Finger Lakes wine industry concerned about natural gas hydrofracking

The owners of several Finger Lakes wineries have voiced opposition to natural gas hydrofracking, a drilling method that uses millions of gallons of water, mixed with sand and chemicals, to blast through shale rock and release gas. Currently, a draft environmental statement is up for public comment, and the deadline for comments is December 31, 2009.

Red Newt Cellars, in Hector, has posted a statement on their website, and here is an excerpt:

"The recently released NYS DEC draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS) is not adequate to regulate and govern the environmental hazards involved in the new drilling technologies proposed to access the natural gas trapped in the deep rock of the Marcellus Shale. This document is inadequate to regulate and govern Marcellus drilling and it needs to be sent back and revised - it cannot be accepted as currently written."

Sheldrake Point, located in Ovid, also posted a statement on their website, and here is an excerpt:

"INDUSTRIAL SCALE GAS DRILLING WILL IMPACT FINGER LAKES TOURISM AND THE WINE INDUSTRY: The impact on tourism and the wine industry will be substantial, as our scenic rural and farm lands give way to industrial 200' drilling rigs, five-acre well pads and hazardous waste holding ponds spaced as closely as one for every forty acres! We must act quickly to persuade Governor Patterson to reject the SGEIS as it has been recently drafted. The document is inadequate to regulate the industrial scope of Marcellus drilling in New York, and Governor Paterson is the only one who can prevent it from being accepted as is."

And, The New York Cork Report posted a great article on the topic:

DEC Defends Hydrofracking, but Opponents Worry About Impacts on Finger Lakes Wine Industry By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor with Tom Mansell, Science Editor