Most observers, including me, have long named July 23, 2008 as the official start date for New York State's unfortunate decision to balk at the Localized Onset of the Shale Gas Revolution.
Re-capping once again, that was the day then-Governor David Paterson directed his DEC to update the generic oil and gas environmental impact statement, so as to thoroughly cover all the new technologies involved in high-volume hydraulic fracturing within so-called tight reservoir rocks.
Paterson's announcement — which was synced up with some other, more obscure changes within oil and gas regulation — never said "ban," "freeze," or "moratorium." But that's what it has become, while we wait for this document to be updated, commented on, re-updated, re-commented on — and generally fought over as though the fate of the state hung in the balance.
If you could time-travel back to that Summer of 2008, I think you would be very hard-pressed indeed to find a single knowledgeable observer — anywhere inside industry, or doing agency work, or even on payroll within the then-stiffening anti movement — who would have forecast that this process could possibly take four years or more to complete.
But that's where it's now headed.
So when will the four-year mark pass us by?
I believe a historian with an attitude, such as myself, could factually demonstrate that New York State's frack ban will actually be four years old as early as February 15, 2012.
Here's why: My recollection is that Chesapeake and Fortuna/Talisman, by public filing, formally revealed their Marcellus intentions in NYS as early as February or March 2008. I remember they each had permit applications for proposed horizontal shale gas wells listed on the DEC's public database and web pages for months and months, both before July 23, 2008, and after.
Checking today, that recollection is backed up by the state's records. The computer files still show these two companies applied for drilling permits on presumably full-blown horizontal Marcellus wells at that time. Even without a de facto moratorium, however, the DEC managed to find the informal power to freeze these applications — with barely a whimper of protest from anyone.
Even thoroughly under-funded Nornew, predecessor to Norse, had Marcellus applications hang, untended by the bureaucrats, prior to July 23, 2008. Norse's applications have since been withdrawn, and the company was refunded its fees. But the applications from CHK and TLM still sit there suspended in cryogenic space — possibly because that fact pattern might help set the stage for future legal action against New York.
To my way of thinking, therefore, the four-year mark for the NYS freeze-out will actually be February 15, 2012, and not July 23, 2012. (I'm assuming there won't be any full-scale shale gas permits issued prior to February 15, 2012 — which seems like a good bet, given the latest "homina-homina" from DEC Chief Joe Martens. Further into next year, though, I still hold out naive hopes that NYS will get its act together prior to July 23, 2012.)
Here's a record of those applications which predate July 23, 2008, based on where the state's database still sits today:
Re-capping once again, that was the day then-Governor David Paterson directed his DEC to update the generic oil and gas environmental impact statement, so as to thoroughly cover all the new technologies involved in high-volume hydraulic fracturing within so-called tight reservoir rocks.
Paterson's announcement — which was synced up with some other, more obscure changes within oil and gas regulation — never said "ban," "freeze," or "moratorium." But that's what it has become, while we wait for this document to be updated, commented on, re-updated, re-commented on — and generally fought over as though the fate of the state hung in the balance.
If you could time-travel back to that Summer of 2008, I think you would be very hard-pressed indeed to find a single knowledgeable observer — anywhere inside industry, or doing agency work, or even on payroll within the then-stiffening anti movement — who would have forecast that this process could possibly take four years or more to complete.
But that's where it's now headed.
So when will the four-year mark pass us by?
I believe a historian with an attitude, such as myself, could factually demonstrate that New York State's frack ban will actually be four years old as early as February 15, 2012.
Here's why: My recollection is that Chesapeake and Fortuna/Talisman, by public filing, formally revealed their Marcellus intentions in NYS as early as February or March 2008. I remember they each had permit applications for proposed horizontal shale gas wells listed on the DEC's public database and web pages for months and months, both before July 23, 2008, and after.
Checking today, that recollection is backed up by the state's records. The computer files still show these two companies applied for drilling permits on presumably full-blown horizontal Marcellus wells at that time. Even without a de facto moratorium, however, the DEC managed to find the informal power to freeze these applications — with barely a whimper of protest from anyone.
Even thoroughly under-funded Nornew, predecessor to Norse, had Marcellus applications hang, untended by the bureaucrats, prior to July 23, 2008. Norse's applications have since been withdrawn, and the company was refunded its fees. But the applications from CHK and TLM still sit there suspended in cryogenic space — possibly because that fact pattern might help set the stage for future legal action against New York.
To my way of thinking, therefore, the four-year mark for the NYS freeze-out will actually be February 15, 2012, and not July 23, 2012. (I'm assuming there won't be any full-scale shale gas permits issued prior to February 15, 2012 — which seems like a good bet, given the latest "homina-homina" from DEC Chief Joe Martens. Further into next year, though, I still hold out naive hopes that NYS will get its act together prior to July 23, 2012.)
Here's a record of those applications which predate July 23, 2008, based on where the state's database still sits today:
Well Name
|
Company Name
|
County
|
Town
|
Permit Application Date
|
Bartlett
1-A (626466)
|
Chemung
|
Erin
|
2/15/2008
|
|
Bartlett
2 (626376)
|
Chemung
|
Erin
|
2/15/2008
|
|
Calhoun
S. 2
|
Tioga
|
Candor
|
3/20/2008
|
|
Calhoun
S. 1
|
Tioga
|
Candor
|
3/20/2008
|
|
Baust
J 1
|
Tioga
|
Candor
|
3/28/2008
|
|
Baust
J 2
|
Tioga
|
Candor
|
3/28/2008
|
|
Vance
1H
|
Chenango
|
Coventry
|
6/2/2008
|
|
Hare
3H
|
Chenango
|
Smyrna
|
6/3/2008
|
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