New York Water a Power Issue as Natural Gas Companies Hit Rock-bottom

As natural gas companies flirt with the idea of drilling for energy in New York’s Marcellus shale formation, citizens worry about how such production might impact their water supply. The region includes a watershed that provides 2,000 square-miles of unfiltered water to New York City.

Geologist and Queens’ councilman James F. Gennaro held a recent press conference to launch public discussion regarding the risks of natural gas production in the Marcellus shale area. “Unlike natural gas, which we can get from other places in the Marcellus Shale, we have no other place to go for our drinking water. This is it. We have one and only one drinking water system,” Mr. Gennaro told the New York Times.

While New York’s Governor David A. Paterson is also concerned about the environmental impacts of natural gas production, his deputy secretary of the environment, Judith Enck, says “the governor agrees that the New York City watershed is absolutely critical and must be protected, but he also believes you can have economic development and protect the watershed at the same time.”

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Source: New York Times