The state DEC Commissioner Joe Martens addressed lawmakers yesterday in Albany, telling them that there is still no time table for finishing shale gas drilling rules, although a missed deadline in November forced the DEC to push back the next deadline to this February 27^th.  Martens said that he is waiting for the report from Health Commissioner Nirav Shah on Hydraulic Fracturing in a few weeks.  If regulations aren’t finalized by the end of this month, they will expire again, and force another period for additional public comments. A moratorium on gas drilling has been in place for 4½ years.

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Firefighters in Conklin had to return to the site if a Sunday night fire again Monday morning.  Fire crews were recalled to Milburn Drive along the Susquehanna River at about 8:45 am Monday, the fire first started Sunday night due to an electrical malfunction.  No injuries among firefighters were reported for either Sunday night or Monday morning.