Delaware County Supervisors Support DEC Actions on Gas Drilling Regulations
Delaware County, Hamden Bridge over a flooding West Branch Delaware River.
From the Walton Reporter (no website), December 23, 2009.
DELHI – The Delaware County Board of Supervisors has gone on record as supporting the process used by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to create an environmental impact statement as part of the process of creating regulations for drilling of natural gas wells in the Marcellus Shale, which lies beneath much of New York, including Delaware County.
At last week’s board meeting, supervisors adopted a resolution in support of the process and asked the DEC to move forward to completion of the environmental impact statement. Only Meredith Supervisor Keitha Capouya opposed the resolution.
Several supervisors acknowledged concerns over the safety of drilling, but said hazards could be mitigated. “There are a lot of concerns about impacts. I think they’re being addressed by the DEC,” said Davenport Supervisor Dennis Valente. He said that everyone wants the benefits of energy, but no one wants to live where it is produced. “We’re all part of this society that lives so well from this technology,” he said.
Board Chairman and Harperfield Supervisor James Eisel said, “They’re doing their due diligence and I think it’ll be safe when they’re done.”
Capouya disagreed. “I don’t think its adequate,” she said. “There are many grave dangers for us.”
Valente replied, “I don’t know of any energy source that doesn’t have someone opposed to it.”
Colchester Supervisor Robert Homovich noted that over 14,000 gas wells are already in operation in the state, “Delaware County is a county that basically, has survived by harvesting its natural resources.” He said natural gas has the potential for long-term positive financial impacts and that local governments would benefit from tax revenue. “There’s only so many alternatives you have,” he said.
Capouya responded, saying there are very few hydrofractured or “fracked” wells in New York, and said such wells have caused problems in Pennsylvania. She said the wells would poison water and land. “I don’t like to see cattle, whose water has been poisoned, with their legs up and stiff,” she said.
Hamden Supervisor Wayne Marshfield noted that the resolution called for an evaluation of the risks of pollution. He said problems in western states were due to a lack of regulation by those states. As an example, he cited the use of unlined holding ponds for fracking fluid, which contains chemicals. New York regulations call for the fluid to be held in sealed tanks. He said New York’s regulations will be more stringent than those in places where problems have occurred. “I think there’s a lot to be gained from it,” he said.
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