ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — An oil and gas industry group has
warned that the state could experience a greater exodus of business
while Gov. Andrew Cuomo waits for the results of a Pennsylvania health
study before deciding whether to allow fracking.
"For business
owners, the opportunity is not here in New York," said Jim Smith of the
Independent Oil and Gas Association of New York.
Smith said Sunday
that permit applications for conventional vertical gas wells, which are
still allowed in the state but are less profitable than the far-larger
shale gas wells, have dropped from about 600 in 2008 to below 200 in
2012 as the industry has moved to other states.
"We can assume the
exodus we're seeing now will continue" if a moratorium on drilling
remains until the results of the new study are in," he said.
The
Associated Press reported Saturday that Cuomo came close to approving a
limited drilling plan for as many as 40 shale gas wells last month
before environmentalist and former brother-in-law Robert Kennedy Jr.
helped persuade him to await the new study, which could delay a decision
for up to a year or longer.
Cuomo is expected to announce a
formal decision after the Department of Environmental Conservation
completes its five-year environmental impact study, but that decision has
already been delayed twice. DEC Commissioner Joe Martens has said that
study will be finished after Health Commissioner Nirav Shah makes
recommendations based on his own review, which will include a look at
the new $1 million Geisinger Health System study launched recently in
Pennsylvania.
Unlike most studies funded by advocates or opponents
of hydraulic fracturing, the Geisinger study would be funded by the
Sunbury, Pa.-based Degenstein Foundation, which is not seen as having an
ideological bent.
"I think it will be pivotal," Kennedy told the
AP. Preliminary results are expected within the year, but final
conclusions could be years off. The study will look at health histories
of hundreds of thousands of patients who live near gas wells and other
facilities producing natural gas from the same Marcellus Shale formation
that New York would tap.
While opponents of fracking are pleased
that Cuomo will wait for the Pennsylvania study, landowners are
preparing to sue New York over lost gas-leasing opportunities.
New
York has had a moratorium since 2008 on horizontal drilling and
high-volume hydraulic fracturing, which frees natural gas from shale by
injecting a well with chemically treated water and sand at enormous
pressure. Other states in the gas-rich Marcellus Shale formation have
seen local economies boom as drilling rigs have sprouted up.
Landowners
hoping to lease to gas-drilling companies and earn royalties on gas
production are preparing a lawsuit against the state because of the
moratorium. The lawsuit will allege that the state has taken property
rights in violation of the state and federal constitutions, said Scott
Kurkoski, a lawyer representing the Joint Landowners Coalition of New
York.
"While our nation's leaders bring us closer than ever to
achieving energy independence, cleaner air and economic prosperity, New
York threatens to impede our progress and deny the constitutionally
guaranteed rights of New York landowners," Kurkoski said in a statement,
citing comments from President Barack Obama and New York City Mayor
Michael Bloomberg in support of natural gas.
Smith, of the Oil and Gas Association, said "There's no scientific reason at all to continue these delays."
John
Armstrong of New Yorkers Against Fracking, a statewide coalition of
health and environmental groups, said "it's a great sign" that Cuomo
reportedly is waiting for health study results before making a decision
on fracking. But the Geisinger study won't be enough to satisfy the
demands of his group, he said.
"Geisinger and other studies have
the potential to give us some important data, but we also need to look
at concerns specific to New York state," Armstrong said. "We're asking
for a comprehensive health impact assessment," which would include
participation by the state's medical community as well as the public, he
said. "We're also calling for a study of social and economic impacts."
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