Wednesday, April 28, 2010
ALBANY – Days after the state DEC announced it would require case-by-case review of any proposal to mine natural gas from Marcellus shale in the New York Watershed, Assembly members Kevin Cahill of Kingston and Barbara Lifton of Ithaca criticized the proposal.
The two lawmakers said there should be one standard, whether the hydraulic fracturing of the shale formation is in a watershed or not.
Cahill spells out their concerns. “There is no reason to be more protective of the drinking water of a child in New York City than there is to be protective of the drinking water for somebody who doesn’t happen to live in the New York City watershed,” he said. “One standard would work. If it’s not safe for the watershed, it ought not be considered safe for the rest of the state.”
Cahill and Lifton are asking the DEC to revisit their plans and come up with one unified plan for environmentally safe natural gas drilling.
DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!
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My immediate though when I first read about this Sunday
ReplyDeleteYes but, the water sheds may exceed beyond the areas that the government has mapped out the finger lakes are fed from and to where? I know here they do in our town in Onondaga. They just might drill a few to prove a point and then what? Will the DEC change it to stream line it for the drilling?
I believe they are backwards in thinking they should adopt the watershed policy to the non essential sheds as trial but they need to look into how it is drilled or going to be drilled in detail and make sure each step is followed through. Test wells for water quality should be drilled first. Also Pa. may need water soon. Even if they have successful wells now what happens when nature says it’s time and give those wells a good shaking. Test wells for water quality should be drilled first. Also Pa. may need water soon.
The Onondaga Nation is divided but they one or both are saying no drilling within so many miles of the Nation.
Also what are they thinking? They have not even told us how they go about the process so; I emailed them and asked a few questions with no reply for three weeks. You would think they could answer at lest one.