Hydrofracking and the Economy: A Simple 3 Point Plan that Ensures Environmental Stewardship, Securing Long Term Green Energy and Economic Growth in New York State.

Hydro-fracking is so controversial that writing anything in favor of or against will only sound like a polemic for extremists on both sides. It has caused me much trepidation to publish this article, but with so much being discussed on both sides, I feel certain important conversations are being missed. I am in agreement that any well drilling within watersheds on NY State or historic sites should be prohibited. This is common sense because at the human level, water is more important than oil and energy. If you’re a right wing red dog conservative or a yellow dog liberal this point should not be a point of argument.

The NYS DEC proposed formal regulations for gas drilling into the Marcellus and Utica Shales of New York State last year and held the last of four public hearings on the regulations on Nov. 30. Under state law, DEC has one year after the last public hearing to finalize the regulations, although it can file for a 90-day extension (http://www.cnbc.com/id / 49240763). If it misses the Nov. 29 deadline, the rulemaking process restarts, including a new comment period. This could turn out to be a big win for environmentalists and I applaud the slow process in an attempt to get it right for all New Yorkers. While the development of new regulations are significant, most specifically 6 NYCRR Part 560 which is applicable to all High-Volume hydraulic Fracturing (HVHF) for gas and oil well development, the regulations do not require the energy companies to implement the maximum protective measure in meeting codes and standards. The proposed rules do not spell out the level of disclosure of chemical additives to be used on the lands of New York State or require fracking fluids to be treated by local municipally owned wastewater treatment plants or disposed of as waste once characterized, two important protective measures that are absent in the current rule to the level of detail that needs to spelled out for New Yorkers.

 

Because of the lack of long-term planning in the recent 30 + years, the moment of now and to some extent the pursuit of hyper-individualistic goals of the “me” population, a working contemporary model to approach problems and living our lives within our energy limits is elusive. I believe a common sense, long term goal oriented, approach to drilling should be engaged in for our economy and to secure energy resources for New Yorkers and this great state in the next Century. At this point, I assume some are in total opposition prior to reading any further.  Hold on for a moment! New Yorkers need energy resources and utilizing local energy resources is beneficial as opposed to importing oil and gas from far off places, unless of course we want to do without our cars, i-phones, and air conditioners? Since such a a marginal number of people, red dog conservatives or a yellow dog liberals and almost all in the middle are willing to change in this way we must find a common sense solution to our hunger for energy. A long term plan to build a viable infrastructure of renewable resources are the only answer and harvesting them via technology improvements and development will be key to building a sustainable growing New York. Not only is utilizing a local source of energy favorable, it is also a more green option, producing less greenhouse gases to deliver and for New Yorkers to use to run those cars, i-phones, and air conditioners. 

Recognizing that we are in a long recalcitrant economic crisis that politically only a few are taking responsibility for, we must find a way to grow the economy for the next 100 years and put our fellow New Yorkers back to work. Economic policies of each political party have benefits and detractions depending of what ideology you subscribe to, so I am tabling that discussion to focus on comprehensive jobs and economic growth plan for New York State that will bring down the unemployment rates and increase tax rolls like we have observed in other states like North Dakota, Montana, Texas and others. While on any day, I would rather see solar, water, or wind power New York State, people are not ready and technology is not yet affordable enough to power our hungry state. So how do you build a sustainable growing green New York while hydro-fracking? Well, it won’t be a simple thing to do and will require long-term planning of financial resources, regulations, and the idea that this energy belongs to the people of New York, things difficult for some to accept however, it would be a plan for New York.

A plan for New York would include three main points; a highly regulated environment for drillers and energy companies where increased testing, inspection, and construction standards for drilling were put into place, hydro-fracking fluid compositions are fully disclosed and will be brought back up to the surface, treated and disposed at municipally owned wastewater treatment plants, a green energy tax or additional permit fees are put into place on all product wells developed.

The 3 points that must be incorporated into the final proposed regulations include:
Point 1 – Utilizing state of the art technology developed by the oil and gas industry and requiring drillers to build wells the most protective codes and standards would allow local environs and aquifers to be more sufficiently protected, protected for the worst case scenario. Energy companies while creating GIS maps, should also include worst case scenario process hazard analysis to determine if risks were to high when developing a well. The environment for routine, sloppy well drilling often seen in the industry would be severely curtailed and the public would have extra layers of protection. The first point in the plan would also require for testing wells for seepage and using double walled construction with leak chemical detection to determine if fracking fluids or natural gas escapes the main well. The proposed regulations need to go further and spell out examples of the most protective measures to protect water resources in New York State.

Point 2 - New York State would require full disclosure of hydro-fracking fluids to be used during fracking process and end the argument that these are trade secrets by saying if you want to drill in NY State, full disclosure is required. Companies cannot be allowed in the proposed rule to use broad names like HVHF fluid, but should spell out individual components of that fluid. These fracking fluids need to be required to be brought back up to the surface for treatment and disposal aboveground and not pumped back deep into the Earth’s crust, unless energy companies clearly use green biodegradable substitutes as fracking chemicals that do not impact water quality.

It is not reasonable or fair that companies make arguments that fracking water will not or never migrate upwards towards aquifers or drinking water supplies as it has been shown that contamination plumes will migrate downward into aquifers or impact drinking water supplies through pinch outs of confining layers clays found underneath the ground surface. It is proven already that contamination near the surface can eventually migrate downwards through these windows in soil profiles or along faults in bedrock underneath the ground that act as pathways for transmission of chemicals underneath the surface. The argument that water moving upwards rarely occurs and it only moves downwards with respect to to pumping fracking fluids into the Earth is not grounded in the facts. Depending on the hydraulic conductivity and how water levels fluctuate due to rainfall or other inputs in the aquifer or the way lakes seasonally turn over from lower to higher levels based on temperature, or ocean upwelling events, it would be premature and I would add false to say fracking fluids deposited deep below the surface would never rise to the water table and impact local drinking water supplies. A case for reference is the way the United States deals with nuclear waste storage is short sighted and the nuclear waste we are generating will be here for up to 1 million years or longer depending on the isotope of interest, while the containment systems holding this waste are designed in practicality for 100 years. This shows that we are a people of now and are not especially capable of managing problems 100 years from today or able to think broadly enough to identify risk 100 years into the future.

Point 3 - NY State would issue two taxes or require additional permit fees on the development of natural gas or oil wells in New York State. Lets call them additional permit fees for our discussion here. These additional permit fees would include a smaller fee for cleanup based on the Superfund model for unanticipated accidents and the other larger tax would fund green energy projects using solar, water, biodiesel and wind power sources of energy to be expected to be available long after these natural gas wells are depleted. This will provide significant funding for the development and implementation of alternative sustainable means of energy and the framework for long term planning and funding of New York’s renewable resources.  The way this can be practically carried out is through utilizing local sustainable means of energy for government services and buildings, and funding a tax credit for households installing alternative sustainable means of energy. These funds could also be issued as grants to universities, companies and non-profits that fund, develop, and build sustainable energy projects.

The U.S Energy Information Administration states there are about 1.3 trillion barrels of oil left in the world right now.  According to OPEC, over the next 21 years, the world will average about 36 billion barrels of oil each year. Thus, barring any new major oil discoveries, the world's oil supply will be effectively gone in 36 years (http://www.eia.gov/).  With possibly a 50 or 60 year supply of natural gas based on a worldwide reserve of 300,000,000,000,000 m² and expected energy prices and consumption, to remain as they are or increase in the future, there will be enough money in the development of wells and in these hydro-fracking projects to both fuel profits for companies, protecting the environment through regulations and enforcement, laying out  along term plan to harvest renewable green energy in New York and help the State out of this economic crisis and create jobs now. None of this happens without a long term plan, compromise on the part of politicians, and fiscal responsibility in not allowing companies to rake in extraordinary royalties year after year and for government to act boldly and lead for the public good, the commons we all share and allocate monies to the future plan of developing alternative sustainable green technologies for the 22^nd century. If the most protective measures are not implemented, I would ban hydro-fracking because of the risks, however, Andrew Cuomo needs to be a visionary on this topic, think big like the visionaries who created the New York City Water Supply system. I believe he and New Yorkers are capable of achieving big goals. Hell, we are New York and we can do anything!

References:

1. http://www.dec.ny.gov/regulations/77353.html
2. http://www.eia.gov/
3. Central Intelligence Agency 2009, The World Factbook 2009, ISSN 1553-8133, Washington, DC, viewed 26th September, 2009, <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html>.
4. The Editor, BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2009, BP Statistical Reviewof World Energy, June 2009, BP p.l.c., London, UK, viewed 10th September, 2009, <http://bp.com/statisticalreview>.
5. http://www.cnbc.com/id/49240763
6. http://www.rationalmiddle.com