Stricter Rules For Drilling In Upstate Watershed

NY State environment officials imposed stricter regulations for drilling in the Marcellus Shale, a watershed that supplies most of NYC's drinking water. According to the Times Herald-Record, "The action effectively blocks drilling in the region because of the costly and time-consuming permit process that will be required. But it is not an absolute ban." The NRDC's gas drilling expert Kate Sinding said an outright ban is needed, "At the end of the day, this does nothing to protect the drinking water supplies for New York City or Syracuse. Quite the opposite - it tells us the watersheds for more than 9 million New Yorkers are still vulnerable to drilling with toxic chemicals."

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By Jen Chung in News on April 24, 2010 2:50 PM

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jpeditor

In further comments, the Saudis and Chinese offered their thanks to the Watermelons for keeping America further on the path to economic decline and continued dependence on foreign energy resources.

JenChungsBaby

It's politics. The action effectively blocks drilling, and that's good enough. Close the door completely and you have every yahoo state senator from every yahoo district in the watershed yelping about how the big bad city is trying to drive people off their land. It's the best you could have realistically hoped for.

inoyourider

It should be a complete ban.

Bix Beiderbecke

This is not such good news. See here

and here for an analysis of their statement. It' clear that they are not offering any special protections to these watersheds, but are saying that the rules to determine permitting for gas drilling will be different in the New York City and Syracuse watersheds than in the rest of New York State.