Source: The Times Union
Publication Date: Wednesday, July 23, 2008

By BRIAN NEARING, Staff writer

ALBANY -- A proposed law to make it easier for natural gas companies to use an environmentally risky underground drilling technique sits on Gov. David Paterson's desk with a deadline today his signature.

"The governor will decide tomorrow and he is looking at the pros and cons very carefully," said Judith Enck, the governor's deputy secretary for the environment, on Tuesday. "We realize this is an enormous issue of great public interest."

The bill, which overwhelmingly passed both the Assembly and Senate last month, is decried by groups like the New York League of Conservation Voters, which warns that waste water from the technique, known as "hydrofracking" could taint groundwater with a brew of hydrocarbons and other toxic chemicals.

Natural gas companies are racing to lock up drilling rights in the state as the price of natural gas increases along with other fossil fuels. The companies hope to drill in an area of western New York and the Southern Tier where underground gas deposits are trapped in a deep layer of rock known as Marcellus shale. Marcellus shale could contain enough natural gas to supply two years of U.S. demand, energy experts say.

Hydrofracking involves drilling underground up to 9,000 feet into shale formations. A high-pressure injection of water, sand and chemicals is sent down the well, where it fractures rock and releases the gas bubbles, which are drawn up through the well.

The water -- up to 6 million gallons for each well -- is then extracted and stored in open pits for later treatment as toxic wastes. The U.S. Department of Energy lists produced water from gas drilling as among the most toxic of any oil industry byproduct.

According to a 2004 report from Argonne National Laboratory prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy, "Studies indicate that produced waters discharged from gas ... platforms are about 10x more toxic than the produced waters discharged from oil platforms."

Federal rules allow gas companies to keep their chemical mixes as a trade secret, making it difficult for regulators to know what is being injected into the ground.

Enck said "enhancements" to the law to give state officials greater control can be done through regulations at the Department of Environmental Conservation, so the governor could sign the law, as is, if he chooses.

She also said "federal exemptions will not impact DEC's ability to get information" about the chemical brew that gas companies use in hydrofracking. "I have full confidence in DEC to properly monitor this."

However, she added, DEC also is looking at revisions to 1992 standards on environmental impact statements for gas well drilling. "What is new is this technology and the volume of drilling that is possible."

The bill, which was proposed this spring by the state Department of Environmental Conservation, would allow such wells to be placed much more closely together than current law allows.

It would also "streamline" the state approval process for a well to as short as 12 weeks.

A joint investigation by ProPublica and New York City public radio station WNYC -- published in Tuesday's Times Union -- revealed hundreds of instances of drinking water contamination in states where comparable drilling was done. 

In New Mexico, oil and gas drilling using waste pits like those proposed for New York has caused toxic chemicals to leak into the water table at some 800 sites, according to the report. Colorado has reported more than 300 spills affecting its ground water.

"We would like the governor to veto this bill and slow things down," said Josh Nachowitz, state policy director for the New York League of Conservation Voters.

"There are a lot of questions that have not been answered," he said.

Natural gas companies have been busy buying thousands of acres of drilling rights over the last year. On July 31 and Aug. 1, for example, officials from XTO Energy expect to sign $21.6 million in contracts with residents in the Deposit area to lease 9,000 more acres, according to a published report in the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin. That's on top of a $60 million deal for rights to 37,000 acres landowners signed in May.

However, about a dozen towns have passed or are considering resolutions asking for authority to impose impact fees before permits are issued by the DEC, according to Hancockgaslease.com, a Web site for residents interested in gas lease issues.

Brian Nearing can be reached at 454-5094 or by e-mail at bnearing@timesunion.com.