American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2015 - 21

Environmental Quality Board to
develop criteria to balance through
permit conditions, the impact on public
resources with optimal development of
oil and gas resources.
PIOGA says it is asking the Supreme
Court to declare that DEP has no
authority to enforce the various Section
3215 requirements, nor to force permit
applicants to submit forms related to its
Pennsylvania Natural Diversity
Inventory Policy under Section 3215(c).
❒

New York DEC Finalizes
High-Volume Frac Ban

ALBANY, N.Y.-New York's de
facto moratorium on high-volume
hydraulic fracturing turned into a formal
ban on June 29 when the state
Department of Environmental
Conservation issued its findings
statement that ended a nearly sevenyear health and environmental review.
The DEC's findings statement is the
concluding part of the final
supplemental generic environmental
impact statement that the agency
released in mid-May. New York uses
the SGEIS as part of the review process
for permit applications for natural gas
drilling.
"The finding statement will not have
any immediate impact on the industry in
New York," assesses Bradley Gill,
executive director of the Independent
Oil & Gas Association of New York.
"All it did was cement a position that
already was taken. The immediate
impact is that it further deteriorates the
perception of New York being open for
business for our industry."
According to the DEC, even with
extensive mitigation measures, the
significant adverse public health and
environmental impacts from highvolume fracturing cannot be avoided or
minimized to the extent required by
state laws.
Gill predicts the fracturing ban will
remain in place unless a new governor
puts pressure on the statehouse to
impose a legislative fix.
The U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency's assessment that fracturing has
no negative impacts on drinking water,
released in June, is unlikely to have any
effect on New York's ban, Gill
evaluates. The federal study says it did
not find evidence that activities
associated with fracturing had caused
widespread, systemic impacts on
drinking water resources.
"If you asked members of the anti-

industry camp how to interpret that
EPA study, they would certainly pick
and choose the things that serve their
agenda," Gill says. "I am sure it is the
same with (Governor Andrew) Cuomo
and the political players in Albany."
New York's conventional operators
are unaffected by the findings
statement, but Gill warns they face their
own set of challenges. The DEC and
Public Service Commission have
launched a major enforcement initiative
that includes new produce or plug
policies and petroleum bulk storage
tank regulations.
"That may be a function of the
state's political mindset," Gill says. "I
don't know who is driving these
enforcement initiatives, but we are
definitely noticing it. They are piling on
enforcement of regulations that
admittedly have been lax historically,
but operators cannot handle it now with
gas and oil prices so low and the New
York political situation." ❒

New York Landowner
Files Lawsuit Against
DEC's Fracturing Ban

BELMONT, N.Y.-An attorney who
owns land in Allegany County, N.Y.,
has filed a lawsuit against the New
York Department of Environmental
Conservation, asserting the state's ban
on hydraulic fracturing contradicts its
years of study on the stimulation
technique.
According to media sources, David
Morabito filed a request for a judgment
by the state Supreme Court in Allegany
County, arguing the DEC denied him
the opportunity to get a permit for
fracturing operations on his property.
He says the denial was based on
"arbitrary or capricious actions" by
DEC Commissioner Joseph Martens
and Bradley Field, director of the
Division of Mineral Resources.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo
imposed a ban on high-volume
hydraulic fracturing Dec. 17, ending
more than six years of study (AOGR,
January 2015, pg. 219). DEC issued its
findings statement that closed its health
and environmental review on June 29.
In his lawsuit, Morabito points out
the state has analyzed, critiqued and
deciphered numerous studies into highvolume fracturing, and its
environmental impact statements
conclude fracturing is a viable and
acceptable practice for extracting New
York's natural gas reserves. He argues
AUGUST 2015 21
American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2015

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