own butts.I just wondered what other New Yorkers & SMITTY thought about all this--God knows it's been all over the media for quite sometime

Out here in the eastern part of the state we are not close enough to the Marcellus shale deposit to be affected. I do have an interest though in that I am originally from Syracuse (not too far from Marcellus) and still have family in the area.

One thing I am particularly concerned about is the local water table and how that will be affected by the fracting process. My water already stinks and is full of silt and I wouldn't want that to happen to anyone else. At least mine is that way naturally and is safe to drink if unpleasant. The fracting is supposed to be deep enough so the surface wells are not affected but *censored* happens. Hopefully everyone in your area has some sort of commitment from the companies involved to compensate them if their water becomes fouled.

Another concern would be subsidence and sink holes. My mother's family comes from the Scranton area and I've seen what happened there when underground mines collapsed. The same thing can happen when material or gas is removed from underground unless it is replaced with water or other materials. I know the salt deposits in the Tully area have been exploited for years using water under pressure to extract the brine. It would be interesting to see if there have been any deleterious effects over the years. Especially since the Allied-Chemical plant in Solvay has been closed for years now and I assume the brine extraction has stopped.

If those questions could be adequately answered I would have no issues with it going forward.

I was raised in the foothhills of the pocono's & am familiar w/the problems they had in the Scranton,Wilkes Barre area--I was also real involved in the Tocks Island Project mess--I was fresh back from the Nam & bored--I guess I was a Squatter--my family had a camp there--blue collar summer mansion,they took that,but did not build the dam--still haven't been compensated---do you live near 74 falcon?? Sounds like you've got a good grasp on what's happening Marcellus wise---unfortunatly,big business does not voluntarily make liability commitments--that's why local towns are making sure they are involved in this process--I know our prelim.draft includes something like a 5-10 million dollar bond,just trying to learn from Penna., & the towns are going to be the ones to give out permits--well my breaks over--gotta go run some more tapping lines(maple syrup)----Seeeeee ya

wlape3 wrote:Out here in the eastern part of the state we are not close enough to the Marcellus shale deposit to be affected. I do have an interest though in that I am originally from Syracuse (not too far from Marcellus) and still have family in the area.

One thing I am particularly concerned about is the local water table and how that will be affected by the fracting process. My water already stinks and is full of silt and I wouldn't want that to happen to anyone else. At least mine is that way naturally and is safe to drink if unpleasant. The fracting is supposed to be deep enough so the surface wells are not affected but *censored* happens. Hopefully everyone in your area has some sort of commitment from the companies involved to compensate them if their water becomes fouled.

Another concern would be subsidence and sink holes. My mother's family comes from the Scranton area and I've seen what happened there when underground mines collapsed. The same thing can happen when material or gas is removed from underground unless it is replaced with water or other materials. I know the salt deposits in the Tully area have been exploited for years using water under pressure to extract the brine. It would be interesting to see if there have been any deleterious effects over the years. Especially since the Allied-Chemical plant in Solvay has been closed for years now and I assume the brine extraction has stopped.

If those questions could be adequately answered I would have no issues with it going forward.

Lots of potential revenue there for the town & the state, plus jobs for the locals ... could be a good thing! Especially now. But what looks good on paper is usually alot different in person ... learned that the hard way living in this state (MA)!

If it's far enough away from people's wells, I say go for it. Roads can be fixed. This wouldn't have a prayer in my state -- too many NIMBY's around here ...

Hey Fred, Are you up there south of Cortland? My neice's home is just outside of Owego, NY. Summer before last, I went up there and painted her house for her. Beautiful 2 acre lot with awesome view all the way to The Endless Mountains in PA. Houses are pretty far apart on her mountain road.
Well, last year they put in a gas line 50 yards up the road from her. That neighborhood is so quiet and serene. They were annoyed ALL summer by the out of state construction crews, starting heavy equipment early in the morning, rough guys swearing all day long, etc. I never would have thought that could happen in rural Tioga County. Now there's a big swath carving up the hill where pristine woods used to be.
I thought it would be fair to dig a Charlie type tunnel from the back yard to the buried pipe. I don't know the diameter but I bet it's pretty big. Get up to it and tap in a one inch fitting!!!! Free gas forever and undetectable.
I've also heard of locals having gas wells on their own property, with sweet royalties coming in!

Yep,Cortland is about 20 min.northeast of Freetown.They put a catch line on the rd.going into Cortland from us--goes up the hill into the woods about a mile--they were pretty good in cleaning up,re-seeding & didn't trash to many trees--I think it's universal--there are reputable co's & bootleg co's---people signed a contract & probably didn't have a clue--just dollars per acre & it's people like your neice that gets to look at it & I hate to be the one to say it,but,if they put a drilling production site close to her,I'm pretty sure she's got a feed line coming from where a production site will be--trucks are able to fill from the road--it's 24/7 trucks,lit up like Yankee stadium & noise 24/7 & her house will be worth nothing on the market even if she got fed up w/ it & tried to sell--at this time-gas drilling is on hold in NYS--I just hope that we get all the T's crossed & I's dotted[quote---time for barn chores---later Dann. Freetown Fred="Dann757"]Hey Fred, Are you up there south of Cortland? My neice's home is just outside of Owego, NY. Summer before last, I went up there and painted her house for her. Beautiful 2 acre lot with awesome view all the way to The Endless Mountains in PA. Houses are pretty far apart on her mountain road.
Well, last year they put in a gas line 50 yards up the road from her. That neighborhood is so quiet and serene. They were annoyed ALL summer by the out of state construction crews, starting heavy equipment early in the morning, rough guys swearing all day long, etc. I never would have thought that could happen in rural Tioga County. Now there's a big swath carving up the hill where pristine woods used to be.
I thought it would be fair to dig a Charlie type tunnel from the back yard to the buried pipe. I don't know the diameter but I bet it's pretty big. Get up to it and tap in a one inch fitting!!!! Free gas forever and undetectable.
I've also heard of locals having gas wells on their own property, with sweet royalties coming in![/quote]

I have property in Eliz. Twp. south of Pittsburgh & a drilling outfit has been sending me letters about every other month fot my OK to let them drill & remove gas. Now I don`t have much property there so it just tells me that if they have my signature & they send me a buck or two (they never mention any amount) & something happens to the property they will be in the clear. I`m just gonna let them keep on sending more letters, I haven`t heard of anything but problems so far & its hard as heck to find any info.

samhill--that's a tough one--there are fanatics on both sides of this battle--there are millions of gas drilling sites all around the USA--you don't hear about the ones that have no problems what-so-ever--it's just the negative--whatever yoy=u do & I know you would anyway--if they offer you a meaningful chunk of change,research it & cover your butt--they,whoever they are,say ---see a lawyer--now there is a group that's not into it for themselves if it's done responsibly,were in--research Hydrofracking & horizontal drilling---Freetown Fred

It is a legal firm that sends the letter on behalf of some drilling energy company, they ask for a signature before ever discussing comp. I take it to be as up front as a send me your gold & I`ll send you a check for cash promise. Which by the way my previous offer still stands, I`ll even accept semi-precious stones, gold silver platimum & cold hard cash( just to take some out circulation to increase the value of whats left).

Reminds me of a good lawyer joke--imagine that--a lawyer joke----------deep down, lawyers are good people--that's why they bury them 10" down

I'm not what you would call a tree hugger but I live in pompey, NY, about 10 miles from where I saw test lines being run about a year or two ago. If it were drilling down into gas pockets I'd have no problem with but I don't get a warm fuzzy feeling that fracking will have no effect on water wells. My water is fine now and has been for 10+ years. If it changes after they start fracking, where do I stand? You KNOW their position will be it's just coincidence. I'm kind of sitting on the fence at the moment..........

I'd definitely fly off the handle if my well got f'ed up. I couldn't afford to drill another well if my life depended on it. I can't believe what they get for drilling wells these days!!

somtimes people like to take a side on an issue because of an anticipated adverse effect that could create a problem for them. but i think it's important to concentrate on the "adverse effect" rather than automatically prohibiting the potentially beneficial behavior that MAY cause the adverse effect. Quite simply, if you have concerns about "fracking" affecting your well water, you should have two serious questions: 1. What protections are the drillers going to put in place to reduce/eliminate well contamination? 2. If those protections fail, and my well develops a problem, what system will be put in place to fully cover the drilling/associated costs of new well etc.?

NYS needs 1. Jobs 2. Cheap/local natural gas 3. clean well water <----concentrate on what will achieve these things, don't just jump on one bandwagon or another and be "for" or "against" without looking at things rationally.

I'm going to repeat this because I think it's real important!!our local towns & villages must take an active roll in what is going on in your community--if you've never been to a Town meeting before & are concerned or just in need of some info,now is the time to do it--we cannot let Albany or DEC do the same crappy job they do on most stuff--like SMITTY if his well were to get contaminated,he's scr--ed--I also cannot afford to have another well sunk--this drilling thing is here guys---MAKE SURE your local Board members are doing something about oversite & giving permits out locally--get them off their butts--don't be part of that perverbial silent majority--what ever the hell that useless bunch consists of!!!

Berlin,I pride myself on not flying off the handle or being to fanatical--although I have my moments--I've researched alot of what has been going on in Penna. drilling wise & am totally convinced that the drillers aren't going to put any protections in place that would actually cover liability issues--they've had one good spill I know of & the neighbors had to get legal action just to get bottled water delivered(by the company)what are they going to do for the long haul???--even if it's a minimal happening,these small towns & villages need to cover their butts--am I saying this enough guys???--don't get me wrong--there are millions of gas wells in the USA & most operate just fine & safe--I've said it before--reputable companies & gypsies---our Town is pushing to require bonding from the companies--my guess-1-5 million per well site,maybe more--a reputable company will have no problem w/ that

Berlin wrote:somtimes people like to take a side on an issue because of an anticipated adverse effect that could create a problem for them. but i think it's important to concentrate on the "adverse effect" rather than automatically prohibiting the potentially beneficial behavior that MAY cause the adverse effect. Quite simply, if you have concerns about "fracking" affecting your well water, you should have two serious questions: 1. What protections are the drillers going to put in place to reduce/eliminate well contamination? 2. If those protections fail, and my well develops a problem, what system will be put in place to fully cover the drilling/associated costs of new well etc.?

NYS needs 1. Jobs 2. Cheap/local natural gas 3. clean well water <----concentrate on what will achieve these things, don't just jump on one bandwagon or another and be "for" or "against" without looking at things rationally.