If you thought fracking of any kind would never happen in New York State after Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration officially banned large-scale hydraulic fracturing on June 29, think again. A proposal to frack for natural gas using gelled propane and sand was announced Wednesday in the Southern Tier.
A drilling application was filed Tuesday with the state Department of Environmental Conservation, by Tioga Energy Partners- a contracting company working with the Snyder Farm Group, a collection of five Tioga County farm families who have leased land for natural gas development.
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 group wants to tap in to the Utica Shale formation by developing a 53-acre natural gas well in the town of Barton, some 30 miles east of Elmira.
The well pad would occupy about 3 and a half acres on a 150-acre hay and corn farm.
