Collins critical of Cuomo's fracking ban

". . .hide behind Albany bureaucrats and controversial scientific studies. . ."

Oh noes, a hard day for the Plutocrats! I'm sure Chris Collins will be there with his hanky to help wipe away their tears.

"(F)ar-left environmentalists"... How's that for a wide-brush stroke? So all the mothers, fathers, children, doctors, students, farmers, average New Yorkers who are concerned about pure water and healthy living environment, the tireless residents of this state who sent comments to the public hearings, phoned the governor and state representatives, and made sure that their concerns were foremost in the mind of the governor on this issue are now anti-business extremists because Collins says-so? Shows how out of touch Mr. Collins is. Lesson number one for politicians: not everyone who disagrees with you is an enemy of the state.

id rather live in a safe environment than have lots of money

A few years ago, my wife and I went to the resort in the Poconos where we had celebrated our honeymoon some 40 years previous.
One night we had dinner with some other folks who were there who happened to live in Pennsylvania and in the course of dinner conversation they told us stories about how fracking had ruined their water supply. It was literally just like the stories you hear about lighting the water on fire out of the tap. This was LONG before any of the news stories about the same phenomenon.
This was 3 years ago and these people weren't left wing wackos. They were people who had their lives ruined by the fracking industry.

I'm no huge Cuomo fan, but I'm glad he had the cajones to make the decision he did.

Oh and by the way, who gives a $hit what Chris Collins has to say?

the gas that is down there in the earth has been there a long time and I believe it'll be there for a long time to come...... maybe some day our children or grandchildren will figure out a way to gather this fuel without the horrible side effects that fracking causes.
I've said it before, I don't need to poison myself to stay warm....
side note: I can not believe I agree with emperor Andrew on an issue, blew me away when I saw his news conference.

Just ask yourself if you'd like to have fracking going on adjacent to your water supply. I do not appreciate my congressman calling me "far left" for having this concern. Exactly whom is he representing? Clean water, in the long run, may be one of our state's most precious resources (especially when compared to many states with water becoming more scarce). It seems dangerous to risk that for short-term economic benefits (and I'm pretty sure that Mr. Collins' constituents will be the very last to realize any of these supposed economic benefits).

A good example of what can happen. http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/12/17/families-flee-…

I've heard that Chris has a place over there in Clarence in a very nice, wealthy neighborhood. If it comes down to it and the oil and gas industry get their way, may the first well be drilled next door to his estate.
The bottom line is the tax paying public get poisoned while the corporations with tax breaks and the Pegulas get rich.

I never thought I'd say this, but this time Representative Collins has got it right.

Why don't all you bleeding heart environmental liberals come up with a better plan... Oh, I forgot, you already did. Simply pay high and higher taxes to buy gas and oil from the states and countries who realize it can be extracted safely and that any risks are offset by the advantages.

NYS is becoming an insane asylum. On some polls it now rates #2 as the armpit of the nation. Bravo!!!

If this is so bad, why does PA allow it. Do they care about people less? They seem to know how to do it right. I know there may be a problem once in awhile, but we have that now here even with manure. Why does it work in PA, but could not work in NY?

From a post on Facebook, "The real reason New York State has not allowed high-volume hydrofracking for natural gas in its Marcellus shale is that there is almost no gas that can be economically extracted. The vast majority of the New York Marcellus shale is too thin (less than 150 feet thick) and too shallow (less than 4,500 feet) to yield economically recoverable natural gas. From four years of publicly available data supplied to regulators by Pennsylvania drillers, analysis covered all 1,539 active natural gas wells drilled into the Marcellus shale in six counties that border New York State. The data found that median production results for specific towns and counties correlate closely with the depth and thickness of the shale layer drilled. The deeper and thicker, the better. The findings pointed to trouble for drilling prospects in New York, because its Marcellus layer is relatively shallow and thin. While a cluster of Pennsylvania gas wells only 40 miles southwest of Binghamton have been highly successful, they tap a Marcellus layer that is much thicker and deeper than any in New York. As Pennsylvania drillers moved west of that sweet spot into thinner, shallower sections with geology similar to New York’s, gas production levels plummeted. A review of New York test wells dating back a decade, supports the theory that the state’s gas resources are actually quite modest. Major oil and gas companies had drilled hundreds of test wells through the Marcellus and Utica shale formations in New York by 2008.

The Marcellus is less than 5,000 feet deep in most of New York’s border counties, making it even shallower than the layer in Pennsylvania’s three lowest performing border counties. Thickness is roughly the same. So the reality is this: just because you had a lease did not guarantee money past the initial signing bonus. Test wells on average have a cost of about 12 million dollars and NG companies are not going to sink a test well unless there is enough gas to turn a profit, period. It is all a matter of logistics and geology on where a NG company drills or doesn’t, not the land owners lease. Any hard feelings against Cuomo, Martens and Zucker are really misdirected. Mother Nature is the reason that HVHF will not be coming to NYS.....and most likely, never was. So.......thank MN for putting an end to the "neighbor wars" the NG companies caused throughout the state."

Bea, If it is not profitable, then why ban it under the banner of public health? In fact, why ban it if nobody would drill for it?

John, I don't pretend to have the answers. I thought that explanation was one of the most concise, for me, so far. I think the public health issue is that "the findings pointed to trouble for drilling prospects in New York, because its Marcellus layer is relatively shallow and thin." and may be more likely to contaminate water supplies. I'm sure there are many who are far more informed than I am who can answer your questions.