Coalition Letter Request That Governor Hochul Prohibit All Forms of High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing Combined With Horizontal Drilling in New York In Order to Prevent Carbon Dioxide Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Extraction

Re: Request That You Prohibit All Forms of High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing Combined With Horizontal Drilling in New York In Order to Prevent Carbon Dioxide Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Extraction

Greetings:

We, the undersigned, write respectfully to request that you take immediate action to prohibit on a comprehensive basis all forms of High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing (HVHF) using Carbon Dioxide, water, nitrogen, natural gas, propane, also known as Liquid Petroleum Gas, or any other substances in combination with horizontal, directional or vertical drilling in New York's Marcellus and Utica shale and other geologic formations.

In 2020, New York codified the HVHF prohibition adopted pursuant to the Findings Statement for the Final Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS) for Oil, Gas and Solution Mining, but that definition was limited to hydrofracturing involving "the stimulation of a well using 300,000 or more gallons of water (emphasis added) as the base fluid for hydraulic fracturing for all stages in a well completion, regardless of whether the well is vertical or directional, including horizontal."

This inadequate HVHF prohibition could be avoided by simply using one gallon of water less than 300,000 gallons or a variety of non-water HVHF methods that have already been proposed in New York involving pressurized Carbon Dioxide and gelled propane that can serve as hydraulic fracturing fluids. These fatal flaws must be immediately resolved as proposed herein.

Proposed Carbon Dioxide Fracturing in New York's Southern Tier

In the autumn of 2023, Southern Tier CO2 to Clean Energy Solutions reportedly sent 6,500 mineral rights leasing letters to Southern Tier landowners outlining a vast proposal to extract natural gas from Marcellus Shale using non-water carbon dioxide fracking.

See: Carbon Dioxide Marcellus Shale Leasing Letter from Southern Tier CO2 to Clean Energy Solutions

We request that you immediately prohibit all forms of water and non-water HVHF in order to fulfill the shale fracking prohibition specified in the Findings Statement for the Final SGEIS.

High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing and Environmentally Friendly Non-Water Fracking Methods Deemed Unacceptable by Final SGEIS

DEC's Final SGEIS determined that non-water HVHF methods associated with the “environmentally-friendly chemical approach," including "Liquid CO2," "Nitrogen-based foam" and "Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG)," "all fail to limit unavoidable adverse environmental impacts and fail to address the risks and uncertainties of high-volume hydraulic fracturing (emphasis added)."

See: NYSDEC Final SGEIS Chapter 9.3 "Green" or Non-Chemical Fracturing Technologies and Additives

DEC also declared, "Based on unavoidable adverse environmental impacts and uncertainty regarding the science surrounding high-volume hydraulic fracturing and its potential impacts to public health and the environment, the Department finds that the best course of action is to select the No Action alternative. Selection of the No Action alternative means that the Department will not establish a high-volume hydraulic fracturing permitting program; that no individual or site-specific permit applications for wells using high-volume hydraulic fracturing will be processed; and that high-volume hydraulic fracturing will be prohibited in New York State (emphasis added)."

See: DEC Final SGEIS: Unavoidable Adverse Environmental Impacts and Environmentally-Friendly Chemical Alternative Unacceptable

DEC concluded, "In the end, there are no feasible or prudent alternatives that would adequately avoid or minimize adverse environmental impacts and that address the scientific uncertainties and risks to public health from this activity. The Department’s chosen alternative to prohibit high-volume hydraulic fracturing is the best alternative based on the balance between protection of the environment and public health and economic and social considerations."

See: DEC Final SGEIS: High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing Prohibition Statement

Comprehensive High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing Prohibition Proposal

With that goal in mind, we request that you immediately fulfill our request and adopt the following revised HVHF language pursuant to Section 1. Subdivision 3 of Section 23-0501 of the Environmental Conservation Law:

3. (a) No permits shall be issued authorizing an applicant to drill, deepen, plug back, or convert wells that use horizontal, directional or any other form of drilling combined with high-volume hydraulic fracturing to extract, complete or recomplete natural gas or oil resources. For purposes of this section, high-volume hydraulic fracturing shall be defined as the injection or stimulation of a well using any amount of water, carbon dioxide, propane, nitrogen, natural gas or any other substance as the base fluid for hydraulic fracturing for any individual stage or the combined total of all stages in a well completion, regardless of whether the well is vertical, or directional, including horizontal.

New York's Existing Oil, Gas and Solution Mining Regulatory Program is Woefully Inadequate and Unacceptable

Our request is underscored by DEC's own data which document a wide array of public health and environmental hazards associated with oil and gas extraction efforts in the years since the Final SGEIS decision was adopted. It would be unthinkable to permit Marcellus Shale fracking using carbon dioxide and other non-water HVHF methods because your administration's existing regulatory enforcement activities are woefully inadequate.

See: 44 New York Natural Gas and Oil Extraction Problems That Reportedly Were Associated With Fires, Explosions, Drinking Water Contamination, Wetland Pollution or Uncontrolled Environmental Discharges Between 2011 - 2023 and Were Never Cleaned Up in Strict Compliance With All Applicable Regulatory Requirements According to State Department of Environmental Conservation Spill Records

Conclusion

We trust that you will find our respectful request self-explanatory, but please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions that we might be able to answer.

Thank you very much for your consideration.

Very respectfully yours,

cc:
Hon. Members of the New York State Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee
Hon. Members of the New York State Senate Environmental Conservation Committee
Hon. Members of the Broome, Chenango, Chemung, Tioga, Steuben, Allegany and Cattaraugus County Legislatures
Hon. James V. McDonald M.D., DOH Commissioner
Hon. Basil Seggos, DEC Commissioner