"Energy Busts Create Mess"

"New York faces a new drilling boom for natural gas, with supporters promising new jobs and a cascade of cash for the upstate economy.

But what happens after the energy is extracted? Who pays to make sure the environment isn't threatened in years to come? And what can a cash-strapped state do when it can't afford to fix festering pollution left over from its previous drilling booms?

Scattered thoughout the state are the ghostly remnants of thousands of gas and oil wells -- rusting, rotting rigs, lines, tanks and holes left behind by busts dating back more than a century. Some of these relics have been slowly leaking for decades, and their owners are long gone, sticking state taxpayers with tens of millions of dollars in unfunded cleanup costs."

Brian Nearing reports for the Albany Times-Union Nobember 8, 2010.