Updated 5/22/24 Request That Governor Hochul Not Sign Senate Bill S8357 and Assembly Bill A8866 Into Law

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

Re: Updated Request That You Not Sign Senate Bill S8357 and Assembly Bill A8866 Into Law

Greetings:

I write respectfully to update my 4/22/24 request that you not sign Senate Bill S8357 and Assembly Bill A8866 into law for the reasons specified below. This is imperative due to the legislation's egregious shortcomings and because the legislation could be circumvented by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency New Carbon Capture, Utilization and Sequestration/Storage Rules proposed on 4/25/24. Those rules could permit massive carbon dioxide shale fracking in New York as part of Carbon Sequestration/Storage activities permitted by federal authority that the legislation utterly fails to address.

I am pleased to document my concerns below.

High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing Concerns

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

Proposed Carbon Capture, Utilization and Sequestration/Storage Rules Could Permit Carbon Dioxide Injection into New York's Marcellus Shale Formation

The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency's New Carbon Capture, Utilization and Sequestration/Storage Rules proposed on 4/25/24 could cause public health, environmental and climate change problems of staggering proportions because EPA's proposed national rules reportedly aim to:

"significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from existing coal-fired power plants and from new natural gas turbines, ensuring that all long-term coal-fired plants and base load new gas-fired plants control 90% of their carbon pollution (emphasis added)."

If huge amounts of carbon dioxide are captured, they would have to be utilized, sequestered or stored. This could permit carbon dioxide shale fracking in New York and other states under the guise of EPA's proposed:

Greenhouse Gas Standards and Guidelines for Fossil Fuel-Fired Power Plants

What is Carbon Capture and Sequestration?

Carbon dioxide released by burning fossil fuels contributes to global climate change by warming the planet. In theory, carbon capture involves trapping carbon dioxide gas before, during or after fossil fuel combustion. Sequestration/Storage involves compressing carbon dioxide gas into a fluid that can be transported and injected into deep, porous geologic formations where carbon dioxide is adsorbed and cannot migrate into the atmosphere. Fluids can be used for shale fracking.

Why is Carbon Capture and Sequestration Highly Problematic?

The fossil fuel industry promotes Carbon Capture and Sequestration because it theoretically allows continued use of fossil fuels while mitigating climate change. In reality, Carbon Capture and Sequestration has never been translated into large-scale practice due to formidable technological and economic barriers.

High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing involving Carbon Capture and Sequestration would be unthinkable given the Final SGEIS determination that this practice must not be allowed in New York. With all respect, it would be irresponsible of you not to translate that recommendation into practice.

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.

I request that you achieve that goal without any further delay by implementing the comprehensive regulatory strategy proposed in the above-referenced coalition letter through an Executive Order at your sole discretion.

If you fail to take immediate action, carbon dioxide fracking proposed in New York's Southern Tier could be permitted at any time because this practice is not prohibited by the inadequate Hydrofracking prohibition you adopted circa 2020. Moreover, the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency could be on the verge of permitting massive carbon dioxide shale fracking in New York and from coast-to-coast pursuant to Carbon Sequestration/Storage programs that the legislation fails to prohibit.

For all of these reasons, if you fail to keep New York 100% free of all forms of shale fracking, you would be directly responsible for all the public health and environmental problems that ensue.

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. Acting DEC Commissioner
Hon. Anna Kelles
Hon. Lea Webb
Hon. State Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee Members
Hon. State Senate Environmental Conservation Committee Members
Signatories to the 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