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During this critical hour, supporter natural gas with facts about hydraulic fracturing in New York State.

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Albany, N.Y. - The Independent Oil & Gas Association of New York expressed extreme disappointment at the Senate’s passage of a bill placing a moratorium on oil and natural gas exploration in New York.

The bill (S1829B), sponsored by Sen. Antoine Thompson (D-Buffalo), halts the issuance of permits for drilling when hydraulic fracturing would be used. The moratorium bill is technically flawed and unfortunately also blocks the issuance of certain drilling permits in formations other than the Marcellus Shale, which were intended to be allowed to continue as the DEC considers new rules for horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. A companion bill in the Assembly, sponsored by Robert Sweeney (D-Lindenhurst), has not yet been brought to the floor for a vote.

“Reason, science, logic and economic opportunity has lost out to a calculated campaign of misinformation and ignorance,” said Brad Gill, IOGA of NY executive director. “On the very same night the Legislature passed a budget that included $1.6 billion in new taxes, fees and assessments, the Senate turned its back on an industry that would have safely explored for natural gas and provided a large part of the solution to New York’s economic despair.”

New York’s oil and gas industry has an outstanding record of safety and environmental stewardship in New York, and has consistently maintained that the state Department of Environmental Conservation should be allowed to complete its work on new regulations governing natural gas exploration in the state.

“We hope that the majority of senators would have had the foresight to reject this bill, but instead we saw politics take priority over science,” Gill said. “We anticipate, moving forward, that members of the Assembly will work to seek the truth and allow the process to proceed as intended. The DEC should finish its work and then we can evaluate the new regulations objectively.”

Albany, N.Y. – The Independent Oil & Gas Industry, joined by a coalition of 30 industry and business groups, urged New York State legislators to oppose a proposed bill to place a moratorium on natural gas exploration until May 15, 2011.

The Senate today may take up a bill by Sen. Antoine Thompson (D-Buffalo) that, as drafted, would put a halt to all permits for horizontal drilling when hydraulic fracturing would be used.  

The Marcellus is perhaps the largest natural gas reserve in the United States with the potential to dramatically increase America’s energy independence while vastly improving economic recovery and job creation throughout New York. The moratorium bill is proposed at a time when the state Department of Environmental Conservation is completing a two-plus year review of the state’s Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS), which will set new parameters that apply statewide for SEQRA review of gas-well permitting.

“Even before the DEC’s review began in 2008, its staff had already been evaluating the potential environmental impacts of drilling and hydraulic fracturing. That review has lasted for more than 15 years,” said Brad Gill, IOGA of NY executive director. “It would be irresponsible to see lawmakers cave to the scare tactics of radical opponents, and it would be a slap in the face to landowners, New York taxpayers, all the people of the Southern Tier, as well as the DEC, to allow a moratorium bill to pass in the Legislature.”

Natural gas exploration using hydraulic fracturing has been shown to be safe in New York State and by the U.S. Department of Environmental Conservation, the Ground Water Protection Council and by more than one million instances where it has been successfully used nationwide.

The economic impacts also cannot be ignored. A recent American Petroleum Institute study showed Marcellus Shale developed in New York and Pennsylvania could create 280,000 new American jobs and add $6 billion in new tax revenues over the next decade. In addition, application fees paid each year to the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation total approximately $1 million. These revenues, combined with the additional revenues from new Marcellus Shale permits, would be lost during the moratorium.

Supporters include the following New York employers

Independent Gas & Oil Association of NY

Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce

Independent Power Producers of NY

The Business Council of New York State, Inc.

Unshackle Upstate

New York State Economic Development Council

National Federation of Independent Business

New York Construction Materials Association

New York State Petroleum Council

New York State Motor Truck Association

Conrad Geoscience Corp.

Palmerton Group

Southern Tier Economic Group

Owego Harford Railway

New York & Ogdensburg Railroad Company

Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad Company

Chesapeake Energy Corporation

Energy In Depth

Enervest Operating, LLC

Marcellus Shale Coalition

New York & Lake Erie Railroad

Walking Ridge Development, LLC

Clarendon & Pittsford Railroad Company

Inflection Energy

Elexco Land Services

B & H Rail Corporation/Livonia

Livonia, Avon, Lakeville Railroad Corporation

Railroads of New York, Inc.

Canadian Pacific Railway

Chautauqua Energy Management, Inc.

Albany, N.Y. – As the Legislature is preparing a return to session, lawmakers should keep in mind the primary lessons learned by medical students: “First, Do No Harm.”

This primary healthcare lesson reminding future health care professionals to consider the possible harm that intervention might cause is applicable as the Legislature convenes in extraordinary session Wednesday. In this case, they should do no harm by rejecting “moratorium” bills pending in both houses of the Legislature.

While two competing bills have not made it to the Senate or Assembly floors, the industry is concerned that elevated rhetoric and scare tactics from opponents will shift lawmakers’ focus from the facts surrounding natural gas exploration in New York. 

“We strongly believe that New York’s existing regulations, combined with the pending DEC rule changes, will provide more than adequate protection to New York’s natural resources,” said Brad Gill, executive director of IOGA of NY. “Further delays are not needed and would certainly not result in greater protections. Public policy and lawmaking should be deliberated with facts in hand and cool heads. Action premised on hysterical falsehoods risks causing more harm than good.”

One bill, sponsored by Sen. Antoine Thompson (D-Buffalo) and Assemblyman Robert Sweeney (D-Lindenhurst), would place an immediate moratorium on new natural gas drilling permits in New York. As written, the bill would ban all hydraulic fracturing in the state, even on residential water wells and low-volume natural gas wells. Another bill, sponsored by Assemblyman Steven Englebright (D-Setauket) and Senator Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach), would halt natural gas exploration using hydraulic fracturing until completion of a study by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 

The state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is revising regulations for exploration in the Marcellus Shale – a vast natural gas reserve underneath parts of five eastern states. The DEC review began more than two years ago and is expected to be complete and released in late summer or early fall.

With adequate regulations in place, New York can expect to see tremendous economic impacts for decades to come. According to a new study by the American Petroleum Institute, natural gas production in the Marcellus Shale could create 280,000 jobs and add $6 billion in tax revenues to local, state and federal governments over the next 10 years. In 2009 alone, natural gas production in the Marcellus yielded 57,000 new jobs in Pennsylvania and West Virginia primarily, the study showed. The study also concluded that delays in New York have resulted in “$11 billion in lost economic output.”
“Environmental protection and expanded natural gas exploration is not an either-or issue,” Gill said. “The two goals can co-exist. The industry has an excellent record of success in New York. Our commitment to excellence will remain strong as the Marcellus Shale is explored.”