EPA Wants N.Y. Drilling Rules to Look Harder at Water Impact, Long-Term Effects

The EPA has told New York regulators that their proposed draft rules for gas drilling using high-volume hydraulic fracturing will require significantly more investigation into the practice’s cumulative effects as well as potential health impacts.

The agency also expressed “serious reservations” about permitting drilling in the New York City watershed, which provides drinking water to 9 million residents.

The 809-page draft document from New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation was requested by Gov. David Paterson in July 2008 as a supplement to the state’s existing oil and gas drilling regulations.

Over 9,600 public comments were submitted on the draft document, and a number of local, state and national environmental groups have requested that the governor impose a drilling ban while new rules addressing these concerns are drafted.

Meanwhile, a business and economic coalition has offered estimates that the development of the Marcellus Shale deposits in New York State will generate more than $1.4 billion in annual economic impact. That figure includes over $100 million in landowner lease payments and $32 million in state tax revenue.

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