COOPERSTOWN _ Gas drilling and how to get ready for it dominated discussion at Wednesday's meeting of the Otsego County Board of Representatives.
At the meeting's start, under privilege of the floor, Adrian Kuzminski of Fly Creek and Paul Mendelsohn of Cherry Valley asked board members to take measures to protect local water supplies and roads.
Kuzminski said aquifers in the county could be mapped, and Mendelsohn said roads could be tested, with each action taken before gas drilling becomes commonplace. With baseline information from these studies, they said, officials would have records they could refer to if water or roads are damaged by drilling operations.
Their calls for readiness comes as thousands of parcels in Otsego and neighboring counties have been leased for gas exploration. The area is rich in natural gas, but the fuel is found thousands of feet below ground in layers of shale, according to experts in industry and state government.
Removing it can be problematic from a municipal perspective, as heavy equipment and trucks can damage roads. Newly drilled wells are often fracked with hundreds of thousands of gallons of water, as well as sand and chemicals, and accidents have happened that compromised water supplies.
After the two speeches Wednesday, the board moved to other topics _ the stalled CSEA contract and tourism marketing.
However, at the close of Rep. Keith McCarty's Public Works Committee report, Rep. Donald Lindberg, R-Worcester, asked, ``Are we going to bore our roads? Do we have a plan for the roads and the water?
``I've been telling people in my district to take a sample of their own well water, to seal it and keep it in case their water is affected," Lindberg continued. `When you get in a court of law, how are you going to prove what they did if you don't know what you started with?''
Lindberg said he's been told that testing for many chemicals to be prepared for possible contaminants could cost $30,000, an expense that would break household budgets.
Board Chairman James Powers, R-Butternuts, said, ``I was told you have to have the water sample done professionally. Otherwise, what would stop someone using another water supply and saying it was their own?''
``We have to document our records so they will stand up in court,'' said Rep. Marti Stayton, D-Oneonta.
McCarty said county bridges are inspected annually, and core samples are taken to analyze the pavement's condition. This information might begin a database on the roads, he said.
``If we're late on this, we'll have a mess,'' said Stayton, adding that the town of Lebanon saw its highway budget soar after drilling started there.
County Attorney James Konstanty said the county could only core its own roads, and that towns would have to take care of town roads.
``Believe me, this is going to be a nightmare,'' Konstanty said. ``These things aren't tested in court. A month ago, I spent a day at a session on these problems, and if my hair wasn't already white, it would have been then.''
McCarty asked him if the county could have the well-drilling operators sign agreements to use the roads.
Konstanty many things were possible, but he might need a ``legal budget of $1 million, with outside counsel. These well-drilling companies are going to have bottomless pits of money.''
Rep. Sam Dubben, R-Middlefield, said, ``In my district, the towns are looking for some direction. They want to be on the same page with the county on this. I think we need uniformity.''
Rep. Stephen Fournier, R-Milford, noted that on the county's website, www.otsegocounty.com, information about gas drilling has been assembled by the Planning Department.
Stayton said the county should contact other counties, such as Broome, to see what laws they have enacted and how the industry has reacted to them.
``We can work with NYSAC (New York Association of Counties). There are at least 20 counties facing these issues,'' she said.
McCarty ended discussion by saying, ``If we're going to spend $1 million to protect our roads, we'd better spend another million to protect our water. We can always fix the roads, but not the water.''
