Democratic Representatives Diana DeGette of Colorado and Maurice Hinchey of New York will introduce legislation next week to repeal a ban on regulating a controversial drilling practice called hydraulic fracturing under the Safe Drinking Water Act. If enacted the bill would also require gas producers to disclose what's in fracturing fluids, which they guard as proprietary information. You may recall that TapIt's Margaret Teich wrote about this process of natural gas extraction, the Marcellus Shale and environmentalists fear of water contamination back in May.
The U.S. Representatives say they're not opposed to drilling but that they want it done in a way that doesn't injure people or their property or contaminate water supplies. There have been no comprehensive studies on whether hydraulic fracturing can introduce chemicals into water supplies, which is a problem for the dialogue as its left interest groups playing tit for tat over anecdotal evidence.
The issue poses a problem for gas producers who have been trying to portray the industry as environmentally friendly; burning natural gas releases less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than burning coal or oil. In response to the bill, it has launched a massive lobbying and public relations effort to defend its practices, stressing economic benefits such as jobs, state revenues and energy prices.
Closer to home, Councilman James Gennaro (D-Fresh Meadows), chairman of the council's Environmental Protection Committee, wants to prevent drilling in the Catskill-Delaware watershed, where NYC gets its water. His jurisdiction is protecting the city's one million-acre drinking water supply from such activity. New York is one of only a handful of cities in the U.S. that is exempt from filtering its water because it's in such pristine condition. The city has been making huge efforts over the last 20 years to buy up land around the watershed and protect it from development so as to qualify for the waiver. Gennaro says, "if drilling proceeds, that would be the end of the exemption. The city would have to build a water filtration plant costing as much as $20 billion plus $1 billion each year to maintain and operate."
Gennaro introduced a resolution in the council last year calling for a ban on hydraulic fracturing in the watershed but the council has yet to vote. Gennaro says the resolution had a clear effect on gas companies, who have largely halted attempts to lease acreage upstate.
Photo: DSC_0091 by Peffs under Creative Commons Licence
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