Hello and Happy New Year!
PHE, Inc. is sponsoring a bus to the Albany gas ban rally and lobbying
day and we're hoping you will go with us!
The cost is $40 per person. If the trip is canceled for weather or any
other reason, your money will be refunded. If you pay and then decide
not to go, your money will not be refunded.
Further information about where and when the bus will be leaving will
be forthcoming as plans gel.
If you would like to join us, please respond to [email protected]
by Jan. 12.
And have your money (check or money order) made out to People for a
Healthy Environment, Inc., mail it to Gale Lyons, 1013 Lake St.,
Elmira, NY 14901 by Jan. 15.
Hope to see you on the 25!!
DEC's Marcellus Shale Gas Mining SGEIS "Deeply Flawed" NY officials,
Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter, environmental groups tell Governor
Paterson
ALBANY, NEW YORK January 07, 2010 Government News (PRLEAP.COM)
Albany, NY – For the first time New York state, city, county and
federal officials, representing constituents across the state, joined
the Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter (SCAC) and six other environmental
groups to address unconventional gas mining in New York.
Concern about serious inadequacies of the draft Supplemental Generic
Environmental Impact Statement (dSGEIS) issued by NYS Department of
Environmental Conservation (DEC) to govern horizontal gas drilling with
hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus and Utica Shale formations,
united officials and environmentalists on the steps of New York City
Hall on January 4.
Speakers included elected officials at all levels:
U.S. Representatives Eric Massa, Michael Arcuri, Jerrold Nadler,
NY Assembly Members Deborah Glick, William Colton, Brian Kavanagh,
Tompkins County Legislator Martha Robertson,
NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn,
Chair of the NYC Council Environmental Protection Committee James
Gennaro,
NYC Council Member Margaret Chin, and former Council Member Tony Avella
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency , and the Steward Council
Division 189 of the Public Employees Federation, representing 2000 of
the DEC’s own scientific, professional, and technical workers,
expressed similar concerns officially during the public comment period.
Many speakers called on Governor Paterson to withdraw the document in
its entirety and submit a revised document that will satisfy the
requirements of the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA).
"The DEC needs to withdraw the very seriously deficient dSGEIS, that
does not conform with SEQRA," stated Susan Lawrence, Chair, Sierra Club
Atlantic Chapter. "Instead, DEC needs to produce a new dSGEIS, a true
working plan that will cover the cumulative impacts of all aspects of
the proposed massive drilling. This is absolutely critical to protect
precious water supplies, other natural resources, and public health in
our state."
Strong statements by upstate and downstate officials are generating
renewed calls to prioritize NY’s air quality, clean water and public
health. (Statements below.)
"We believe that it is too risky - that it is wrong - to subject, not
just the water supply of New York City, but of surrounding areas and
the entire state, to something this risky," U.S. Representative Jerrold
Nadler told the crowd.
Another rally and press conference is scheduled for West Capitol Park
in Albany on January 25, 2010.
As reported by ProPublica , NYS DEC had only 16 gas and oil enforcement
staff in 2009, 19 in 2008, to cover the entire state. In addition to
other serious deficiencies in the SGEIS that SCAC commented on, the
high number of new, unconventional wells anticipated by the gas
industry means DEC will need considerable additional staff to conduct
proper inspections and oversight.
The NYC event marked the first time the environmental community has
united with New York officials at city, county, state and federal
levels as a bloc on the gas drilling issue.
"The risk to clean, fresh water from gas hydrofracing in the New York
City watershed is widely acknowledged, but the rest of New York is
similarly at risk and deserves equal protection," said Jessica Helm,
Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter Conservation Chair. "The ability to drink
the water from a private well or irrigate farmland may be taken for
granted - until it’s gone."
Elected officials addressed press and public:
U.S. Rep. Eric Massa said:
"The bottom line is that the DEC’s current proposal for natural gas
drilling regulations in New York State will not protect the health of
our water resources and our communities. Until the State gets serious
about this issue and puts something on the table that will keep the
people of my district safe from the threats hydraulic fracturing poses,
we cannot allow companies to start drilling thousands of potentially
dangerous well projects across the region."
U.S. Rep. Michael Arcuri said:
"While natural gas may arguably be New York State’s second greatest
natural resource, there is little doubt that water is our greatest
natural resource. It is critical to realize that today we live on a
planet that suffers from deforestation and water shortages and we need
to protect our water at all cost. Some drilling companies have promised
New York State jobs, an improved economy and a large windfall from
natural gas drilling; as yet we have seen none. It is time for New York
State to stand together with states up and down the eastern seaboard
and advocate to keep our water clean and safe for the sustainability of
future generations."
U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler said:
"A potential environmental crisis is facing all of us. I urge DEC to
institute a blanket prohibition of hydraulic fracturing within the
Catskill/Delaware Watershed. The watershed supplies clean drinking
water to nine million New Yorkers. The risks are simply too great to
subject this invaluable resource to the dangers of gas drilling under
any circumstances."
"We believe that it is too risky - that it is wrong - to subject, not
just the water supply of New York City, but of surrounding areas and
the entire state, to something this risky," Nadler told the crowd.
U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey sent this statement:
"Natural gas development presents New York with a range of potential
economic benefits, but those benefits come with some extraordinary
environmental and public health risks that we cannot simply ignore and
hope for the best," said Hinchey, regarding the comments he submitted
on the DEC’s draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement
(dSGEIS). "The DEC has taken a good step forward in setting some
environmental guidelines, but a lot more work needs to be done. It is
tempting to move forward with drilling now in order to realize the
economic benefits, but doing so in haste would unnecessarily subject
the state to potential environmental and public health disasters that
would be far more costly in every way. Now is the time when we should
be taking a closer look at what’s happened in other states including
Pennsylvania and Wyoming — where waterways and drinking water supplies
have been contaminated — and take the steps needed to ensure such
problems don’t befall New York."
NY Assemblymember Brian Kavanagh said:
"Many of us have already called for banning high-volume hydrofracture
gas drilling in the New York City Watershed, but before we permit this
massive industrial activity anywhere in our state, we must fully
understand and address the risks it poses to our environment, our
health, and our quality of life. The review process must include a
realistic assessment of the harm caused where this kind of drilling has
been permitted."
Tompkins County Legislator Martha Robertson said:
"Even with the toughest safeguards, is extracting Marcellus gas the
smart thing to do? We are told that using natural gas will reduce
global warming because it’s ‘cleaner’ than coal. However this is only
true if the emissions from extraction are NOT included, and if there
are no leaks in the system… Drilling the Marcellus Shale may increase
New York’s greenhouse gas emissions, not reduce them. Can we afford to
proceed without knowing?"
Chair of NYC City Council Environmental Protection Committee James
Gennaro said:
"The scientific verdict is in on fracking and the DSGEIS, and we come
together today to proclaim it with one voice to the Paterson
Administration, and call upon Gov. Paterson to withdraw the DSGEIS and
start this process anew with a new perspective - one that prioritizes
the preservation of drinking water quality over the production of
natural gas."
Speakers from six NY and national environmental groups joined Sierra
Club Atlantic Chapter at the podium:
Annie Wilson, Chair, Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter Energy Committee,
said:
"Intelligent energy policy must not contaminate our watersheds and
threaten our public health with toxic substances. Our climate crisis
requires that we do not expand fossil fuel infrastructures. We must
support activities and policies that promote energy efficiency,
conservation, and the use of renewable resources, such as wind, solar,
and geothermal."
Deborah Goldberg, Earthjustice Managing Attorney, said:
"Elected officials at all levels and thousands of ordinary citizens
have called on Gov. Paterson to withdraw the draft SGEIS. We are
relying on the Governor to show the leadership, integrity, and courage
it takes to admit that the document is fatally flawed and to send DEC
back to the drawing board. Too much is at stake to rush this process "
Alex Matthiessen, President of Riverkeeper, said:
"The State’s draft environmental review is deeply flawed and must be
withdrawn. Our detailed analysis revealed that, in the Governor’s
headlong rush to roll out the red carpet for oil and gas companies, the
State side-stepped many issues, none more critical than protecting the
state’s drinking water."
Event moderator Kate Sinding, NRDC Senior Attorney, said:
"The state’s draft study is fatally flawed and doesn’t come close to
protecting New Yorkers from the health or environmental risks
associated with fracking. We must not jeopardize safe drinking water in
New York. In order to drill responsibly, the Governor has no choice but
to start over."
Joel Kupferman of New York Environmental Law and Justice Project, Wes
Gillingham of Catskill Mountainkeeper and Joe Levine of NYH2O also
spoke.
"This event was critical because politicians and environmental groups
set aside the minor differences that divide them and now unite to focus
on protecting all of New York from ravages other states have already
endured from gas mining," said Stephanie Low, SCAC Gas Drilling Task
Force member who coordinated the press conference.
Other elected officials sent statements of support:
NY Senators Jose Serrano, Eric Schneiderman,
Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr.,
Assembly Members Barbara Lifton, Linda Rosenthal, Richard Gottfried,
Sam Hoyt.
Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., statement:
"The Bronx Borough Board unequivocally urges Governor Paterson, the New
York State Legislature and the New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation to prohibit the use of hydraulic fracturing
in the State of New York."
NY Senator Eric Schneiderman statement:
"The greatest responsibility of the state is to protect its citizens’
health, safety and welfare. … I join the many groups and individuals
assembled here today in calling for … further study of the potential
impacts on our state’s natural resources of a drilling technique that
uses chemical additives to break up shale below the earth to release
natural gas trapped inside. Anything less would create risks too great
for our environment and too dangerous for the millions of people of
this state who rely on these reservoirs for their drinking water."
NY Assemblymember Sam Hoyt statement:
"I share the deep concern that we all have regarding the potential
negative impact natural gas hydraulic fracturing could pose to this
state’s protected environment. I represent many constituents who fear
that invasive hydrofracking will be allowed to occur inside one of this
state’s most valuable ecological resources in Allegany State Park…We
need to stand united in our opposition to natural gas hydrofracking
when the future of our state’s environment is at stake."
NY Assemblymember Barbara Lifton statement:
"With the disturbing videos that have recently come out, showing
serious accidents, spills and contamination that have virtually
destroyed the homes and land of a number of New York families…we can no
longer say drilling in New York is safe and well-regulated, as we have
been assured many times that it is."
NY Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal statement:
"I call on the governor to withdraw the environmental impact statement,
which has failed to adequately assess the dangers to public health and
to the environment associated with the hydraulic fracturing used to
extract gas from rock. This folly must be stopped before the state does
irreparable, long-term harm in the watershed area and beyond."
The Sierra Club’s Atlantic Chapter helps Club members across New York
State to Explore, Enjoy, and Protect the planet. Join, read about our
work, and volunteer at NewYork.SierraClub.org
_______________________________________________
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