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Anti-Frackers Demand Governor Cuomo Takes New Action
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -- An anti-fracking coalition says a lot has happened in the past five years. With recent studies, government investigations, and new technology and information available, they are demanding the governor keep up with the times. They are asking him to withdraw the current DEC Draft Environmental Impact Statement on hydraulic fracturing.
"It's not current. It lacks literally hundreds of new studies and that’s why it has got to be stopped," said Walter Hang, Toxics Targeting president.
Hang wants Gov. Andrew Cuomo to take new action. He calls the current draft, "ancient" and not suitable for the governor to make a final decision on fracking.
"He hasn’t been able to approve shale fracking because he hasn’t been able to complete the Department of Health Review conducted totally in secret and he hasn’t been able to adopt comprehensive public health and environment safeguards pursuant to a final SGEIS," Hang said.
Former Binghamton Mayor Matt Ryan says an updated statement is necessary to completely understand the potential hazards.
“It’s never been all put together to see what the real public health impacts of this industry are,” Ryan said.
Supporters of natural gas drilling say if the draft has been successful thus far, it should not be withdrawn.
"There has been fracking in New York state for 60 years, they have not had incidents. The regulations as they stand were very effective and efficient. There is no need to update the regulations," said Gary VanDriesen, 7911 Landowners Coalition leader.
The Department of Health Commissioner recently resigned before completing his review of the health impact analysis, an evaluation that must be completed before a final impact statement is adopted.
The coalition's letter to the governor currently has more than 875 signatures.
To view the draft: head to this link
To view the letter: head to this link
Coalition to request Cuomo withdraw environmental impact statement on fracking
Dr. Benjamin Perkus of New York Residents Against Drilling, Erin Heaton Meyer of Chenango Community Action for Renewable Energy, former Mayor Matthew T. Ryan and Walter Hang of Toxics Targeting spoke outside of Binghamton City Hall Monday afternoon. / Steven Howe/Staff Photo
BINGHAMTON — A coalition of organizations opposing fracking in New York met outside City Hall at 38 Hawley St. Monday afternoon to request Gov. Andrew Cuomo withdraw an environmental impact statement which they say is outdated.
The state’s final decision on fracking is meant to be based on the impact statement, a draft of which was first released in September 2009 and revised two years later.
Since that time, new state health reports and scientific research have been published which the statement doesn’t consider, said Walter Hang, who owns Ithaca-based environmental database firm Toxics Targeting, during Monday’s news conference.
“When you look at the document it’s so ancient, it’s so outdated by scientific standards that we believe it simply needs to be withdrawn,” said Hang, of Ithaca.
Former Binghamton Mayor Matthew T. Ryan and representatives from New York Residents Against Drilling and Chenango Community Action for Renewable Energy attended the news conference. The coalition plans to send a letter to Cuomo requesting an updated draft environmental statement with a comprehensive health impact study.
So far, 803 people have signed the letter, according to Toxics Targeting’s website.
In 2012, Cuomo called for a health review on the impact statement before final approval. Former state health commissioner Dr. Nirav Shah resigned in April before the analysis was completed.
The state placed a moratorium on fracking since 2008 and the health department has been reviewing the process since September 2012.
Ryan said state governments have made independent health and environmental impact findings on fracking but no in-depth studies have been made to inform the regulations on the controversial natural gas extraction technique.
“Nobody has ever put together the kind of comprehensive health impact study or environmental impact study that’s needed for this industry,” he said. “New York could get something real right by doing this.”
In a reactionary joint release from pro-fracking group Unshackle Upstate and the Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce, both groups championed the economic development benefits of natural gas drilling.
“The Southern Tier’s residents and businesses are tired of having their economic futures put at risk by a politically-motivated process,” said Unshackle Upstate Executive Director Brian Sampson.
Fracking opponents want environmental review withdrawn
A coalition of groups opposed to hydraulic fracturing in New York held a news conference in Binghamton on Monday to call on the state to withdraw a six-years-in-the-making environmental review.
From the Press & Sun-Bulletin's Steven Howe:
BINGHAMTON -- A coalition of organizations opposing fracking in New York met outside City Hall at 38 Hawley St. Monday afternoon to request Gov. Andrew Cuomo withdraw an environmental impact statement which they say is outdated.The state is expected to base part of its decision on hydraulic fracturing around the impact statement, which was released in September 2009 and revised two years later. Since that time, new state health reports and scientific research have been published which the statement doesn’t consider, said Walter Hang, who owns Ithaca-based environmental database firm Toxics Targeting, during the Monday news conference.“When you look at the document it’s so ancient, it’s so outdated by scientific standards that we believe it simply needs to be withdrawn,” said Hang, of Ithaca. Former Binghamton Mayor Matthew T. Ryan and representatives from New York Residents Against Drilling and Chenango Community Action for Renewable Energy attended the news conference. The coalition plans to send a letter to Cuomo requesting an updated draft environmental statement with a comprehensive health impact study. So far, 803 people have signed the letter, according to Toxics Targeting’s website.
WNBF Interview 7/7/2014 with Walter Hang Re: Letter to Gov. Cuomo asking for withdrawal of SGEIS
Opponents of high-volume hydraulic fracturing in New York state are calling on Governor Andrew Cuomo to withdraw a draft environmental impact statement on the process.
Fracking foes have sent a letter to the governor urging him to direct the state Department of Health to conduct an open and transparent public health impact study.
Walter Hang, president of Ithaca-based Toxics Targeting, says the state’s draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement on fracking is outdated and “lacks any current information.”
Hang contends the Department of Environmental Conservation report is “obviously unsuitable to support any decision” by Cuomo to allow fracking in the Marcellus Shale of New York.
Hang says the existing impact statement would inadequately protect New Yorkers from potential hazards related to fracking operations.
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Fracking foes: Gov. Cuomo can’t rely on ‘ancient’ data to decide fate of Marcellus Shale in NY
Fracking foes: Gov. Cuomo can’t rely on ‘ancient’ data to decide fate of Marcellus Shale in N.Y.
Ithaca, N.Y. — The report that could help determine the future of Marcellus Shale fracking is hopelessly outdated and should be discarded, an environmental advocacy group said in a statement Monday.
In 2009, New York produced a draft “supplemental environmental impact statement” to assess how fracking in the Marcellus Shale formation would affect the region. The idea of the study was to adopt new environmental and health safeguards before permitting the controversial drilling practice.
Nearly five years later, however, Gov. Andrew Cuomo hasn’t come down on either side of the debate. But the data gathered back in 2009 remains the state’s official basis for making its decision — even though its findings are no longer relevant, said Walter Hang, president of the Ithaca-based Toxics Targeting.
“It lacks any current information,” a petition being circulated by Toxics Targeting says of the environmental impact statement. (The petition demands that Cuomo withdraw the current impact statement and order the state’s Department of Health to start a new one.)
“As a result, it fails to assess hundreds of recent investigations, studies and reports that have significantly expanded the scientific understanding of shale fracking’s pollution impacts.”
Fracking in N.Y. has been in limbo since a statewide moratorium was placed on it in 2008. Cuomo has not announced if he supports fracking the Marcellus Shale or not, saying instead that he wants to learn more about its impact.
The indecision hasn’t just caught Cuomo flack from the left. In January, the New York Post quoted the head of the American Petroleum Institute as criticizing Cuomo for “hiding ‘for far too long’ behind the ‘excuse’ of conducting a health study on the safety of fracking.”
“I think it’s unfortunate because it hurts his state. It hurts economic development in his state,” said the API president, Jack Gerard.
But the de facto prohibition of fracking, so frustrating for those in the industry, has been seen as an important victory for N.Y.’s environmental activists.
“The bottom line is that if New York’s shale fracking moratorium can be extended for another few years, our state could be the first in USA mining history to phase out fossil fuel extraction and the contamination hazards caused by that inadequately regulated industry,” a statement from Toxics Targeting says.
Here’s some of the text of the Toxics Targeting letter to Gov. Cuomo:
“We, the undersigned, write respectfully to request that you withdraw the Marcellus Shale Draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS) because it is nearly five years old, lacks any current information whatsoever and would inadequately protect New York from fracking hazards.
In 2008, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) decided not to permit shale fracking until a Final SGEIS was adopted to safeguard public health and the environment. That de facto moratorium has prevented even one shale gas production well from ever being fracked in our state.
The original Draft SGEIS was proposed in 2009 and is based on a Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) adopted nearly 22 years ago. The Draft SGEIS is based on a scoping proceeding undertaken six years ago. A Revised Draft SGEIS was released nearly three years ago and has never been updated.
Given the long delay in adopting the Draft SGEIS, it lacks any current information. As a result, it fails to assess hundreds of recent investigations, studies and reports that have significantly expanded the scientific understanding of shale fracking’s pollution impacts.
Most importantly, the “health impact analysis” in the Draft SGEIS reflects information that is nearly five years old. That is ancient by scientific investigation standards.
Given these shortcomings, it would be inappropriate to make a decision to permit shale fracking in New York based on a Draft SGEIS that is too old and outdated to fulfill that purpose.
That is why we respectfully request that you:
a) Withdraw the Draft SGEIS;
b) Halt your State Department of Health (DOH) “review” of the dated “health impact analysis” in the Draft SGEIS;
c) Instruct your DOH to undertake a comprehensive shale fracking “Public Health Impact Study” openly and transparently using all available current data;
d) Require DOH and DEC to utilize the findings of the “Public Health Impact Study” to propose and adopt a new Generic Environmental Impact Statement. That is precisely what the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency recommended in 2009.
See: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/sites/default/files/Marcellus_dSGEIS_Comment_Letter_plus_Enclosure_0.pdfAgainst that background, New York has an unprecedented opportunity to eliminate the fossil fuel extraction hazards that have plagued our state for nearly 200 years. Only one natural gas well was drilled and “completed” for production in New York during all of 2013, the most recent year for which DEC permitting information is publicly available.