Fracking Advisory Panel Letter/Keep Pushing/One less day to prevent fracking in NYS

Greetings,

Please accept my gratitude for the incredible response to yesterday's alert.  We are one day closer to Governor Cuomo's potential deadline of 2/27/13 for making a decision to permit shale gas fracking in New York, but we made important progress today.  I implore you to keep pushing hard.

We got more press today: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/MarcellusShale/news/2012-12-11/future-fra...

Some enviro reps on the Hydraulic Fracturing Advisory Panel offered misleading and lame excuses regarding why they will not require meaningful public participation for the Department of Health's "Review" of DEC's "health impact analysis."  See bottom.

Their reluctance stands in stark contrast to Panel Member Assemblywoman Lupardo's strong letter to Commissioner Martens spelling out her concerns about inadequate public participation in the DOH Review. 

See:
http://www.toxicstargeting.com/MarcellusShale/documents/letters/2012/12/07/lupardo

See her press coverage: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/news/2012-12-06/lupardo-wants-ny-fracking...
 
Please use this simple self-explanatory letter to require the other DEC Hydraulic Fracturing Advisory Panel members (starting with Sinding, Goldstein, RFK, Jr. and Rob Moore) to rectify the total lack of public participation in the DOH Review proceeding. 
 
See formatted version of the letter below: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/node/37327

See Advisory Panel Members and Contact Info: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/MarcellusShale/dec-fracking-panel

See below a response sent by NRDC that notes: "...the Advisory Panel on High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing was given a narrow scope of work, focusing primarily on identifying resources that would be needed if (emphasis in the original) a fracking program were to move forward in New York State (emphasis added).

NRDC added: "As such, the Panel has had no role to play with regard to the on-going health study being conducted by the Department of Health (emphasis added)."

DEC's news release about the Hydraulic Fracturing Advisory Panel makes it clear that NRDC did not tell the whole truth about the Panel's mandate:

Advisory Panel members are also "charged with:" "developing recommendations to avoid and mitigate impacts to local governments and communities."  See: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/node/37325  Note that Assemblywoman Lupardo references this mandate in the last paragraph of her letter.

Finally, I want to clarify that no representative from Environmental Advocates either spoke at last Monday's press conference about the shocking lack of public participation in the DOH Review or signed the coalition letter to Governor Cuomo which concludes:

"In conclusion, we believe that New York’s existing shale gas fracking moratorium must be maintained until all public health and environmental concerns associated with the proposed practice have been fully resolved.

In order to achieve that goal, we request that you require DEC to terminate its shale gas rulemaking effort and restart the SGEIS proceeding to allow public participation in formulating the proposed 'health impact analysis' review."

That coalition letter now has more than 2,800 signatories, including elected officials, physicians, scientists, academic researchers, environmental groups, civic organizations and concerned citizens.  See: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/MarcellusShale/letters/2012/11/28/cuomo

That letter helped kick off a campaign drive that has received massive coverage: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/MarcellusShale

The actions of some enviro groups are just baffling to me.  When I worked in Albany for 12 years, we fought tooth and nail to protect public health and the environment.  We ran huge statewide citizen campaigns that won landmark, historic victories. 

To gain inspiration for the challenges ahead, check out some fun clips of ancient noteworthy achievements: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/news/1983-12-31/state-industries-told-ide... and http://www.toxicstargeting.com/news/1987-06-04/barge-puts-watchdogs-top-...

May we be so fortunate in the days ahead.

Thank you so much for your assistance.

Very best regards,

Walter

To:
Cc: "Sinding, Kate"
Sent: Tuesday, December 11, 2012 12:17 PM
Subject: Fracking
 
Dear ____,
 
Thank you for your email.  We share your concerns about the State’s recent actions regarding fracking in New York.
 
As you may know, the Advisory Panel on High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing was given a narrow scope of work, focusing primarily on identifying resources that would be needed if (emphasis in the original) a fracking program were to move forward in New York State (emphasis added).  Since a decision on whether to advance fracking has not yet been made, the panel has not been reconvened in months.   As such, the Panel has had no role to play with regard to the on-going health study being conducted by the Department of Health (emphasis added).
 
Nevertheless,  NRDC has repeatedly called upon the state to conduct an independent, comprehensive health impact assessment for fracking.  We have written numerous memoranda, letters and publicly posted blog entries (see, for example, here, here and here) demanding that the state commit to a health assessment that includes, at minimum, the following components:
 
1.       Opportunity for full public participation, including a public comment period and public hearings, to obtain the input of potentially affected New Yorkers, as well as state-based health professionals.
2.       Employment of recognized health impact assessment methodologies that fully assess and, to the extent possible, quantify potential health impacts and costs.
3.       Independent verification by wholly outside, unbiased medical experts.
 
(See, also, news coverage on this issue, here, here, here, as well as the article pasted below.)
 
Meanwhile, we are carefully reviewing every corner of the state’s just revised regulations, which were issued over our strong objections and contrary to sound public policy.   We have engaged highly-qualified external and internal experts to assist in this review, and intend to submit comprehensive comments identifying all gaps in the proposed regulatory approach.
 
NRDC is continuing to insist that the state not move forward with any new fracking program until, among other things, the health and the environmental impacts have been fully and properly considered.  And NRDC continues to support and advocate for an on-going moratorium on any new fracking in New York State.
 
We encourage you to continue to communicate your concerns about the State’s proposal directly to the Governor and the State Health Commissioner.
 
Sincerely,
 
Kate Sinding and Eric A. Goldstein, NRDC