Hydraulic fracturing of natural gas wells--usually called "fracking"--is almost certainly coming to western NY. The industry claims that there are "two Saudi Arabias" worth of natural gas trapped in the shale formations found underground. With that amount of money in play, we can almost certainly expect to see a significant increase in drilling activity.The real question is how will these drilling activities be regulated so as to avoid some of the "nightmare" situations--such as contamination of water supplies--occuring in other states.
The Chautauqua Division of RC4 will be sponsoring a luncheon on April 25 with a representative of the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation as our speaker. We have asked the DEC to address "lessons learned" from other states and what homeowners--particularly those living in rural areas--should know about fracking and its regulation in our state. The luncheon will be held at the NYSUT Southwest Regional Headquarters, One West Hill Road, Jamestown, NY at 11:30 AM. (A tour of this facility will also be included in the program.) We expect the cost to be about $10/person. As soon as we are ready to take reservations, you will find a reservation form on this page.
In anticipation of this event, the purpose of this page is to bring members "up to speed" on fracking.
How fracking works:
CBS "60 Minutes" episode from November 14, 2010:
Click here to access a report from nationalgeographic.com on the shale gas boom. You will find much information, good and bad. If you're a homeowner with a private well, be sure to see the story of the Hallowich family. You can click here to go directly to this story. (NOTE: The report is part of National Geographic's Great Energy Challenge, a three-year effort to examine the United States' current energy situation. The initiative is sponsored by Royal Dutch Shell, which recently acquired a stake in the Marcellus shale. National Geographic says it maintained control over all content.)
