A misstep for fracking in NY
Workers move a section of well casing into place at a Chesapeake Energy natural gas well site near Burlington, Pa. (April 23, 2010) Credit: AP
The value of natural gas drilling for New York likely lies somewhere between the most optimistic job-creation claims of its backers and the worst environmental fears of its critics. But in weighing the issue, the state has taken a shortcut that will do little to speed new jobs. In fact, it may have given opponents a gift.
Last week, the state's Department of Environmental Conservation put out draft regulations for controlling high-volume hydraulic fracturing -- fracking. But the department won't finish receiving comments on its environmental impact study until December. The normal procedure: Finish the study first, then write the regs.
For any organization inclined to stop fracking -- the use of huge amounts of water, sand and chemicals to free natural gas from subsurface rock -- this departure from the norm could become the core of a lawsuit. So it wasn't a good strategy.
But it does send a signal to the industry and job-hungry upstate communities that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo cares about jobs, though he has also said fracking has to be shown to be safe.
The updated DEC environmental study holds out the hope of tens of thousands of jobs from fracking. That economic impact will be one key focus of a hearing in Albany tomorrow by the Assembly Committee on Environmental Conservation.
If fracking can safely bring energy and jobs, let's do it. But if we need a few more months to get the facts right, let's do that first. hN
