Otsego County Planning Department

A Completed Natural Gas

Well Head

WHY ALL THE SUDDEN INTREST IN GAS LEASING IN CENTRAL NEW YORK?

A primer on the gas well gold rush

The Marcellus Shale: An unconventional natural gas reservoir

The Marcellus and Utica Shales: Gas Potential (a technical article)

includes a map of the Marcellus Shale

Geology.com - Utica Shale

Geology.com - Marcellus Shale

Natural Gas Leasing in the News:

DEC's new webpage on the Marcellus Shale - Includes the GEIS to be ammended

Drilling boom revives hopes for natural gas

State legislation proposed that would require road bonding and  and allow local moratoria related to establishing baseline road conditions

SRBC tightens consumptive water use regs

DEC Announces Public Process to Review Potential Impacts of Drilling the Marcellus Shale Formation

NYS Assembly Bill 11527 - two year state moratorium on drilling new wells

Gov signs bill updating oil and gas law

Cooperstown Decides Not To Sell Water To Drillers

Natural-Gas Drillers May Tap 140 Wells

DEC looking at more protections

Sullivan County towns try to manage potential impacts from drilling with 6 month moratorium

Deposit, NY landowner coalition members sign lease deal

Susquehanna River Basin Commission asserts jurisdiction over water used for drilling

 

The Planning Department would like to thank the presenters at the August 6th public information meeting regarding natural gas drilling, Jim Ebert, SUNY Oneonta; Mike Brownell; SRBC, Bob Augenstern, STERPB; Matt Brower, NYS Ag and Markets; Erik Miller, OCCA; and  James Hurtubise, Town of Oneonta, who addressed a crowd of approximately 450 at the August 6th meeting regarding regulation of natural gas drilling operations.  The meeting was intended to assist local officials in understanding the local geology, the natural gas industry, state and federal regulations, and local government options for managing this type of development.  The slide show presentations given by some of the speakers are available below.

Many questions were raised that night, and there was not time to answer them all.  In addition, many questions regarding environmental impacts can only be answered by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, who did not attend.  The Planning Department urges all who have questions regarding environmental impacts to participate in the upcoming DEC public hearings regarding the draft scoping document for the amendment to the GEIS.  Meeting dates will be posted on this website as soon as possible.  In the meantime, all interested in the environmental impacts of natural gas well drilling are encouraged to read the GEIS, a copy of which will soon be available in the Otsego County Planning Department. 

We will attempt to answer all unanswered questions that relate to regulation of natural gas drilling. 

Click here for answers to unanswered questions from Aug 6th.

Susquehanna River Basin Commission Presentation

Marcellus Shale Geology and Gas Well Drilling Presentation

 
INFORMATION FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

The Article 23, Title 3 of the Environmental Conservation Law (ECL) delegates all authority to regulate natural gas drilling to the NYS DEC.  The ECL specifies that local governments retain jurisdiction over local roads and their rights under the Real Property Tax Law. 

Towns wishing to exert jurisdiction over local roads in an attempt to mitigate potential impacts have several options under Section 1660 of the Vehicle Traffic Laws. 

Strategies towns may employ include:

1. The Town Board may establishing truck routes for through traffic

CLICK HERE FOR THE LANGUAGE FROM THE VEHICLE TRAFFIC LAWS

2. Posting roads and establishing weight limits

CLICK HERE FOR SAMPLE WEIGHT LIMIT LOCAL LAWS

CLICK HERE FOR DISCUSSION OF TEMPORARY (SPRING) WEIGHT RESTRICTIONS

3. Issuing hauling permits for local roads (this may be a simple as accepting the NYS DOT hauling permit as the local permit)

4. Controlling curb cuts through highway work permits

5. Establishing a Road Preservation Local Law that requires haulers to establish bonds

CLICK HERE FOR A SAMPLE ROAD PRESERVATION LAW

6. Adopt a highway work permit with special permit conditions that apply to seismic testing

CLICK HERE FOR SAMPLE SPECIAL PERMIT CONDITIONS

(CALL THE PLANNING DEPT FOR INFORMATION ON OTHER CONDITIONS THAT MAY BE IMPOSED.

It is the Planning Department’s understanding that NYS DEC routinely requires natural gas companies to notify local governments via certified mail at the time a drilling permit is issued. The drilling permit will contain a condition that the natural gas company comply with all applicable regulations and required permits, however, it is unlikely that the permit will specifically mention a local road preservation law. 

 

 The Town should notify the drilling company of the local laws pertaining to roads and any requirements the town has, such as truck routes, hauling permits and bonds immediately upon receiving the required notification from the company. In addition, the Town may want to request that NYS DEC include as a specific permit condition that requires drillers to comply with the local road protection regulations. 

 

The Planning Department encourages any towns or villages wishing to exercise any of the above strategies to contact the Association of Towns (518-465-7933) or the Cornell Local Roads Program (607-255-8033) and the town/village attorney. 

Recent reports from local officials visiting governments in Texas indicate that the most common long-term impact from the exploration and production of natural gas is noise from permanent compressor stations along gas pipelines. Erik Miller, Director of OCCA, indicated in his August 6th presentation that local governments may be able to exert some control over land use issues associated with the development of the natural gas transmission infrastructure.

 

INFORMATION FOR LANDOWNERS

- A webinar hosted by Cornell University Extension

Click for link
What do municipal officials need to know about Marcellus Shale gas leasing and drilling?

(available starting July 16)

Earthworks "Hydraulic Fracturing 101"

Includes discussion of the chemicals used, including the EPA list of hydrofracturing fluids, potential for contamination, disposal, best practices and tips for landowners

EPA's "Study to Evaluate the Impacts to USDWs by Hydraulic Fracturing of Coalbed Methane Reservoirs"

Chapter 4: Hydraulic Fracturing Fluids

The study of coalbed methane (CBM) wells involved interviews with approximately 50 state and local government agency staff members, communications with about 40 citizens who were concerned that CBM production had adversely affected their drinking water wells, and searches for confirmed incidents of drinking water well contamination.

Our Drinking Water At Risk - By the OIl and Gas Accountability Project - A project of Earthworks

A criticism of the above EPA study

US Dept of Energy - Hydraulic Fracturing White Paper

 
 
For Upcoming Meetings and Additional Info:

Check back for future meeting announcements

Otsego County Farm Bureau

Steve Sinniger - President

(607) 988-7071

Central New York Landowner Coalition

Richard Lasky

(607) 334 - 2051

NYS Department of Environmental Conservation Division of Mineral Resources

(518) 402-8056