The latest example of drilling industry hypocrisy?
Norse Energy’s lawsuit against the administration of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for supposedly taking too long to finish its review of drilling impacts before deciding whether to allow horizontal drilling and high-volume hydraulic fracturing for shale gas in New York.
What Norse left out of the suit are admissions in the company’s own prospectus and annual report is that
- Norse has no experience drilling wells with horizontal drilling and high volume hydraulic fracturing,
- and that oil and gas drilling are risky and that the companies Norse might rely on to conduct shale gas drilling provide their investors with extensive lists of risks inherent in drilling.
Earthworks and several other organizations sent a letter to New York Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joseph Martens detailing the risks disclosed by Norse and other drilling companies.
These risks include leaks, spills, explosions, blowouts, environmental damage, property damage, injury and death.
These disclosures and growing scientific evidence of drilling harms make a good case that, contrary to Norse’s assertion, more investigation of drilling risks is necessary before New York allows shale gas drilling.