I'm not especially impressed with the Marcellus Shale SGEIS, but the DEC seems to go out of its way to fuel my suspicions that the document is pretty much a sham:
That passage [of the SGEIS] cites as a reference a consultant's report prepared for the state by Alpha Environmental Services in 2009. Page 141 (or page 153 in the Acrobat numbering system) of that Alpha document contains nearly identical language about the Avoca incident, and cites as its reference a document it calls "Pratt, Dave, April 19, 2001. 'Deep Well Injection and Triggered Earthquakes.' Internal DECDMR working document."
So I asked DEC for a copy of this document, hoping it would shed light on what happened in Avoca 10 years ago, and what that company might have done - or been allowed to do - that triggered the earthquakes. I was told to file a Freedom of Information request. I did. The response was promised for Monday, and that's when it arrived.
The result was a bit of a letdown. About two-thirds of the two-page memo was blacked out. I don't think the portions you can read shed much light at all, but you can judge for yourself.
That's from Steve Orr's blog at the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. He was the author of the recent article asking questions about hydrofracking and earthquakes in the Ithaca Journal.
Posted by simon at November 23, 2011 10:31 AM in geology , politics (state)