Last week, New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection (“DEP”) called upon New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation (“DEC”) to rescind its Draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (“DSGEIS”) addressing natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale formation. The Marcellus Shale formation, which contains large quantities of natural gas, extends from Ohio and West Virginia through parts of Pennsylvania and into New York’s Southern Tier. Notably, the formation includes lands in the watershed that provides drinking water to New York City and, in total, approximately half of the state’s population.
DEP has taken the position that any drilling in the watershed should be banned due to risks posed to the drinking water supply by the technique used to extract gas from the underground shale, known as high-volume hydraulic fracturing. In its comments on the DSGEIS, DEP makes a number of arguments to support its contention that the DSGEIS does not adequately analyze the potential significant adverse environmental impacts of drilling in the Marcellus Shale formation, including the following:
The DSGEIS does not adequately analyze the possibility that contaminants may spill into surface waters or migrate underground into natural drinking water supplies or water supply tunnels;
- The DSGEIS’s requirements for the disclosure of the chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing process are insufficiently protective of human health and the environment;
- The DSGEIS engages in “segmentation” in violation of the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (“SEQRA”) by failing to adequately analyze potential significant adverse environmental impacts associated with waste disposal, surface water withdrawals, induced growth, cumulative impacts, air quality impacts, pipeline construction, and ancillary infrastructure;
- The no-drill buffer zones proposed in the DSGEIS are inadequate to protect New York City’s drinking water supply; and
- The DSGEIS does not sufficiently analyze alternatives to hydraulic fracturing, and does not at all address alternatives to natural gas development.
DEP also issued a report in conjunction with its comments.
The comment period for DEC’s DSGEIS has been extended to December 31, 2009. While New York City’s interest in upstate drilling is based primarily on potential impacts to its watershed and water supply infrastructure, upstate municipalities are likely to focus on other issues, including tax revenues, road and truck traffic impacts, noise impacts, and preemption of local regulatory authority.
