file. - Otsego County Conservation Association

6.5.2 Air Quality Impact Assessment
The DEC did not consider the potential of nitrogen oxides (NO x ) deposition on New York’s water
quality. Although the DEC considered the air quality impacts of nitrogen and sulfur oxides (SO x ),
the potential impacts of NO x and SO x on the quality of our land and water were completely
neglected. This is particularly relevant because of New York’s efforts to achieve total nitrogen
reductions from the Susquehanna River and Chemung River watersheds, as required by the
Chesapeake Bay Program.
6.6 Greenhouse Gas Emissions
We feel that the DEC should look at the impact that natural gas development has on global
warming compared to the impact of other energy sources on global warming. While the DEC’s
analysis of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions released during the extraction process seemed
thorough, the Department should also consider the complete life cycle net release of GHG’s from
the entire Marcellus shale development process to the delivery and consumption of the Marcellus
shale energy sources. Such an analysis should be compared to equally comprehensive analyses
of other sources of energy such as coal, oil, solar, wind and geothermal energies.
6.6.10 Summary of GHG Emissions
There is a significant amount of carbon dioxide and methane that will be released during the
completion phase of development. Carbon dioxide sequestration can be achieved through the
addition of carbon dioxide scrubbers in smokestacks. Large smokestacks are already in use in
other industrial activities; similar smaller scrubbers could possibly be used during the
completion process to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
13