An Otsego County committee wants natural-gas drillers to disclose what's in their fracking fluids, committee member Rep. Marti Stayton said Friday.
The fluids are injected into wells to fracture rock deep underground, releasing gas trapped in layers of shale. Some formulas are highly toxic, but companies have contended their composition is proprietary.
Otsego County's Solid Waste and Environmental Concerns Committee will ask the full board to seek disclosure by adopting a resolution similar to one adopted by Tompkins County, Stayton, D-Oneonta, said.
That resolution calls for companies to inform officials what is being injected into the ground, for gas-drilling permits fees to be sufficient to pay for regulating the industry, and for the period of public comment on the state's proposed new gas-drilling rules to be doubled to 60 days.
The comment period has not started, as the state has not published its proposed rules, said Yancy Roy, spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Conservation, on Friday.
Rep. Stephen Fournier, R-Milford, said that disclosure of fracking fluids is critical for emergency services personnel.
``We have to do everything possible to protect our people,'' he said. ``If we should ever have an accident, they have to know what they're dealing with.''
Stayton said a subcommittee may begin to monitor gas-drilling activities.
``If we wait any longer, it'll be too late,'' she said.
The committee's action came on the heels of a presentation to the county Wednesday by local advocacy group Sustainable Otsego on the pitfalls of gas drilling. Group member Ron Bishop delivered a powerful message on the dangers of not being prepared for an onrush, Stayton said.
Adrian Kuzminski, also of the group, praised the county's initiative.
``State and federal deregulation of the gas-drilling industry has taken away the ability of local communities to control the industry and it's time to reassert that,'' he said.
Rep. James Powers, board chairman, said Friday that gas drilling must be done safely.
``The bottom line is we have to protect our water and other resources,'' he said.
Roy said the period for public comment will come after the agency publishes a mandated draft supplement to its generic environmental impact statement on gas drilling.
The GEIS contains the rules that drillers must adhere to when operating in New York state, and the public will be allowed to comment on the proposed rules as soon as they are published, he said.
Comments may influence how the regulations are written.
The developing document is at the 'final scope'' stage and can be viewed on the DEC's website at www.dec.ny.gov/energy/47554.html. It also may be viewed at the Huntington Memorial Library in Oneonta and the William B. Ogden Free Library in Walton.
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