Albany may not sit atop the Marcellus Shale, but the city is home to another critical resource for natural gas drillers — New York’s legislators.
Yesterday, about 50 representatives from the natural gas drilling industry spent the day at the capitol talking to legislators. Their hope: to convince lawmakers that their methods are safe and that New York needs natural gas.
Hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracking, is at the heart of the debate around drilling in the state. The method pumps water, sand, and a mix of chemicals into the ground, to force gas out of cracks in shale. It’s drawn criticism from around the country, including from researchers at Duke University who earlier this week released a study linking flammable gas in water to nearby drilling operations.
Currently, there’s a moratorium on hydrofracking in New York, while the state mulls how to license and regulate drilling as safely as possible. But drillers say their methods are proven to be safe.
Mark Scheuerman is the director of government relations for Talisman Energy USA, and the regional chair for America’s Natural Gas Alliance. He was among the natural gas drillers in Albany yesterday, arguing that New York needs the natural gas industry.
“We need to have a sense of urgency and a political will in the state to seize the day” he says.
Talisman is one of the top natural gas producers in Pennsylvania with 140 hydrofracking wells in 3 counties. Scheuerman is hoping those numbers will grow, and that New York will lift the moratorium on new drilling permits.
And Scheuerman says he won’t shy away from tough regulations, if that’s what it takes to get state to allow hydrofracking.
“We’re not opposed to that,” he says. “We’ve been in New York for more than 10 years as a company … and have been committed to that for as long as we can. But robust and responsible regulation is different than paralysis of an industry.”
One of the legislators who didn’t meet with the drilling industry yesterday is state senator Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan). She’s been an outspoken critic of hydrofracking. Last month, she co-sponsored a bill that would permanently ban the practice.
“I don’t believe, based on more and more science, that we have a way to do it safely anywhere in New York State” say says.
It’s unlikely the issue will see a resolution anytime soon. The state Department of Environmental Conservation is still drafting regulations on drilling. They’re due out sometime this summer.
