John Martin, senior project manager for the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, will discuss “Developing Shale Gas Resources: An Energy Bridge to the Future,” on Wednesday, Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. in the Nott Memorial.
Martin’s talk opens the 2010 Environmental Science, Policy and Engineering Winter Seminar Series at Union, “Drilling in the Marcellus Shale: Toward Energy Independence or Environmental Devastation?”
All talks are free and open to the public. (See the complete schedule below.)
The expansion of natural gas drilling in New York has triggered controversy over the Marcellus Shale, a black shale formation extending deep underground from Ohio and West Virginia northeast into Pennsylvania and southern New York.
Although the Marcellus Shale is exposed at the ground surface in some locations in the northern Finger Lakes area, it is as deep as 7,000 feet or more below the ground surface along the Pennsylvania border in the Delaware River valley, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Web site. Drilling activity is expected to focus on areas where the Marcellus shale is deeper than 2,000 feet.
Environmental advocates are concerned about a drilling technique in which liquid is shot down the well hole to release the reserves. They say that process - called fracking – has poisoned wells and spilled toxic chemicals in other states. The gas industry, however, says the technique has been used safely for decades.
The DEC is reviewing comments submitted on its draft natural gas drilling guidelines.
Other talks in the series:
Feb. 3: Dr. Kenneth Medlock III, James A Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice University: “The Shale Revolution and What It Means for North American Energy Markets and Policy.”
Feb. 9: Stuart Gruskin, executive deputy commissioner, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation: “Drilling in the Marcellus Shale: Toward Energy Independence or Environmental Devastation?”
Feb. 17: Walter Hang, president of Toxics Targeting, an environmental database firm in Ithaca, N.Y.: “Trillion Dollar Payday or Bust? Grassroots Activism Versus Marcellus Shale Gas: How Toxics Targeting is Shaping the Future of the Largest Natural Gas Reservoir in the Nation.”
All talks are at 7 p.m. in the Nott Memorial.