The ULTIMATE Shale Gas Primer...From Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy

If there is one thing I have learned being an activist over many many moons, is you do not try to reinvent the wheel...truth be told, it is WASTED ENERGY that the cause cannot afford.  So, rather than try to create my own primer on the subject of Shale Gas, and it's Rosemary's Baby demonic child known as FRACK, thought I would share the BEST PRIMER I have found from the folks over at Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy...if you find this page, click on its links, and it will take you right to their learning resources...please take the time to educate yourselves...if not for yourselves, then for your children, and their children.

The following links are provided to help our community learn.
Essential Reading on Shale Gas Extraction
The Marcellus Shale
Maps
Shale Gas Extraction
Environmental and Health Risks
Environmental and Health Risks
Wastewater Treatment
The Economics of Shale Gas Extraction
Economic Impact
Perverse Incentives - How the Federal Government Subsidizes
Gas Bubble:The Shakey Economics of Shale Gas Extraction
Water Testing and Best Management Practices
Best Management Practices
Water Testing
Sesimic Testing
New York State Legislation, Regulations and Resolutions
NY State Laws & Regulations
NYS Pending Legislation
NY Legislation and Regulatons We Need to See
NY Home Rule
NY Local Ordinances
Protecting the NYC Watershed
The Role of the Federal Government
Pending Federal Legislation
Potential Relationships Between Hydraulic Fracturing and Drinking Water Resources
Pseudo-Science: The Flawed 2004 EPA Study of Hydraulic Fracturing
NY Times March 2011 Drill Down Series
The Oil and Gas Industry: Exempt From Our Most Important Environmental Laws
Industry Lobbying Expenditures
Leasing and Compulsory Integration
NYS Compulsory Integration
Gas Leasing
The NYS DEC and the SGEIS
Scoping for the SGEIS
The NYS Draft SGEIS
Comments on the NYS Draft SGEIS
Pennsylvania
Pending PA Legislation
Pennsylvania
PA Regulations
PA Drilling Maps/Permits & Rig Activity
PA Severence Tax
The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC)
The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC)
The Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC)
The Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC)
Impacts on Communities - Organizing and Outreach
Impact on Communities
Community Organizing and Outreach
Legal Tools
Speaking Out! Oppostion to Fracking
Handouts
Handouts
Polls and Opinions
Public Opinion Polls
Op Eds and Editorials
Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy
CCSE Updates
Video
Entertainment
Technical Discussions on Drilling
Living with Fracking
News & Interviews
Call to Action
Pipelines
Pipelines
Vote Where It Counts
Vote Where It Counts
Sustainable Energy
Sustainable Energy

NY DEP...Shale Gas GEIS Documents

The original GEIS is presented below as a series of PDF documents. The entire GEIS document (PDF) (28 MB), including the associated findings statements, is also available as a single PDF file which can be downloaded and searched. Additionally, the Original Findings Statement is also presented in html format.

Note: Some of these are large documents. Only print if you really need to, and only those sections that you need. Double side all printing and copying jobs. For every ton of office paper use avoided, greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by more than 8 metric tons.

SEQR Findings

Original Findings Statement (PDF) (280 KB), (html)
Supplemental Findings Statement (PDF) (29 KB)

Final GEIS

The Final GEIS, released in 1992, refers to and incorporates the 3 volumes of the Draft GEIS, which were released in 1988 and appear below.

• Final GEIS Cover Page (PDF) (77 KB)
  • Table of Contents (PDF) (23 KB)
  • Executive Summary (PDF) (423 KB)
  • SEQR Conclusions (PDF) (347 KB)
  • Public Involvement (PDF) (114 KB)
    • Public Hearing Responses (PDF) (483 KB)
    • Topical Responses (PDF) (875 KB)
    • Comment Response Index (PDF) (85 KB)
      • Comment Responses pp. 1-17 (PDF) (864 KB)
      • Comment Responses pp. 18-33 (PDF) (885 KB)
      • Comment Responses pp. 34-48 (PDF) (873 KB)
      • Comment Responses pp. 49-63 (PDF) (715 KB)
      • Comment Responses pp. 64-72 (PDF) (416 KB)
      • Comment Responses pp. 73-87 (PDF) (751 KB)
      • Comment Responses pp. 88-125 (PDF) (762 KB)
      • Comment Responses pp. 126-145 (PDF) (754 KB)
      • Comment Responses pp. 146-163 (PDF) (636 KB)
      • Comment Responses pp. 164-185 (PDF) (730 KB)
      • Comment Responses pp. 186-211 (PDF) (824 KB)
  • Recommended Changes to the Regulations (PDF) (276 KB)
  • Errata to the Draft GEIS (PDF) (296 KB)

Draft GEIS

• Volume I Cover Page (PDF) (273 KB)
  • Table of Contents (PDF) (323 KB)
  • Chapter 1 Introduction (PDF) (70 KB)
  • Chapter 2 Description of Proposed Action (PDF) (55 KB)
  • Chapter 3 Major Conclusions on the Application of the SEQRA to the Oil, Gas & Solution Mining Law (PDF) (434 KB)
  • Chapter 4 History of Oil, Gas & Solution Salt Production in New York State (PDF) (334 KB)
  • Chapter 5 NYS Geology and its Relationship to Oil, Gas & Salt Production (PDF) (934 KB)
  • Chapter 6 Environmental Resources (PDF) (557 KB)
  • Chapter 7 NYS Oil, Gas & Solution Mining Regulatory Program (PDF) (220 KB)
  • Chapter 8 Siting of Oil & Gas Wells (PDF) (1.5MB)
  • Chapter 9 Drilling Phase: Drilling, Casing & Completion Operations (PDF) (1.22MB)
  • Chapter 10 Well Completion & Production Practices (PDF) (369 KB)
  • Chapter 11 Plugging & Abandonment of Oil & Gas Wells (PDF) (887 KB)
• Volume II Cover Page (PDF) (21 KB)
  • Chapter 12 Old Oil Field Waterflood Operations & Enhanced Oil Recovery Potential (PDF) (1.36MB)
  • Chapter 13 Solution Salt Mining (PDF) (839 KB)
  • Chapter 14 Underground Gas Storage (PDF) (1.12MB)
  • Chapter 15 Interagency Coordination: Brine Disposal, Underground Injection & Oil Spill Response (PDF) (956 KB)
  • Chapter 16 Summary of Adverse Environmental Impacts Resulting From Oil, Gas & Solution Mining (PDF) (778 KB)
  • Chapter 17 Summary of Mitigation Measures (PDF) (740 KB)
  • Chapter 18 Economics (PDF) (717 KB)
  • Chapter 19 Unavoidable Adverse Impacts (PDF) (92 KB)
  • Chapter 20 Irreversible and Irretrievable Commitment of Resources (PDF) (50 KB)
  • Chapter 21 Alternative Actions (PDF) (196 KB)
  • Glossary of Technical Terms (PDF) (400 KB)
  • References (PDF) (589 KB)
• Volume III Cover Page (PDF) (19 KB)
  • Appendix 1 Underground Storage - Applying for a Certificate of Public Convenience & Necessity Under Section 7 of the Natural Gas Act (PDF) (189 KB)
  • Appendix 2 Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) (PDF) (116 KB)
  • Appendix 3 Movement of Contaminants in Aquifers (PDF) (213 KB)
  • Appendix 4 Mineral Ownership and Leasing Summary (PDF) (269 KB)
  • Appendix 5 Oil, Gas, Solution Mining, Gas Storage, Brine Disposal, Stratigraphic and Geothermal Well Drilling Environmental Assessment Form (PDF) (287 KB)
  • Appendix 6 Gathering Lines (PDF) (154 KB)
  • Appendix 7 Brine Disposal Well Permitting Guidelines (PDF) (178 KB)
  • Appendix 8 Forms Used in the Oil, Gas and Solution Mining Program (PDF) (181 KB)

More about Generic Environmental Impact Statement on the Oil, Gas and Solution Mining Regulatory Program (GEIS):

• 1992 Findings Statement for Oil and Gas GEIS - The 1992 Findings Statement for the Oil and Gas GEIS explains the adoption of the Final Generic Environmental Impact Statement on the Oil, Gas and Solution Mining Regulatory Program pursuant to the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQR) of the Environmental Conservation Law (ECL) and the SEQR Regulations 6NYCRR Part 617.