Above: The approximate location of the area XTO Energy is seeking to take water from, in the town of Sanford, Broome County. From Google Maps. Read more
It is the first rural town in New York State to explicitly invoke its home rule authority to block gas drilling as a type of undesirable heavy industry incompatible with the town's comprehensive plan. The town acted in response to the overwhelming sentiment of the enrolled voters in the town opposed to gas drilling and heavy industry, documented through petitions and surveys as well as testimony at privilege of the floor and at a public hearing.
Ommegang's opposition to fracking is personal. In its January statement about gas drilling, it explained that hydraulic fracturing could ruin its beer and business: Read more
Join us at Brewery Ommegang, Friday May 13th for rock and roll legends, the Levon Helm Band and Arlo Gurthie in a concert against Fracking.
The concert will be held on the grounds at Brewery Ommegang at 656 County Highway 33, Cooperstown NY on May 13. Parking will be provided in a lot adjacent to the brewery. Doors open at 4 pm. No outside food or beverage will be allowed. We encourage guests to bring chairs, blankets, umbrellas, etc. If you are camping, you may bring a cooler with you. If you do not have a camping pass, no coolers will be allowed in. The show will go on rain or shine. No refunds will be given in the event of rain.
We'll find out tomorrow whether the Delaware River Basin Commission will allow water from the Oquaga Creek, a trout stream that drains into the West Branch of the Delaware River, to be used in hydraulic fracturing projects in Delaware and Broome counties.
One of those applications, XTO Energy, Inc., D-2010-022-1, caught the attention of the environmental community last week for its request to withdraw water to use for "natural gas exploration and production activities in Broome and Delaware Counties in the State of New York." Read more
A team of scientists at Duke University published a paper yesterday which should make Gasland director Josh Fox very happy: It provides peer-reviewed, prestigiously-published scientific evidence that hydraulic fracturing may contaminate drinking water with methane, making it flammable.
The most compelling image in Fosh's documentary is of a flaming facuet, but until now, there has been no scientific study suggesting that fracking might have something to do with it.
Thanks to a certain major worldwide news event, Monday's rally in Albany calling for a ban on hydraulic fracturing in New York state didn't get that much press.
WGXC attended the rally, which attracted about 300 anti-fracking protesters and featured speakers such as Gasland director Josh Fox, and posted extensive coverage of the various speeches on Tuesday. The Daily Star ran a story about the rally yesterday. And the Times Union's Capitol Confidential blog covered the protests on Monday with a video showing demonstrators protesting inside the capitol, where, the blog reports, Governor Andrew Cuomo's executive suite was locked down.
Luckily, our correspondent Jessica Vecchione attended the rally and put together a thorough report, which you can watch above. Read more
Illustration and caption of gas drilling infrastructure from the DEC's draft "Strategic Plan for State Forest Management," August 27, 2010.
The Croton Watershed Clean Water Coalition is suing the state Department of Environmental Conservation in an effort to prevent hydraulic fracturing in state forests. In a lawsuit filed last week, the group argues that fracking in forests would violate the New York state constitution and that the DEC's recently-released strategic forest plan breaks environmental review laws.
The DEC hasn't officially given the green light to fracking in state forests, or anywhere else. But the agency's Strategic Plan for Forest Management leaves the door open for it. Read more
