Posted on 11/29/2009 10:27:34 PM PST by neverdem
CHENANGO, N.Y. — Chris and Robert Lacey own 80 acres of idyllic upstate New York countryside, a place where they can fish for bass in their own pond, hike through white pines and chase deer away.
But the Laceys hope that, if all goes well, a natural gas wellhead will soon occupy this bucolic landscape.
Like many landowners in Broome County, which includes the town of Chenango, the Laceys could potentially earn millions of dollars from the natural gas under their feet. They live above the Marcellus Shale, a subterranean layer of rock stretching from New York to Tennessee that is believed to be one of the biggest natural gas fields in the world.
As New York environmental officials draft regulations to allow drilling in the shale as early as next year, thousands of residents like the Laceys in upstate counties have banded together in coalitions to sign leases with gas companies for drilling on their land — for $5,000 to...
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Exploring the shale involves a drilling method called hydraulic fracturing that requires pumping huge volumes of water laced with benzene and other chemicals into the rock to break it and extract gas. The process raises issues about the use and disposal of wastewater, and the danger of leaks, spills and other contamination. It has been linked to contamination of water wells in Pennsylvania and Wyoming and to the death of livestock in Louisiana...
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But the holdouts cannot stop the transformation of their surroundings, both good and bad, once drilling is allowed. The area of the shale in New York that is expected to be the most productive spans about 3.4 million acres in 10 counties, but lies mostly in Broome, Delaware, Sullivan, Chenango and Tioga, said officials from the Independent Oil and Gas Association of New York...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I suppose the EPA will block any and all attempts at discovery or drilling
Inwood - One Foot in the Past That's where I'm from, the original escape from NY.
FReepmail me if you want on or off my New York ping list.
No trouble from the EPA with the Haynesville Shale. There were very few malcontents or protesters about the drilling. Everybody wanted the money that would come in from a working well on their property. The only concern was the large amount of water the drilling uses.
Thanks for the ping!
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