New York State's Department of Environmental conservation must truly be basking in the glow of its decision announced today that effectively bans drilling for natural gas in the watersheds of both New York City and Syracuse. The DEC did not ban drilling but rather set the requirement that every well has to be reviewed by the DEC on a case by case basis to assure the safety of the watershed. Translating this requirement into English it is a statement that drilling in these areas for natural gas will be an extraordinarily slow and expensive process with no guarantee of approval and the certainty of litigation in the unlikely event that the state approves the drilling. These factors make any drilling for natural gas in the area prohibitively expensive.
The ruling does not apply to the Marcellus shale ares in southern New York, but one can only assume that once the DEC has completed its review regarding those areas, the rules will be extended to them as well. In the interim, drilling in all areas is on hold pending action by the DEC.
The net effect of this ruling is that New York will not allow drilling for natural gas inside the state. Production of gas in New York could reduce fuel costs for all New Yorkers, it could reduce air pollution in New York, it could provide jobs for tens of thousands of unemployed New Yorkers, it could provide a cash infusion into the upstate economy (an area that has been in decline for the last few decades), and it could help the entire country by reducing dependance on imported fossil fuels. The New York DEC should be proud of all it has accomplished. Just because there were some unfounded claims that there might be a threat to the water supply from drilling two miles below the surface, DEC caved to the environmental protest groups and blocked drilling. Is it any wonder that New York, which used to be the biggest state with the biggest economy, is in such serious decline?
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