Proposed Moratorium on Natural Gas Exploration is Short-sighted and Ill-informed

ALBANY, NY (05/25/2010)(readMedia)-- The Independent Oil & Gas Association of New York is calling on lawmakers to reject bills in both the Senate and Assembly that would establish a moratorium on natural gas until a federal study is complete. The bills are unnecessary and would prohibit the growth of the upstate economy, the group says.

Assemblyman Steven Englebright (D-Setauket) and Senator Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach) are sponsoring legislation that would halt natural gas exploration using hydraulic fracturing until the conclusion of a study recently launched by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), examining hydraulic fracturing's potential impact on water quality and public health.

"This is an unnecessary bill that would add further delays while New York's economy continues to fail and industry jobs leave New York for other states," said Brad Gill, executive director of the Independent Oil & Gas Association of New York. "The EPA has already concluded on more than one occasion that hydraulic fracturing – a 60-year-old technology – is safe. What's more, 14,000 wells have already been 'fracked' in New York over the past 60 years without a single case of water contamination."

Evidence already demonstrates the safety of hydraulic fracturing:

- A study by the Ground Water Protection Council concluded "there was no threat to underground sources of drinking water from oil and gas operations."

- A 2004 EPA study concluded hydraulic fracturing did not pose a realistic threat to water sources.

- In a Feb. 15 Dow Jones Newswire report, Steve Heare, director of EPA's Drinking Water Protection Division, said despite claims by environmental organizations, he hadn't seen any documented cases that the hydro-fracking process was contaminating water supplies.

- In a December 2009 Senate hearing, EPA Compliance Administrator Cynthia Giles and EPA Director for Water Matthew Larsen said they were not aware of any cases of water contamination resulting from hydraulic fracturing.

"New York leads the nation in environmental protections, and we expect there will be much greater oversight still to come before horizontal drilling is allowed to begin here," Gill said. "The pending draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS) would also impose new requirements in hydraulic fracturing processes in New York, so unnecessary and redundant regulatory and legislative hurdles will do nothing but send jobs and economic hope outside of the state.

IOGA-NY was founded in 1980 to protect, foster and advance the common interests of oil and gas producers, as well as professionals and related industries in the State of New York. To send a message to Albany in support of natural gas exploration, visit marcellusfacts.com.

-30-