NORWICH – Chenango County Attorney Richard Breslin has refused to comply with a written request and telephone inquiries regarding the leasing of county-owned land and right-of-ways for natural gas wells and transmission easements.
An Oct. 1 Freedom of Information request from The Evening Sun asked the county’s lawyer to verify whether drilling would be permitted at Gaius M. Cook Memorial Park in Greene. Members of the Natural Gas Advisory Committee last month said Breslin had responded to their request for a ruling on leasing the 116-acre, recreational park’s subsurface rights, and had decided against permitting drilling.
Breslin rejected The Evening Sun’s FOIL request for confirmation, however, saying it represented “privileged legal advice and opinion” and “constituted an intra-agency communication that was exempt from disclosure.”
A call to Breslin’s office requesting an opinion on whether pipeline could be laid alongside or bored under county right-of-ways was similarly refused. “I am not going to comment on that,” he said. An item on the agenda of Oct. 28th gas advisory committee meeting referred to a gas company’s request for such easements. “You’ll have to ask the attorney, but we believe his opinion was, ‘No,’” said County Planner Rena Doing.
Members of the special committee, formed in July, have discussed these matters and more with the mission of developing policies and protocols to address the natural gas issues facing the county. Other than the unofficial county positions stated, legal counsel will be required as they pertain to pipeline easements on other county-owned land and the controversial issue of permitting seismic testing along county right-of-ways. The committee also has the option of making policy referrals to other committees or resolutions to the full Chenango County Board of Supervisors, but haven’t yet.
Chenango County is facing a potential lawsuit for permitting seismic testing along county and town right-of-ways in Preston. Property-owner Bradd Vickers, who said developments regarding his suit were forthcoming, said he learned of the county attorney’s purported ruling on easements for the pipeline at the gas committee meeting and found it “ironic.”
“All of the sudden, Breslin feels it not appropriate for gas pipelines to be placed along county right-of-ways when he’s been saying it’s OK to do testing on town and county roads along private property owner’s land. It’s a contradiction,” said Vickers, who is president of the Chenango County Farm Bureau and a member of the county’s gas committee.
Seismic testing is utilized to target desirable drilling locations and space wells into units in accordance with New York’s recently revised spacing and set back regulations. Committee Chairman and Supervisor Peter C. Flanagan, D-Preston, said the science isn’t exact, however.
“They don’t know exactly where they are going to hit it (the gas),” said Flanagan. He referred to a horizontal well drilled into the Herkimer in Preston that came upon the energy source outside of the spacing unit. “Are we sure that when someone gets a permit that the gas is coming from where they were told?” he asked.
Committee member and Preston well-owner Steven Palmatier questioned how companies know where to make the curve to begin boring horizontally. He discussed strata formations, how gases are contained and their migration. “They could take gas outside of a spacing unit,” he said.
Flanagan said he recently turned away a contracted testing company that was conducting seismic testing near his own property. He said he wasn’t sure how adjacent landowners’ water wells or property would be affected by the underground explosions, but objected to not being informed of the testing in advance. Some states, such as Texas, have mineral rights laws the prohibit taking information from non-permitted property.
“They told me they had permission from the municipality. I told them they are looking at the guy who signs, and I didn’t sign any permit,” Flanagan said. “I don’t want it to always be a discovery process for us. My impression is they would prefer to beg forgiveness rather than ask permission.”
Committee member and New Berlin Supervisor Ross Iannello said his town charges a $25,000 fine if testing companies and/or natural gas companies don’t follow his board’s newly approved permitting procedures.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation doesn’t providing seismic testing data and unitization rulings directly to counties and property owners. The Chenango County Farm Bureau created policy last week calling for this. County planners must currently source each well’s unit from data collected on the DEC’s website.
The committee will meet again next month to discuss Nornew, Inc.’s proposed pipeline. “It’s the biggest issue in terms of drilling here and what the industry will be in Chenango County,” Flanagan said.
Nornew, Inc. spokesman Dennis Holbrook said the company was actively taking rights-of-way to secure easement of their pipeline through Chenango County. The offering price varies from $3 to $10 and, some local experts say, as high as $16 per linear foot. Holbrook said where a property is in relation to existing and planned wells determines the price.
“We need to get the gas to market. If we have a lease on the land (for drilling), it’s easier to negotiate a right-of-way. It’s more challenging to take right-of-ways in a situation where people don’t see the opportunity to share in the exploration itself,” he said.