You are here

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



SIZ - Simple Image Zoom


The Honorable Kathy Hochul
Governor of New York
The State Capitol
Albany, NY 12224

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

Total Signatory Count: 708

Mary I Arlin
623 Utica Street
Ithaca, NY
Bruce Krug
2771 West Rd
Constableville, NY
Matthew Ryan
Former Mayor of Binghamton, NY.
10 Stratford Place
Binghamton, NY
Katie Fittipaldi
3 Sugarbush Lane
Pittsford , NY
Martin Jorgensen
1692 Ellis Hollow Rd. Apt 2
Ithaca, New York
Joel Cisne
65 Mt. Pleasant Rd.
Ithaca, NY
Tess Brown-Lavoie
275 Linden Blvd
Brooklyn, NY
Toby Stover
Founding Member
RDAF
81 Clove Valley Rd
High Falls, NY
Leaf Turner
85 Autumn Ridge Circle
Ithaca, New York
Ruby Turner
85 Autumn Ridge Circle
Ithaca, New York
Judy Abrams
1679 Taughannock blvd
Trumansburg, NY
Michael Tingey
639 Jones Road
Vestal, NY
Arzu Karaduman
30 Mc Allister Drive
Pleasant Valley, NY
Brewster Chase
President
NOWN
252 Etna Rd
Ithaca, NY
Hannah Potts
PhD NP
9124 Schier Rd
Interlaken, NY
Jackie Jablonski
Northview Rd
Ithaca, NY
Ellen Cantarow
Journalist
158-18 Riverside Drive West, 2N50
New York, NY
Marilyn Gold
1923 Fish Hollow Road
Walton , NY
Kelly Makosch
104 Olde Towne Rd
Ithaca, NY
Henrietta Statham
7 High Street
Delhi , NY
David Ritchie
160 Crescent Pl
Ithaca, NY
Caroline Levine
Ryan Professor of the Humanities
Cornell University
4 The Byway
ITHACA, New York
Teresa Michel
PO Box 225
Aurora, NY 13026
Lynda Schneekloth
Facilitator
Grandmothers Council of Niagara
601 w ferry street
buffalo, ny
Jennifer Cleland
430 W State St #457
Ithaca , NY
Robert Warfield
289 Bone Plain Road
Freeville, NY
Harold Koster
7604 NY RT 79
Whitney Point, NY
Gerald Fong
Retired
672 Backer Road
Beaver Dams, NY
Judy Jensvold
518 Highland Rd
Ithaca, NY
John Schumacher
8 Jermain St
Albany, NY
Sara Schaffzin
313 Utica St
Ithaca, NY
Kent Struck
2309 Richmond Road
Endwell, New York
Mark Schaeffer
People of Albany United for Safe Energy (PAUSE)
213 Jefferson St
Albany , NY
John McClelland
Research Director
MTEC Photoacoustics, Inc.
3507 Oakland St.
Ames, IA
Kasey Jueds
18 Mountain Rd
Shokan, NY
Michael Richardson
co-facilitator
Third Act Upstate New York
100 Kinderhook Street
Chatham, New York
Margaret Fabrizio
105 CASCADILLA PARK RD
ithaca, NY
Anne Klingensmith
41 Muzzy Rd
Ithaca, NY
Gary Nelson
Systems Engineer
38 Maple Ave
Troy, NY
Anne Stork
24 Gilbert Road
Ithaca, NY
Pam Gueldner
28 Brooktondale Rd
Ithaca, NY
Eric Banford
mr
401 E Miller Rd
Ithaca, NY
William Evans
296 Bald Hill Rd
Spencer, NY
Rachael Shapiro
211 Rachel Carson Way
ITHACA, NY
William Reinhardt
Chair of the Conservation, Sustainability & Green Initiatives Committee
Albany county Legislator
1613 New Scotland Road
Slingerlands, NY
H Katharine Hunter
601 King Road West
Ithaca, NY
Sandy Steubing
Manager
BuyLocalGrowLocal.org
44 Summit Ave.
ALBANY, NY
Michael Gilmore
5412 West Lake Rd
Auburn, NY
Cinda Gilmore
5412 W. Lake Road
Auburn, New York
Cameron Brown
39 Rosman Road
Thiells, NY

Pages