Drilling for natural gas in the Southern Tier

This story in the Elmira Star-Gazette notes that a state decision on the possibility of drilling for natural gas in a state forest in the Southern Tier is due soon.

A decision regarding a controversial proposal to tap natural gas reserves under more than 3,400 acres of state-owned forests in Broome and Tioga, N.Y., counties will be coming near the end of the year, a state official said Monday.

On the one side are hikers, hunters, campers and residents who don’t want to see public land disturbed by drilling rigs and pipelines. On the other are energy companies seeking to capitalize on a growing demand for fuel and pressure to lower dependence on foreign oil.

Diane Carlton, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Conservation, said the decision is expected in coming weeks.

“If an overwhelming number of comments offer some good reasons you should not be drilling here, that is something the department will be considering,” Carlton said.

DEC staff is processing comments made last summer at public hearings in Elmira, Vestal, Windsor and Cortland attended by more than 400 people - most expressing strong opposition to the proposal.

Their reasons included concern about ruining the mystique of the forests for recreational users, damage to local roads from drilling rigs, light and noise pollution from round-the-clock drilling operations and threats to local water supplies.

Forest rangers and industry experts said the drilling is compatible with the use chartered for the forests. Unlike state-designated wilderness areas, forest lands are managed to serve economic as well as ecological and recreational interests.

Responses to concerns and comments, recorded during and after the meetings, will be included in the final document issued with the decision, Carlton said.

The decision rests with DEC Commissioner Denise Sheehan, an appointee of Gov. George Pataki. She could decide to allow prospectors access to all state forests, or ban them completely.

But a more likely scenario is something between, where she allows drilling in certain areas and bans it from others favored by recreational users or that are ecologically sensitive.