October 04, 2009 11:17 PM UTC

Industry Embraces New Drilling Regs

• 6 Comments
• by: ClubTwitty

Of late, to head off potential federal legislation covering hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, the oil and gas industry and its local lobby arm, the Colorado Oil and Gas Association have ’embraced’ new rules in Colorado as sufficient (if not necessary) and sensible (compared to federal legislation).  

However COGA is also suing the State of Colorado over its new rules, missing–it seems–the irony.

During the rulemaking, the oil and gas industry led by COGA, blasted the rules at every opportunity.  Republican politicians grandstanded (and continue to) about the terrible blow to the economy. This is despite the fact that drilling at unprecedented rates is a primary contributor to crashing natural gas prices and that the glut in supply, along with a global recession, has led to a massive downturn across the nation.  

Meanwhile drillers themselves have migrated to cheaper plays closer both to pipeline infrastructure and the very consumers industry apologists claim should make such decisions  (enamored as they are with supposed ‘free market’ ideology). Primary among these are the Marcellus shale plays of New York, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, where we pick up the story.  

The New York State Assembly is moving forward with new drilling regulations, in response to the sharp increase in shale gas development:

Brad Gill, executive director of the Independent Oil and Gas Association of New York, said the state’s regulations already were regarded as the nation’s strictest…

What!  The strictest in the nation??  During the rulemaking here an oft-repeated claim was that Colorado had instituted the strongest rules in the nation.  (I never saw their comparative study).

Of course industry seldom argues that regulations are too weak or even fine as they are.  Always regulations are too burdensome, too far reaching, and unnecessary given the good will of industry to protect water, air, communities…economic havoc will reign should any public good unduly impinge on corporate will.

But here, actually, the story from New York diverges from the script so faithfully followed in Colorado:

…[Gill] didn’t feel the additional rules would discourage drilling.

Whether Colorado’s rules are the ‘strictest in the nation’ is clearly debatable.  Alabama, of all places, has stronger rules regarding frac’ing.  According to the philly.com article cited above, the proposed rules:

New York’s new regulations, contained in a 500-plus page document, address the potential effects of horizontal drilling and high-volume hydraulic fracturing, known as “hydrofracking.”

They include measures companies must take to protect the environment and nearby communities.

Before drilling, energy companies must:

Disclose what chemicals are in the “fracking” fluid , a mixture of water, sand, and chemicals , that they pump into the shale at high pressure to release gas.

Test private water wells within 1,000 feet of drilling sites before projects begin to provide baseline information and allow for future monitoring.

Fill out checklists and certification forms to ensure technical compliance with drilling permits.

Prepare plans for reducing greenhouse gas, visual and noise impacts, and submit a road-use plan covering trucking, which they must adhere to.

State inspectors also must be on site during well construction.

Handling and disposal of wastewater that comes back up from wells after fracturing must be stored in steel tanks on the site or piped to a central storage pit using a double-liner system similar to those required at landfills.

Well operators must disclose plans for disposal, and a new tracking process similar to that used for medical waste will be used to monitor disposal.

The new regulations require extra protections for the New York City watershed and other sensitive areas, including a buffer zone around water bodies, city approval for wells within 1,000 feet of water tunnels or aqueducts and stricter wastewater handling requirements.

Unfortunately COGA is not likely to go off script–and suggest that the industry could manage with stronger rules.  Nor are they likely to embrace the level of regulation being proposed in New York.  

Instead they will likely argue that the least regulation and the greatest access to public and private lands alike serves the greater good, sending the message that the people, land and water of Colorado don’t warrant the protections the industry is embracing elsewhere.