Get Ready For Action/Revised Draft SGEIS About to be Released

Greetings,

I trust that you have been well since I last communicated with you. I write because New York's Marcellus Shale Revised Draft SGEIS is about to be released pursuant to Executive Order No. 41. Get ready to take action. The homestretch is right around the bend.

I apologize for not communicating for a while, but a lot of work has been underway in preparation for responding to the Revised Draft SGEIS.

Natural Gas Drilling Wastewater Land-Spreading

Last month, Toxics Targeting identified where the Department of Environmental Conservation authorized gas drilling "produced water" or "brine" to be spread on thousands of miles of roadways as well as residential areas, a summer camp, fairgrounds, farms and a drinking water treatment plant for dust control, winter de-icing and roadway stabilization.

Gas drilling wastewater is documented to contain high levels of total dissolved solids, including toxic metals, petroleum hydrocarbons and radionuclides. The land-spreading practice should have been banned decades ago.

See clip below.

I posted Beneficial Use Determination documents I obtained as well as an overview map where land-spreading was authorized at: http://toxicstargeting.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/foil-hl-110718.pdf and http://toxicstargeting.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/Overview_110720_1500...

Not surprisingly, DEC said the gas drilling wastewater land-spreading is being done "safely."

Improper disposal of gas drilling wastewater is the Achilles' heel of horizontal hydrofracturing. A letter I wrote to Governor Cuomo asking him to halt land-spreading is posted at: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/node/7088

Revised Draft SGEIS Is Incomplete and Inadequate

The Preliminary Revised Draft SGEIS was released on July 1st. It is shockingly incomplete and inadequate.

You can see some of my comments at:

http://www.toxicstargeting.com/news/2011-07-01/dec-charts-frackings-future

http://www.toxicstargeting.com/news/2011-07-06/gov-may-lift-fracking-ban-0

http://www.toxicstargeting.com/news/2011-06-30/dec-issues-tougher-recomm...

Once the full Revised Draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement is released, DEC will begin the process of adopting a Final SGEIS. There will be a minimum of 60 days public comment. Hearings also might be held.

Conclusion

I believe the Revised Draft SGEIS is as inadequate as the original draft SGEIS. There can be no dispute that proposing to ban horizontal hydrofracturing in the New York City and Syracuse watersheds, on State lands and over Primary Aquifers, at least temporarily, proves that any Final SGEIS that might be adopted would be insufficient to safeguard public health and the environment in the remaining areas of New York's Marcellus Shale formation. Otherwise, the proposed bans would not be required.

The Revised Draft SGEIS must be sent back to the drawing board for yet another do-over in order to afford all New Yorkers equal protection and to fulfill the onerous requirements of Executive Order No. 41, which requires DEC to:

“… make such revisions to the Draft SGEIS that are necessary to analyze comprehensively the environmental impacts associated with high-volume hydraulic fracturing combined with horizontal drilling, ensure that such impacts are appropriately avoided or mitigated (emphasis added) consistent with the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), other provisions of the Environmental Conservation Law and other laws, and ensures (stet) that adequate regulatory measures are identified to protect public health and the environment;”

In conclusion, I believe a decision has clearly been made to allow Marcellus Shale horizontal hydrofracturing to begin in New York. That effort can and must be stopped. Nothing else matters. I will be in touch shortly.

Hold onto your hats.

Cheers,

Walter

http://www.toxicstargeting.com/news/2011-07-21/wastewater-gas-drilling-b...