dec

Private frack water treatment expanding in Marcellus region

Matt Richmond, WSKG — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 16:25:05 +0000

About 4 million gallons of water goes into a typical Marcellus Shale well during the fracking process. As much as 20% of what went in comes back out right away. That’s what’s known as flowback water.

Over the life of a producing well, more than a million gallons comes out, and after the initial flowback the rest is known as produced water.

In Pennsylvania, treating that water for metals and total dissolved solids and radioactive materials at public treatment plants has caused problems.

Fracking delay could take weeks or much longer

Matt Richmond, WSKG — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 11:30:00 +0000

One thing is clear - the delayed health review is now the key factor in deciding whether or not fracking will go ahead in New York.

On Tuesday, Health Commissioner Dr. Nirav Shah sent a letter to Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens saying he needs more time to complete his health review. Martens then announced that his department’s environmental study, known as the SGEIS, will be delayed until Dr. Shah is done.

That means final regulations won’t be released at the end of the month. The SGEIS was due Wednesday to meet a Feb. 27 deadline for the regulations. Now that the SGEIS is on hold, the regulations will go back out for public comment.

But that delay won’t necessarily slow down fracking.

Health commissioner tells DEC: fracking review needs more time

Marie Cusick, WMHT and Karen DeWitt — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 20:39:34 +0000

Department of Health Commissioner Nirav Shah sent a letter to Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens today, asking for more time to complete a review of the public health impacts of fracking.

This means that the DEC will miss tomorrow's deadline to complete its overall environmental review of fracking (known as the SGEIS), and the regulations it's written to govern the industry will expire at the end of the month.

This development could stall a final decision on fracking for months, but in a statement Martens says his agency will still be able to issue well permits if the health review concludes that the SGEIS is adequate.

DEC may miss deadline for fracking regulations

Marie Cusick, WMHT — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 21:56:04 +0000

New York’s DEC Commissioner Joe Martens suggested today that the state may miss a February 27^th deadline to complete its proposed fracking regulations.

And that could stall a decision on gas drilling for months.

Cuomo's budget cuts DEC funding by $53 million

Matt Richmond, WSKG — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 13:47:39 +0000

UPDATE: According to Department of Environmental Conservation spokesperson Emily DeSantis, the DEC's operations budget would remain flat, the cuts would be to the part of the budget that pays for capital works projects, things like coastal erosion prevention and flood mitigation, that are contracted out by the department.

The budget cut amounts to a 5.5% reduction in the department's funding. According to the governor's new budget website, that doesn't mean a loss in staffing to the agency.

But it does raise questions about the future of fracking in New York.

During an interview last week with public radio’s Susan Arbetter, Cuomo said money for additional staff at the DEC, before fracking is approved, isn’t necessary.