Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Well, there has been a lot of debate about the issue and it seems like the Southern Tier of Upstate and perhaps other areas close to PA seem to be targets. I believe that the watersheds would be fine, supposedly, if this does occur. With that said, I'd still look into the topic. Here's a start: No Fracking! Stop Hydraulic Fracturing Natural Gas Stimulation Drilling in New York State
Fracking boom could go bust in N.Y. - Washington - The Buffalo News (http://www.buffalonews.com/city/capital-connection/washington/article631309.ece - broken link)
Sidney, Unadilla, Oneonta, Walton.... all are in the Marcellus shale and all are targeted. Without the fracking issue I could and would sing the various praises of each of these towns, but with this hanging over our heads I'd again recommend steering clear. The risk to water supply is only the aspect of the fracking issue that is currently getting the most direct attention. Even if we were lucky and nobody's water supply became contaminated, we'd still be living with radically increased air pollution (from the massive amount of industrial traffic, from the compressor stations, from the flaring, from the 'evaporation pools,' etc.), far more dangerous roadways and diminished property values, not to mention a very changed landscape, if wells are put in at the density projected (and all the attendant land-clearing, access roads, infrastructure, pipelines, etc.). You run the risk in three or four years of being stuck living in a place that is very, very different from when you moved to it.
As you head east you move out of the Marcellus, and there is less risk- as far as I recall, Delhi is outside the Marcellus and maybe not targeted. BUT.... there are other, deeper shale formations, like the Utica, which, as I understand it, are not in play because it is not economical or currently technologically feasible to exploit, however may become so in the future. Probably nowhere is completely safe- if there is a resource that big corporate power can profit through access to, they'll do everything they can to get to it. But the danger in the areas being discussed is immediate and very real.
Sidney is fairly depressed, and the downtown is frankly a little depressing. The town has been whacked with '100-year- floods twice in the last 7 year, doing substantial damage both times. But ironically the fracking issue has really connected and mobilized a relatively progressive portion of the population- in the elections in November two very pro-drilling incumbent council members lost by a landslide to anti-fracking candidates, shifting the balance of the board. There are people working really hard to come up with ways to revive the town/community and create a better future for the place.
Unadilla has a very cute main street, but there really isn't much at all in the town. The Unadilla town board is currently very pro-drilling- not sure if that really reflects the true attitude of the population or not. Unadilla also was severely effected by the flooding.
Oneonta is a pretty decent town/city- sort of like a mini-Ithaca in ways. Definite arty and progressive element, some OK restaurants, etc. Posters on this board have railed against the student population of Oneonta (drinking seems to be what they spend most of their time doing....), but without SUNY Oneonta and Hartwick the town wouldn't exist. Colleges bring a certain cultural vibrancy to their locale, and unfortunately that comes with things like frat parties. As long as you don't live in the student ghetto, the good outweighs the bad.
Very interesting info. I definitely need to do my homework about the area!! I hope it turns in your favor.
I live around gas drilling (hydrofracking) and it hasn't done anything of the sort to my town. It's been here for 15 years. No extra traffic, no noise, no contamination. In fact, you can hardly tell it's here.
I don't know why these claims come about. Drilling can be a very positive thing in a town, because there's no other industry that pours money into an area like drilling.
It seems all these hydrofracking stories are exaggerated to scare people.
I live around gas drilling (hydrofracking) and it hasn't done anything of the sort to my town. It's been here for 15 years. No extra traffic, no noise, no contamination. In fact, you can hardly tell it's here.
I don't know why these claims come about. Drilling can be a very positive thing in a town, because there's no other industry that pours money into an area like drilling.
It seems all these hydrofracking stories are exaggerated to scare people.
There are plenty of people living with fracking in PA who would disagree with you. Per a previous poster on the fracking in NY threads, fracking in this area of the country is a different animal.
Stamford is a cute town too just to the east of Oneonta. There are some nice old affordable houses looking to be rehabbed by the right owner and there is a small downtown shopping district.
I live around gas drilling (hydrofracking) and it hasn't done anything of the sort to my town. It's been here for 15 years. No extra traffic, no noise, no contamination. In fact, you can hardly tell it's here.
I don't know why these claims come about. Drilling can be a very positive thing in a town, because there's no other industry that pours money into an area like drilling.
It seems all these hydrofracking stories are exaggerated to scare people.
A Google search of 'texas, dallas, hydrofracking' (or for that matter Wyoming, Ark., PA., and anywhere else there has been widespread HVHF going on) brings up plenty of news stories about people who have had problems with water contamination, air pollution issues, etc. Maybe you've been one of the lucky ones (so far), roskybosky...
I am not right on top of it, but there are wells within 15 minutes of me. They haven't affected anything. We see a tower with a fence around it when we drive to the mall, then 6 weeks later it's gone.
Most news articles here are pro-drilling, and congratulatory to the businesses who sign a deal with a gas company. Some people in my town have received unexpected checks in the mail because they happen to be in a 'pool.'
There is a town down here called Flower Mound, where there is some drilling. None of the residents have any mineral rights (the original owner of the land retained the rights) They have had cancer testing done, have asked for bigger setbacks, etc. I can't blame them. BTW, there were no higher rates of cancer in their town.
On my last trip to NY, I read an article in American Way magazine, where a piece of land in Texas about the size of Manhattan earns the firm who owns it 40 million dollars a year in gas royalties. It has 250 wells.
When I read about drilling in New York it seems it's always bad. People have said it's because the state is super-left-leaning and hates any kind of industry.
From my point of view ( a mom in a mini van) drilling can be inconspicuous and, if carefully monitored, safe.
I have no connections to the industry, but I have to wonder,"Is everyone so rich up there they can just turn away huge amounts of money?"
A single well can earn 10 million or more over the 20 years of its lifespan. We have a Pennsylvania friend who has a gas lease, and collects 6,000. a month in royalties. Wow.
Hmm, 'no connection to the industry,' but very closely parroting the industry's current talking points.
I suspect that the drilling in TX appears less conspicuous because a fair amount of the infrastructure necessary was already in place, a legacy of the long history of oil extraction in the region. No such infrastructure exists in NY, and much of the targeted region is very rural. The industry has suggested well pads at a density of 16 well-pads per square mile, and each well pad is 5-15 acres, depending on the number of well heads at the pad. The PA DEP, which is very pro-drilling, estimates that 1 horizontal Marcellus well requires 1000 truck trips during drilling and fracking- well pads can have multiple wells, and wells can be fracked up to 10 times. We are talking about massive amounts of tanker truck traffic. In addition, there are gathering lines and pipelines that need to be run to collect the gas and take it to market, compressor stations, etc. This will only be 'inconspicuous' if you don't live here.
Upstate NY is not 'left-leaning'- in fact it is quite conservative, and NY does not 'hate any kind of industry.' NYS was one of the first areas of the country to industrialize, and has lived with a legacy (and the huge health and cleanup costs) of poisoned land and rivers from irresponsible industry practices in the past. Industry always cries, "you hate us," when the public requires them to be transparent and clean up their own messes (or puts regulations in place that don't allow them to make the mess in the first place).
In addition, the longer HVHF has been going on in places like PA, the more apparent it becomes that the industry has been wildly inflating estimates of recoverable natural gas in efforts to push up company stock prices, and the depletion rates of Marcellus wells are proving to be quite steep. Huge disruptions and risks for what is increasingly looking to be a short boom.
Are we so rich we can turn away huge amounts of money? No- at least some of us are smart enough to take a serious look at how much that money is going to cost us in the long run.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
