Oil and gas extraction from shale formations can be accomplished with minimal environmental degradation

Letter to the editor of the WSJ, 7-29-11.

"As author of the study on the potential economic and fiscal benefits from gas drilling in Broome County, I would encourage New Yorkers to look not only at the success of Pennsylvania but also at Texas, where more than 40% of the nation's jobs have been created over the past two years, due largely to resurgence of our oil and gas industry.

Fifteen years ago, the Barnett Shale in North Texas was virtually unknown. Today, it's the largest producing natural gas field in the continental U.S. In South Texas, where hydraulic fracturing is being utilized to extract oil from the Eagle Ford Shale, the unemployment rate has dropped to half the state average while sales tax receipts have jumped 70%.

Accidents related to oil and gas production from Texas's shale formations have been extremely rare, with no documented cases of ground water contamination and only a handful of surface water contamination episodes in the completion of more than 15,000 wells.

Texas has demonstrated that oil and gas extraction from shale formations can be accomplished with minimal environmental degradation while generating huge economic and fiscal benefits. Given a supportive regulatory regime, the southern tier of New York state—which sits atop a "sweet spot" of the Marcellus Shale—can become a major player in America's shale-gas revolution.

Bernard L. Weinstein

Southern Methodist University

Dallas"