Protesters target proposal to drill for oil, gas in Allegany state Park
About 50 protesters on Friday afternoon targeted an Amherst-based company looking to drill in Allegany State Park.
The company has proposed drilling for oil and gas in portions of the 2,800 acres in the park for which it owns mineral rights.
“We want you to give the mineral rights back to the state to be protected,” Matt Candeias, one of the protest leaders, said during the demonstration. “Allegany is a state of biodiversity that is unmatched at other lands. To destroy it would be a crime against the world.”
Candeias pointed to the company’s activities drilling in Allegany National Forest in Pennsylvania. The state of Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection halted the company’s drilling last year because of environmental violations.
A finished well takes up much less then say 1/2 acre… considering the park is 65K arches or so I doubt this would destroy much of anything…
Consider they put in 10 wells… these wells take up 5 arches…let give 10x the amount for fun…so 50 arches of affected wildlife…that is .0769%
Now these 10 wells could cover all the parks expenses for the next what 500 years? I would be 100% for them if the money went to the park only and ensured that it would stay open and free to the public for x years.
Meh, this is New York State. That money would go directly to help balance the budget. Wasn’t Alleghany slated to be closed to curve spending? If drilling helps it to stay open, then there is nothing to lose I guess.
If you own mineral rights but don’t own the property you have to get permission from the owner, this usually involves paying the owner either a lump sum of money or yearly dividends.
You can claim that only 50 acres will be destroyed, but a person can see for miles and miles. And just seeing one of these wells will ruin the outdoor experience.
I’m saying that I’d gladly loose 50 acres out of 65,000 to ensure that the park stays open forever and is free for all to visit. If those conditions aren’t agreed to I’d say hell no. NYS sucks so they will fugg it all up anyways.
I’ve been to a few land rigs before, and after the drilling operation is complete, it’s really not THAT bad… There isn’t too much damage done… tho usually a lot of trees need to be cleared for access roads… and the loading in of equipment can really trash the roads…
There are also a ton more factors than simply how much space they take up.