By Jake Palmateer
ONEONTA _ More than 165 people attended a public hearing in Oneonta on Monday night that centered on the DEC's draft regulations governing natural-gas drilling.
Although the issue has become volatile in central New York, there were no sign-carrying protesters or clashes between drilling supporters and opposers. But many of those attending the hearing at the Foothills Performing Arts Center atrium wore green buttons with the slogan "Drilling isn't safe," which was also seen on several cars parked outside.
Some of the speakers quoted specific passages from the draft regulations and how they felt they could be improved, while others made passionate pleas against drilling in general.
Energy companies are eager to tap into gas-rich shale formations deep underground. But many area residents are concerned about the impact of drilling on the environment. The state Department of Environmental Conservation is proposing new rules to govern horizontal drilling and hydrofracking, techniques the industry uses to extract gas from the formations. That technique has drawn criticism about the impact of chemicals on water supplies.
Other concerns related to drilling include the process of landowners leasing property to energy companies; the impact of trucks on local roads; fires and accidents; and the industrial footprint of gas drilling.
The proposed regulations are more than 800 pages long.
Although the DEC is holding public hearings in other parts of the state on the Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement, none of its hearings are scheduled for Otsego County. The city of Oneonta teamed up with the county to host Monday's hearing, with the city clerk's and mayor's offices contributing about $1,500 to cover the costs, Mayor John Nader said.
"It's very important to do," Nader said. "It's clear there is a lot of concern."
The hearing was transcribed by a Amy Ostertuck, a professional stenographer, and all comments will be sent to the state DEC for its official record.
The public comment period on the SGEIS on the Oil, Gas and Solution Mining Regulatory Program was recently extended from Nov. 30 to Dec. 31.
The hearing was moderated by Terry Bliss, director of the Otsego County planning department. A show of hands prompted by Bliss indicated that about a quarter of the attendees were from outside Otsego County.
Loud applause followed many of the anti-drilling comments from some of the dozens of people who spoke at the hearing.
But poor audio quality in the open space of the atrium prompted several people to interrupt and ask speakers to talk louder and adjust the microphone.
Adrian Kuzminski of the local environmental activist group Sustainable Otsego said the DEC's draft regulations were an "embarrassing pro-industry document."
Mary Jo Long, an attorney and Afton town board member, said the DEC does not have the same accountability as local elected officials.
"We can't vote DEC out of office," Long said.
Long said that in one instance, the DEC issued a drilling permit for a location in a flood plain, which she said could be problematic in the event of a flood.
"The DEC apparently doesn't know that or doesn't want to know that," Long said.
Long suggested that local governments be given more authority to govern the siting of wells.
Cooperstown resident Lou Allstadt suggested DEC should have required performance bonds from energy companies to ensure there would be funding set aside to clean up any environmental problems and have a more uniform setback policy when it comes to reservoirs and wells.
He also suggested a staged drilling process where the first wells are drilled away from populated areas and allowed to operate for a set time before being assessed. If there are no problems, then the drilling could expand outward from those locations in stages, he said.
Two men from the town of Franklin said they left early because it was hard to hear.
The men, who identified themselves as supporters of drilling as long as assurances could be made that it would be done safely, said they also left because most of the comments appeared to be coming from the anti-drilling side of the issue.
One of the men, Mike Howland, said he originally came because he was curious.
"Realistically, upstate New York is dying," Howland said.
The financial promise of the gas wells could help save the region, he said.
Other elected officials in attendance included Mayor-elect Richard Miller; county Rep. Martha Stayton, D-Oneonta; Third Ward Alderman Erik Miller; Oneonta Town Councilman Bill Mirabito; Oneonta Town Supervisor Robert Wood and Oneonta Town Councilwoman Marie Lusins.
