Groups to Highlight Dangers of Hydraulic Fracturing, Call on EPA to Conduct Sound Study

ALBANY, NY (09/09/2010)(readMedia)-- Numerous grassroots, statewide and national organizations, policymakers, and citizens involved in protecting health and the environment from natural gas development will hold a press conference and gathering at the start of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency hearings on the impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water.

WHO:

Speakers include:

• Yvonne Lucia, Co-chair, New York Residents Against Drilling

• Matt Ryan, Mayor of Binghamton

• Martha Robertson, Chair, Tompkins County Legislature

• Josh Fox, Director of Gasland

• Joe Heath, Counsel for the Onondaga Nation

• Walter Hang, President, Toxics Targeting

• Wes Gillingham, Program Director, Catskill Mountainkeeper

Groups include: Binghamton Regional Sustainability Coalition (BRSC) , Catskill Mountainkeeper, Citizens Campaign for the Environment, Coalition to Protect New York (CPNY), Committee to Preserve the Finger Lakes, Community Environmental Defense Council Inc. (CEDC), Damascus Citizens for Sustainability (DCS), Earthjustice, Earthworks Oil & Gas Accountability Project (OGAP), Environmental Advocates of New York, Frack Action, Gas Drilling Awareness for Cortland County (GDACC), Green Party of New York State, Highland Concerned Citizens, National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resource Defense Council, New York Residents Against Drilling (NYRAD), New Yorkers for Sustainable Energy Solutions Statewide (NYSESS), NYH2O, People for a Healthy Environment, Inc. (PHE, Inc.), Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter, Sullivan Area Citizens for Responsible Energy Development (SACRED), Sustainable Otsego, and Binghamton University Student Organizations: SUNY CHOW, SUNY VINES, Food Co-op, Philosophy Club, Student Action Collective and New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG).
WHAT:

The United States Environmental Protection Agency is currently conducting a national investigation into the environmental and public health impacts of the gas industry’s use of hydraulic fracturing for extracting natural gas from deep shale deposits. Hearings are being held as part of their investigation, including in Binghamton, NY on September 13 and 15. At the hearings, organizations, policymakers, scientists, and residents will present testimony on problems with water contamination and human health linked to gas drilling and the need for a comprehensive, effective federal study.

Press conference participants will also call for a comprehensive study that reflects the full range of impacts from hydraulic fracturing operations and current conditions in impacted communities nationwide (including in the Marcellus Shale Gas region). They are also calling on federal and state policymakers to end gas industry exemptions from federal environmental laws and take action to protect human health and the environment.

WHEN: Monday September 13, 2010 at 10:00AM Eastern Time (US & Canada)
WHERE: Federal Building
(adjacent to hearing location at Forum Theater)
Binghamton , New York
NOTES:

Contacts:

Nadia Steinzor, Earthworks Oil & Gas Accountability Project; 315-677-4111, nsteinzor@earthworksaction.org

Wes Gillingham, Catskill Mountainkeeper; 845-901-1029; wes@catskillmountainkeeper.org

Roger Downs, Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter; 518-426-9144, roger.downs@sierraclub.org

Yvonne Lucia, New York Residents Against Drilling; 607-723-4786, Artsy56@aol.com

Interviews with representatives of local, state, and national organizations and residents of impacted communities available upon request.