Landowners in Tioga County propose fracking with propane

The proposal was submitted less than two weeks after Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration officially banned large-scale hydraulic fracturing in the state after a multi-year study, according to The Daily Caller.

The Snyder Farm Group and Tioga Energy Partners teamed up and sent an application to the state Department of Environmental Conservation Tuesday to frack for natural gas using gelled propane instead of water.

The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle quotes the partners legal counsel – “We are outside of the state’s ban”. “The state banned high-volume hydraulic fracturing, but that’s not what we’re doing”.

The Snyder Farm Group is seeking to develop a 53-acre natural gas well in the Tioga County town of Barton, about 25 miles west of Binghamton.

The natural gas collection will take place beneath 53 acres of land owned by the Snyder Farm Group, but will only temporarily disturb 3.5 surface acres while the well is drilled.

“This uses less than half the truck traffic because it doesn’t take as much propane to do the job”, Frisbie said.

“””(The application) will be subject to rigorous review, which we fully support, and that process will be completed when it was completed”, Schultz added.

Jonathan Garrett, an analyst at Wood Mackenzie, said the economic viability of the proposal is dubious, given technological challenges of propane fracking that drive up production costs, the unproven gas reserves in New York’s part of the Marcellus Shale, and the large volume of gas flowing from Pennsylvania wells that’s driving down the price of natural gas.

The Nichols racino is proposing a $195 million investment that would double its work force and lead to $32 million in new gaming tax revenues. And since we are the five land owners involved in this group, and it’s our land – it’s right next to our homes, our houses, our farms, our barns and our cattle.

“If the opportunity arises, I wouldn’t be afraid to have (fracking) on my property”, she said. “All types of drilling for oil and gas inherently carry serious public health and environmental risks”, said Kate Kiely, a spokeswoman for the Natural Resources Defense Council. “We wanted the higher standard”. We need to get that mind set back in.