Chesapeake Energy Takes a Step in the Right Direction by Choosing Not to Drill in the NYC Watershed
October 28, 2009
Riverkeeper Team
**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**
October 28, 2009
Contacts: James Simpson, Staff Attorney (917) 952-2158
Craig Michaels, Watershed Program Director (917) 579-5582
CHESAPEAKE ENERGY TAKES A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION BY CHOOSING NOT TO DRILL IN THE NYC WATERSHED
Riverkeeper Urges State to Permanently Put Watershed Off Limits to Industrial Gas Drilling
White Plains, NY – October 28, 2009 - In the wake of Chesapeake Energy’s decision not to drill for natural gas on leased land within the New York City Watershed, Riverkeeper today renewed its call on State to permanently prohibit industrial gas drilling in the Watershed. In September, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) released its draft environmental impact statement on gas drilling as part of the statewide environmental review process. But DEC’s plans failed to include adequate safeguards to protect state drinking water supplies.
In recognition that the Chesapeake leases will expire within the next 5 years, and other companies still can acquire rights to drill, Riverkeeper used the occasion of Chesapeake’s announcement to renew its call for a permanent ban on industrial gas drilling in ecologically sensitive areas such as the New York City Watershed and the Catskills region as a whole. The DEC’s position that industrial gas drilling is compatible with a surface water drinking water supply is simply untenable.
“Chesapeake is to be applauded for acknowledging that industrial gas drilling in a surface water supply that provides drinking water to fifteen million of the region’s residents is a bad idea,” said Riverkeeper president Alex Matthiessen. “But if Mr. McClendon is serious about protecting the Catskill/Delaware Watershed, he’ll join our call for a permanent ban. Only a permanent ban will safeguard our drinking water from the threat of drilling over time.”
“When the gas drilling industry says it won’t drill within the source of drinking water for 9 million people, it sends a strong message to State regulators that this activity is inappropriate,” said James L. Simpson, Staff Attorney with Riverkeeper. “It’s now up to State officials to do the right thing and recognize, as Chesapeake has, that industrial gas drilling has no place in the New York City Watershed.”
Riverkeeper also calls on New York State to mandate the most stringent environmental safeguards and best management practices for any and all drilling operations throughout New York State. Environmental organizations agree that the State’s recent draft EIS fell short of proposing proper safeguards for hydraulic fracturing.
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ABOUT RIVERKEEPER: Riverkeeper is an environmental watchdog organization whose mission is to protect the ecological integrity of the Hudson River and its tributaries, and to safeguard the drinking water supply of New York City and the lower Hudson Valley. For more information, please visit www.riverkeeper.org.
- Background and ResourcesRESOURCES: Riverkeeper’s Industrial Gas Drilling Reporter compiles stories from around the country about the adverse environmental and public health impacts of gas drilling. To view Vols. 1-4, please visit: www.riverkeeper.org/campaigns/safeguard/gas-drilling.THE MARCELLUS SHALE: For over a year Riverkeeper has tracked the prospect of industrial gas drilling in New York State. While gas drilling in New York is not new, what is new is the magnitude, scope, and location of the proposed drilling method of high-volume hydraulic fracturing. Indeed, industrial gas drilling throughout the Marcellus Shale and other shale reserves in New York has the potential to impact the environment and communities dramatically. The Marcellus Shale is a layer of deep sedimentary rock, deposited by an ancient river delta, with the remains of it now forming the Catskill Mountains. The vast Marcellus Shale extends from Tennessee, through most of West Virginia, across Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio, and into the Southern Tier of New York, including the Catskills and the West-of-Hudson portion of the New York City Watershed. New York’s portion of the Marcellus Shale is approximately 18,750 square miles and is very deep – over 1 mile below ground.HYDRAULIC FRACTURING: New technology, called hydraulic fracturing, allows drilling companies to extract natural gas from this shale. Natural gas is trapped within fractures between the grains of this fine-grained rock. Staged from a massive platform (towering hundreds of feet above ground), drillers drill down vertically into the shale, turn 90 degrees to drill horizontally (sometimes over a mile in length), and then inject water, sand and chemicals under high pressure to release the gas. The pressurized water forms fractures in the rock, which sand and chemicals then prop open.POTENTIAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS: There are many environmental impacts associated with hydraulic fracturing, or “hydrofracking.” Among them are water consumption and wastewater disposal, use of toxic chemicals, substantial truck traffic, air pollution, noise from the loud, twenty?four hour hydrofracking operations, potential groundwater contamination, and surface water runoff from these large industrial sites. The cumulative effect of these impacts may indeed transform entire communities – turning previously rural, agrarian areas into “fractured communities.” Hydraulic fracturing requires up to 3 million gallons of water per hydrofrack, and typically each well is hydrofracked many times. The water must be trucked in, stored on?site, and the wastewater disposed of properly (nearly all of the fracking fluid injected returns to the surface, bringing with it materials from underground including brines, heavy metals, radionuclides, and organics). Even though the gas industry claims that toxic chemicals represent less than 1% of hydrofrack fluid, the U.S. Geological Survey explains that a typical 3 million gallon hydrofrack produces 15,000 gallons of chemical waste. In existing Marcellus wells outside of New York this waste is stored on?site in large holding ponds until trucks haul it away.THE NYC WATERSHED: The New York City Watershed, largely in the Catskills, is the source of tap water for over 9 million New Yorkers. The entire New York City Watershed comprises approximately 4.2% of the State’s land, yet supplies unfiltered drinking water to half the State’s population. All surface water and stormwater runoff within the New York City Watershed drains into large reservoirs and travels via gravity through tunnels and aqueducts to the taps of 8 million New York City residents and 1 million upstate consumers. The entire system delivers 1.2 billion gallons daily. The 1,560 square mile system in the Catskills (1 million acres) includes six reservoirs and their drainage basins, hundreds of miles of aqueducts and tunnels, and is home to approximately 60,000 people. The New York City Watershed, including its infrastructure, is the State’s greatest natural resource and the City’s greatest capital asset. Riverkeeper played an instrumental role in protecting the source of this tap water when it helped structure the 1997 Watershed Memorandum of Agreement, a landmark agreement that establishes ground?rules for protecting the City’s water supply. This agreement set the stage for the City to continue to receive a waiver from federal laws otherwise requiring filtration. This waiver is known as the filtration avoidance determination (FAD). The FAD allows the City to avoid building a new $10 billion water filtration plant to filter City water, in exchange for strong watershed protection.
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