Fiala Hails DEC Decision to Separate NYC, Syracuse from Statewide Drilling Review
(Binghamton, NY) Broome County Executive Barbara J. Fiala says she sees signs of hope in the decision today by the DEC to require more intense environmental reviews for the areas of the state that supply water to NYC and Syracuse. The DEC announced at a news conference in Albany that it would require a separate EIS for each well drilled in either the NYC watershed which supplies New York residents with unfiltered drinking water and near SkaneatelesLake which supplies Syracuse residents unfiltered drinking water.
DEC Commissioner Peter Grannis told reporters at the news conference today that New York City and Syracuse were not "getting special treatment" on gas drilling rules, but warranted stricter reviews because of their unique sources of water.
“This is something we have advocated for since I first started speaking out on the issue of drilling in New York State,” said Executive Fiala. “These are unique areas because their water is unfiltered and therefore we supported and even suggested to the DEC that it treat those areas differently than the rest of the state.” Fiala added that the unique economic considerations demand that type of treatment.
Excerpts from letters written by the County Executive to the DEC:
11/17/08
11/17/08
To address this issue, we suggest that DEC require full environmental impact statements (EIS) for every drill site application within the New York City Watershed. This would allow separation and further analysis of the issues unique to New York City. It would also allow the natural gas play to proceed ahead in other areas of upstate New York.
4/8/10
Whenever a city has a filtration avoidance determination, the portion of the SGEIS pertaining to water quality should simply not apply. Whenever there is a potential natural gas well proposed in the watershed of these systems, a separate site-specific environmental impact study should be required. The unique economic considerations demand that type of treatment. (This is the same recommendation referenced in my December 17, 2008 letter to DEC.)
“We view this as a major victory and a removal of what could have been a major obstacle to moving this industry forward in New York State.” Fiala is hopeful this will mean a swifter completion of the state’s environmental review process for horizontal drilling in the Marcellus Shale.
Posted: 4/23/2010 2:54 pm
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