Author name: Brian Brock

Reluctant Regulator The oil and gas industry in New York State is only barely regulated. The Division of Mineral Resources (DMN) of the Department of Environmental Conservation is using regulations written largely in 1972, shortly after it was created. The only new regulations since then were written in 1986, dealing with the unusually high gas […]

New York is a state with strong home rule. Here local governments (county, town, and city/village) are granted broad powers to govern themselves. Under Article IX of our State Constitution as implemented by Municipal Home Rule Law, they can set up their own system of governing and ordinances. State approval is unnecessary, subject to excluding

The Treadwell Park The Franklin Village park, our first park in the town of Franklin, is less than a year old, and already there is talk of a second park in the hamlet of Treadwell. This park would be cut from the approximately 22 acres of school property by dividing it into two parcels after

A Cautionary Tale A new species of predator prowls our hills, stalking the unwary. They hunger not for your flesh, but for your signature. They’re called Landmen, and they want your land for gas drilling. They will try to get it for as little as possible: for as little money and as little protection for

Can the DEC do its job? If an energy company complies with the current Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS), then it can drill a conventional oil or gas well without a lengthy State Environmental Quality Review. The Supplemental GEIS will extend these conditions to cover “horizontal drilling and high-volume fracturing to develop Marcellus Shale and

Drilling for natural gas is preceded by geophysical surveys. What lies beneath the surface of the earth can be estimated using measurements of various forces: magnetism, gravity, or sound (seismic). In late May and early June, an airplane was measuring the strength of the earth’s magnetic field across our region. The plane has twin engines

Horizon Wind Energy’s plan for a Franklin wind farm advances with approval by the Planning Board and Town Board this June for the erection of a second meteorological tower. The first is on the western slope of Northfield Mountain (at 2,100 feet) and can be seen from Russell Road. The second will be on the

Deciding to lease your property for gas drilling may be the easiest step. Next you have to negotiate the wording of that lease. This article offers a basic lexicon of leasing. A gas lease is a binding contract with you (the lessor) granting a company (the lessee) the right to extract gas — and possibly

Winds over Franklin could be generating electricity and tax dollars in the near future. Early last year, Horizon Wind Energy erected a meteorological tower on the northwest slope of Northfield Mountain at the Perout property bordering Whitbeck Road (seasonal) off Russell Road in Merrrickville. Results have been promising enough that the company has begun the

By leasing your land to a gas company, you could gain a lot of money: thousands of dollars an acre as a signing bonus and even more from years of royalties. But we all risk losing money and so much more besides. Siting, drilling, fracking, and completing are industrial operations that for one well run

The Early Years Booze flowed freely for Franklin’s first century. With primitive roads, one of the few cash crops for export was alcohol fermented from farmers’ grain. Barrels were shipped down the Susquehanna River to Philadelphia. Closer to home, inns and taverns along the Catskill/Susquehanna Turnpike served much whiskey and beer. East Franklin (now Treadwell)

This year, the Cornell Cooperative’s annual spring tour of alternative energy looked mostly in Franklin. The Love and Hope Cat Sanctuary on Stewart Road draws heat directly from the earth. Two wings of the 9,000 sq. ft. Sanctuary are each supplied by separate fields of buried tubing 70 X 80 feet. Inside two heat exchangers