CCE Gas Leasing and Exploration

Morrisville State College To Host Regional Legislative Conference On Natural Gas Development June 20

Regional Legislative Conference on Natural Gas Development

Saturday, June 20, 2009 9 a.m. to 12 noon

State University of New York at Morrisville Student Activities Building Theater

A PROACTIVE MUNICIPAL RESPONSE TO NATURAL GAS DEVELOPMENT IN UPSTATE NEW YORK

For more infomation visit: http://newscenter.morrisville.edu/article.aspx?id=6900

or click to download pdf with agenda

“Drilling in the Marcellus Shale: How Our Many Faiths Respond”

“Drilling in the Marcellus Shale: How Our Many Faiths Respond”
Wednesday, June 10th,  7 - 9 PM
First Unitarian Church, Ithaca
Sponsored by Interfaith Action for Healing Earth, Shaleshock and Catholic
Charities of Tompkins/Tioga

The US Dept of Energy primer on Modern Shale Gas Development

“This Primer on Modern Shale Gas Development in the United States was commissioned through the Ground Water Protection Council (GWPC). It is an effort to provide sound technical information on and additional insight into the relationship between today’s fastest growing, and sometimes controversial, natural gas resource development activity, and environmental protection, especially water resource management.”

You can download the pdf by clicking here. (5mb pdf)

US Department of Energy Fossil Energy Page

Disclaimer: The 2005 Energy Policy Act amended the Safe Drinking Water Act to exclude hydraulic fracturing fluids from its ‘Underground Injection Control’ provisions. The NYS DEC makes note of this amendment, but states that “..protection of groundwater resources during oil and gas extraction activities is a responsibility of state government. Visit the DEC for implications for gas development in NYS with respect to federal laws: SDWA, CWA and Community Right-to-Know.

The New Gas Drilling: What Local Governments Can Do -05/06/2009 Ithaca

The New Gas Drilling: What Local Governments Can Do

Wednesday, May 6, 2009
7:00 - 9:00 pm
Women’s Community Building, 100 W. Seneca Street, Ithaca

Co-sponsored by: Social Ventures; Ithaca Health Alliance ; Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton; Department of City & Regional Planning/ Cornell University ; Sustainable Tompkins; CRESP Center for Transformative Action; Shaleshock Citizens Action Coalition; Back to Democracy

Presenters:

* Dr. William Pammer, Commissioner, Planning and Environmental Management for Sullivan County ( Monticello ), NY
* Dr. Stephen Penningroth, Executive Director, Community Science Institute, Ithaca, NY

Over two thousand Tompkins County land owners, and thousands more in the surrounding Southern Tier, have signed leases to permit Marcellus Shale gas drilling on their property. Many expect to see drilling begin later this year, perhaps as early as summer.

While some welcome the drilling and others dread it, a common concern for all is the protection of our clean water and air, our land, and our quality of life. NY State law (Environmental Conservation Article 23) took the ability to regulate most aspects of gas drilling activity away from towns, and gave it to the New York State DEC instead. This leaves many local legislators and community members wondering just what they can do to protect our critical resources given these constraints. The Sullivan County, NY Drilling Task Force has been working for many months on answering just this question.

Dr. Pammer will describe the work of a Gas Drilling Task Force in Sullivan County and their research on possible impacts, the authority of local municipal governments, and 21 recommendations that will be presented to their County Legislature . You can find a newspaper story about the report at http://www.sc-democrat.com/news/002February/20/news.htm and the full report on the Sullivan County Division of Planning website: http://www.scgnet.us/index.asp?orgid=610&storyTypeID=&sid=&

Dr. Penningroth, Biochemist and Toxicologist, directs the Community Science Institute’s state-certified water testing laboratory. The CSI lab monitors water quality in Cayuga Lake and its tributary streams in partnership with citizen volunteers. He believes a reasonable estimate of drinking water that will be contaminated near drilling sites is between 1% and 5%. He will describe why and how to test private water wells so that land owners discover problems and have solid scientific evidence of pre-drilling, baseline water data should contamination occur.

For copies of informational handouts from the recent forum, Gas Drilling: Health Effects, Economics and the Watershed

http://www.shaleshock.org/open-educational-form-on-natural-gas-drilling-march-26th-in-ithaca/

Questions or comments? shaleshock08@yahoo.com or 202-368-8753

Marcellus Shale Gas Symposium

Hosted by:
The Hudson-Mohawk Professional Geologists’ Association

And
The New York State Council of Professional Geologists

Wednesday, April 29, 2009
8:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
The Desmond Hotel and Conference Center
660 Albany-Shaker Road
Albany, NY 12211

This full-day symposium will focus on the technical issues related to the development of the Marcellus Shale in New York State. The program will include topics on the geologic, water-resources, legal, regulatory, production, and operational issues related to this natural-gas play, concluding with a panel discussion. A buffet-style lunch will be served in between the morning and afternoon sessions. The technical program will be followed by a cocktail hour, dinner<a href=” “> , and evening keynote speaker. The goal of the symposium is to stimulate productive discussion and foster responsible development of this valuable energy resource in New York State.

Speakers include: NYSDEC Commissioner Pete Grannis (Opening Remarks); Dr. Gary Lash, SUNY Fredonia (Geology); Dr. Michael P. Joy, Esq. (Legal), Ms. Kathy Sanford, NYSDEC (Regulatory), Dr. Langhorne (Taury) Smith, NYS Museum Reservoir Characterization Group (Geochemistry); William J. Muszynski, P.E., Delaware River Basin Commission (Water Sourcing); Roger Willis, Universal Well Services (Well Development); and Dr. John Martin, NYSERDA (Keynote Address).

PDH credits are pending approval and expected to be available.
The cost of this symposium is $275.00, and includes lunch, dinner and cocktails.
Please Respond by April 10th, as space is limited.
Register Now!

Marcellus Shale Gas Leasing Landowner Coalitions: Structures, Goals, Issues – Webinar – April 7

Adobe Connect Webinar,
April 7 from 3-4:30pm.

Please go to the Natural Gas Development Resource Center website to register. The webinar will include general updates, overview of landowner coalitions and related issues such as compulsory integration. This is part of the Marcellus Shale training series; there will be another webinar on May 4 at 3pm (topic under consideration).

Forum on Drilling Impacts to Health, Economics, and Water

Announcing an open, educational forum on
Natural Gas Drilling:
Health Effects, Economics and the Watershed

THURSDAY, MARCH 26
7:00 - 9:15 pm
Ithaca High School Cafeteria
1401 N. Cayuga Street, Ithaca
Light refreshments and seating begin at 6:30

Keynote Speaker:
Albert F. Appleton, former NY City Commissioner of Environmental Protection

Al Appleton is an international consultant on water resource management, the environmental management of watershed and rural landscapes, and the economics of sustainable development. Mr. Appleton also teaches research seminars on sustainability at Cooper Union and Hunter College City University graduate program. As NY City Commissioner of Environmental Protection in the 1990s, he designed and initiated the world renowned Catskill watershed protection program.

Presentations also by Barbara Arrindell and Joe Levine of Damascus Citizens for Sustainability

Sponsored by: Social Ventures, Catholic Charities of Tompkins/Tioga, CRESP Center for Transformative Action, Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton, Department of City and Regional Planning at Cornell, Shaleshock Citizens Coalition, Ithaca Health Alliance, Back to Democracy.

For more information, call 202-368-8753.

Cortland Grange to host seminar on gas exploration - February 17, 2009

An educational seminar on natural gas exploration is scheduled from 6-9 p.m. Feb. 17 at the New York State Grange Headquarters, 100 Grange Place, Cortland.

The workshop will identify some of the resource concerns facing the region area and what regulatory rules and guidelines are in place to ensure those resources are being protected.

Read the full article at the Ithaca Journal web site.

Landowner Natural Gas Leasing Coalition Forms in Schuyler County

To help landowners and communities better understand the issues surrounding natural gas development, numerous grass-roots leasing coalitions have emerged throughout the region in recent months. A coalition has recently been formed in Schuyler County. There is no fee or obligation to sign a lease if you join the Schuyler Land Owner Coalition. To learn more about natural gas development and how the coalition can help you, please attend one of the following meetings, or visit http://schuylerloc.org. Bring your parcel tax identification number to the meeting if interested in joining.

January 27; 7:00pm; Watkins Glen High School
February 4; 7:00pm; Odessa/Montour High School
February 11; 7:00pm; Tyrone Fire Hall
February 25; 7:00pm; Mecklenburg Fire Hall
March 11; 7:00pm; Monterey Fire Hall

Recording of the Marcellus Shale Training webinar.

On Tuesday January 13, 2009 CCE sponsored a training webinar on issues around Marcellus Shale. You can view a recording of that webinar by visiting this link.

The agenda includes:

•Overview of Where, Cornell and CCE’s role, partnerships with Sister Land Grants

•What is the Marcellus Shale, a geological perspective

•Natural Gas Development Resource Center

•Update on the draft EIS and scoping process, and update on water related issues

•Overview of community and economic development issues

•Education and research

•Next steps and discussion

The direct link to the recording is: http://breeze.cce.cornell.edu/p97298216/