Will New York Allow Any Drilling For Natural Gas?
From Heather Behnke, GT Albany.
On April 23, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner 
Alexander "Pete" Grannis announced that any applications for natural gas drilling permits using high-volume hydraulic fracturing (fracking) techniques that are located in the New York City or Skaneateles Lake watersheds (which includes Syracuse) will be assessed on a "case-by-case" basis instead of under the Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS). As we discussed here, the SGEIS is in the process of being finalized by the DEC and is not expected to be completed until later this summer or this fall. The DEC claims the additional environmental review is warranted because these watersheds use an unfiltered surface water supply and drilling in these watersheds poses unique land disturbance and usage issues that will not be addressed by the SGEIS.
The president of the environmental group Riverkeeper, which has long sought to ban fracking within the NYC watershed, said this restriction amounts to a "de facto ban" on fracking. None of the 58 pending permit applications will be affected by this new restriction because they are not located in these watersheds.
