An environmental impact statement about the plan to store liquid petroleum gas near Seneca Lake is complete - and activists are gearing up to fight the idea. G. Jeffrey Aaron reports at the Press & Sun-Bulletin that the facility would house propane and butane underground salt mines:
[Spokeswoman Debbie] Hagen said in an e-mail that [project planner] Inergy "is aware of the concerns of the public and areas of focus that would be required to be included in the EIS. (Inergy) believes that the EIS provides the information required by the DEC's scoping document and does respond to the concerns of public commenters." In November, the DEC said that because of the potentially adverse impact the LPG storage project may have on the environment, it would require an environmental impact statement based on a review process adopted by the DEC in 1992. But in February, because of public comments on the project, the DEC revised the information required in the statement to cover issues not found in the 1992 document. Inergy then included the additional material in the statement.
Natural gas
New York looks to Pennsylvania to see how drilling playing out there could go down here. For those looking to get caught up, the Philadelphia Inquirer's Andrew Maykuth has a great rundown of the firms involved in drilling and their production:
The drilling is producing greater environmental anxiety, measured by a growing opposition to hydraulic fracturing, the method used to extract gas from shale. But investors are still bullish, emboldened by production figures released by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. "The Marcellus is going to be far more prolific than we ever imagined," said Subash Chandra, managing director of Jefferies & Co. Inc., an investment company. "It's almost scary how good the Marcellus is. It's supereconomic."
Meanwhile House Republican Tom Reed of Corning and Democrat Mark Critz of Johnstown, Pa. are forming a "Marcellus Shale Caucus," reports the Elmira Star-Gazette:
Reed and Critz will co-chair the caucus that currently has 17 members from New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, according to a news release from Reed's office. The first meeting was conducted Friday in Washington, D.C. The caucus heard initial background information Friday from experts provided by the Congressional Research Service.
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