Schoharie County should convene a committee to study the impact of hydrofracking and send a resolution to Albany to ban the practice to extract gas from the ground under the effects, especially on groundwater, are determined, Robert Nied and Don Airey, co-directors of the Schoharie Valley Watch said Friday.
Hydraulic fracturing, known as hydrofracking, could have a tremendous impact on the county, the men told Supervisors Friday morning.
Hydrofracking, they said, requires a tremendous amount of infrastructure, a “staggering amount of fresh water” and a great amount of wastewater.
Mr. Nied said that each wellpad for hydrofracking requires five to seven acres of land along with access roads. The wells can go 3,000 to 7,000 feet deep and up to two miles laterally, he said. There can be several wells on each wellpad.
Each well, he said, requires between two and four million gallons of water and 80 to 300 tons of chemicals.
The wastewater, he said, can be disposed of in three ways: holding ponds, trucked off site or by injection wells and back into the ground. Between 800 and 1,200 tanker truck tips are needed for each well.
Those advocating hydrofracking are also advocating for the transformation of the landscape in the county and the industrialization of the county, Mr. Nied said. Hydrofracking is not restrained by comprehensive plans or local zoning.
The practice, Mr. Nied said, is not compatible with preserving rural character.
The northern portion of the county has great amounts of Karst topology which contains underground aquifers that extend for miles.
“No one really knows how water moves around the aquifer and around the county,” Mr. Airey said.
If one aquifer is contaminated by hydrofracking, it could affect several wells, he said.
“Technology is never perfect,” Mr. Nied said. “The potential is there. The reality is there.”
Companies doing hydrofracking get water from rivers, streams, reservoirs and wells or “from anywhere they can,” Mr. Nied said.
If 1,500 wells were put in each of the 16 towns of the county, companies could need 72 billion gallons of water.
He said that there have been 344 chemicals identified in the wastewater and 37 are on the EPA list of being very toxic.
Mr. Nied said that 50 to 70 percent of the water returns to the surface leaving 30 to 50 percent in the ground.
New York City wants a ban on hydrofracking in watershed areas, he noted.
The men asked the board to convene a “blue ribbon” commission to study the impact of hydrofracking and recommend specific steps to protect drinking water.
They also asked that a resolution be sent to Albany to ban the practice until the effects are determined, approve a code of ethics on gas drilling companies and that all supervisors with conflicts recuse themselves or resign.
Board Chairman Earl VanWormer said the health department is determining what they can and cannot do.
In addition, a local law is being written to cover damage to roads and to require bonds, Mr. VanWormer said.