Partnership backs gas drilling in Sullivan

Cochecton pursues moratorium

By FRITZ MAYER

WESTERN SULLIVAN COUNTY, NY — Like casinos before them, gas wells will either be the saviors of the county or its ruination, depending on who’s talking. Unlike casinos, however, opponents agree there is probably no way to stop gas drilling, but wonder if it can be regulated. Some proponents believe, however, that little regulation is necessary.

Harold Russell, the former supervisor of the Town of Bethel and a prominent dairy farmer, for instance, thinks all the talk of environmental threats from the gas drilling process is “a bunch of bull.” At a meeting of the Bethel Town Board on June 12, Russell said he was negotiating with gas companies to sign leases for his properties on Route 17B. “I wish I had three wells on my farm,” he said. “I would sell all my cows.”

That puts him, to some degree, on the same side of the drilling issue as Honesdale-based planning consultant Tom Shepstone. Speaking to a group of business people who attended a forum on gas drilling at Friends Pub in Smallwood on June 10, Shepstone said that he had signed a gas lease for land he owns in Wayne County. He showed the group a couple of pictures of wellheads that would remain after drilling had finished. The wellhead equipment was about three feet high, and not imposing. He said, “All throughout the Finger Lakes, you see them on golf courses.” He said gas drilling would mean “a $100 to $200 million investment in this county in the short term, so that’s huge.”

The event was sponsored by the Sullivan County Partnership for Economic Development. The next day, the partnership issued a press release in support of gas drilling. Peter Gozza, executive director said, “This is a tremendous opportunity for Sullivan County’s residents and municipalities to net millions of new dollars for our local economy.”

On the other side of the issue is the group Keep Cochecton Rural, which had formed in 2006 to help defeat a proposed 42-home development and has got together again to address gas-drilling issues. About a dozen members turned out to the Cochecton town board meeting on June 11.

Resident Jeffrey Rose reflected the feelings of many when he said that gas drilling on one property would have negative effects on neighboring properties. Neighboring properties, he said, “in many cases would be radically affected by ruined aquifers, air pollution, compromised soils, 24-hour noise from drilling, from trucks, etc.” Rose also brought up another often-repeated concern among residents, which is “the secrecy of the toxic chemicals used in hydraulic fracking.” Several people expressed concern that the fracking process has been exempted from several of the nation’s most important environmental laws.

That point was also touched on by resident Grace Van Hulsteyn, who noted that each well would require millions of gallons of water. It was her impression, she said, “that the federal government has decided it would extract a limited amount of fossil fuel that is available on this globe, rather than protect the diminishing amount of good clean water that we have.”

Councilman John Reggero said the board shared many of the concerns of the residents, and like them had been researching the matter.

The residents requested the board put a moratorium in place to allow time to study the issue of what types of regulation might be imposed on gas drilling operations at the town level.

Deputy supervisor Larry Richardson said there is uncertainty about whether the board can legally enforce a moratorium on gas drilling, but he believed the board did have that power. The board voted four to zero to move forward with a six-month moratorium on gas drilling operations, pending advice from the town attorney on whether it has the power to do so.

The Town of Highland is also moving forward with a moratorium, while Bethel and Tusten are awaiting the results of action in Highland before deciding whether to pursue a similar course.