This post is response to one of our readers who commented on an earlier post about New Yorkers not buying gas industry PR.  The reader also referenced an editorial penned by the head of the NY Department of Environmental Conservation that appeared in some NY papers back in August. 

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While this exploration could increase supplies of natural gas, expand the tax base and boost the upstate economy, it can also have significant environmental impacts. In public forums already held across the state, Governor David A. Paterson’s administration has heard the community concerns, particularly about environmental protection. The DEC shares those concerns, and is fully committed to ensuring that this drilling will only proceed in an environmentally responsible way…

What is new, however, is the scale of the proposed horizontal drilling in the Marcellus Shale, and this raises significant issues which will be addressed comprehensively and publicly as we supplement the generic environmental impact statement. Before any permits are issued for horizontal wells in the Marcellus formation we will know what is going into and coming out of the ground. We will know how the large quantities of water needed for these operations will be managed and stored in order to protect our critical water resources. And we will know how any wastewater will be properly treated and disposed of.     

Here in Arkansas, drilling permits are issued by the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission.  The AOGC also monitors drilling operations once those permits are issued.   I asked AOGC commissioner Lawrence Bengal what the agency was doing to reach out to the public.  It is important to remember that a substantial portion of AOGC’s funding comes from issuing drilling permits.  So while Bengal says the organization has participated in 30 outreach meetings over the last 24 months, it’s not clear what they would stand to gain from really going into the negative impacts of the drilling.  Read Bengal’s comments after the jump.        

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