Request That Governor Hochul Not Sign Senate Bill S8357 and Assembly Bill A8866 Into Law

Greetings:

I write respectfully to request that you do not sign Senate Bill S8357 and Assembly Bill A8866 into law for the reasons specified below.

First, the fatally flawed legislation does not define the use of carbon dioxide for natural gas and oil extraction in New York's Marcellus and other tight shale, low-permeability formations as High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing. The use of carbon dioxide for oil and natural gas extraction must be clearly defined as High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing so that New York maintains strict regulatory control over carbon dioxide oil and gas extraction activities and can prohibit it. Unless this mandate is fulfilled, carbon dioxide injected into Marcellus and other tight shale, low-permeability formations in New York might be able to be permitted pursuant to Carbon Capture, Utilization and Sequestration or storage programs potentially subject to Federal regulatory authority in our state; and

Second, the legislation fails to prohibit High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing methods in New York that utilize any amounts of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, Liquefied Petroleum Gas, natural gas, 299,999 or fewer gallons of water or any amounts of other substances combined with directional or horizontal drilling even though your Department of Environmental Conservation's Final Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement Regarding the Regulatory Program for Horizontal Drilling and High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing to Develop the Marcellus Shale and Other Low-Permeability Gas Reservoirs determined that:

"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

Despite this critically important Final SGEIS determination, DEC under the aegis of Governor Andrew Cuomo irresponsibly adopted a High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing prohibition that is limited to:

"the stimulation of a well using three hundred thousand or more gallons of water as the base fluid for hydraulic fracturing for all stages in a well completion, regarding of whether the well is vertical or directional, including horizontal."

This inadequate High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing prohibition must be immediately rectified. It is imperative to prohibit carbon dioxide and other non-water High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing methods because DEC's Final SGEIS specifically determined that High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing 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)."

Carbon dioxide High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing recently proposed in New York's Southern Tier, an earlier gelled propane permit application in Barton, NY, other forms of non-water High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing or hydrofracturing using 299,999 or fewer gallons of water would all be subject to the 1992 Generic Environmental Impact Statement regulations that DEC deemed in 2008 to be inadequate for regulating High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing. This is unthinkable and irresponsible.

DEC's own toxic spill data document a long-standing failure to enforce those existing regulatory requirements in order to safeguard public health and the environment from dozens of natural gas and oil extraction, storage and transmission hazards in many areas of New York.

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

For all these reasons, please fulfill the respectful: 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

Conclusion

In conclusion, I cannot overemphasize that the above-referenced legislation must not be signed into law because it would not comprehensively prohibit all forms of High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing using any amount of any substance to extract natural gas or oil from New York's Marcellus and other tight-shale low-permeability reservoirs as recommended by DEC's Final SGEIS. It is imperative for you to achieve that goal without any further delay. With all respect, you should have resolved this grave shortcoming before you codified DEC's limited hydrofracturing prohibition in 2020.

I cannot overemphasize that your administration must not take a piecemeal approach to prohibiting carbon dioxide for High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing as well as Carbon Capture, Utilization and Sequestration or storage programs in our state.

Instead, the comprehensive regulatory strategy proposed in the coalition letter must be implemented without further delay through an Executive Order at your sole discretion. I request that you take immediate action to fulfill the coalition letter request before it is too late to keep New York 100% free of shale fracking.

I trust that you will find my request self-explanatory, but please do not hesitate to get in touch if I can clarify my request in any way. I would be pleased to meet at your convenience if you wish.

Thank you for your consideration and your public service.

Very best regards,

Walter Hang

cc: Hon. James V. McDonald M.D., DOH Commissioner
Hon. Basil Seggos, DEC Commissioner
Hon. Anna Kelles
Hon. Lea Webb