NYS Sen Grisanti, Assemb. Sweeney & McEneny Join Green Watchdog to Call for 180-Day Fracking Comment Period

ALBANY, NY (08/15/2011)(readMedia)-- State Environmental Conservation Committee Chairs Senator Mark Grisanti (R-Buffalo) and Assemblyman Robert K. Sweeney (D-Lindenhurst), and Assemblyman Jack McEneny (D-Albany) joined Environmental Advocates of New York and other organizations concerned about the environmental impacts of dirty gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing or "fracking," today to call on Governor Cuomo and Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Joe Martens to hold no less than a 180-day comment period and statewide public hearings on the state's proposed fracking guidelines, formally known as the revised Draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Statement (SGEIS). Elected officials statewide echoed these concerns.

"While I commend and approve of the hard work that Commissioner Martens and the staff of the Department of Environmental Conservation put into drafting the SGEIS, and I also can appreciate the dedication the members of the High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing Advisory Panel will bring to the table; I believe that we need to allow our public to have time to thoroughly review the SGEIS. It is for these reasons that I have already expressed my desire to both Commissioner Martens and members of the Advisory Panel that public hearings be conducted by the Department and that the time frame for comments from the public be extended on the SGEIS. I truly believe that the Department and the Advisory Panel will take these recommendations under serious condition. With such a major economic and environmental opportunity before us, it is imperative that we allow the public to be heard as we move forward with the recommendations of the SGEIS." Mark Grisanti (R-Buffalo).

"New York State would be foolish to rush into permitting hydraulic fracturing for natural gas," said Assemblyman Robert K. Sweeney (D- Lindenhurst), Chair of the Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee. "Technical experts and average New Yorkers need time to evaluate the state's proposal and weigh in with the Department of Environmental Conservation to make sure that if drilling moves forward we are not compromising our communities, our environment or our long-term sustainability."

"The proposals contained in the Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement on the Oil Gas and Solution Mining Regulatory Program are going to play such a significant role in the economic and environmental future of New York that New Yorkers deserve a sufficient opportunity to form and voice their opinion for the record," said Assemblyman Jack McEneny (D-Albany). "The health and safety of our neighbors, as well as the protection of our irreplaceable water resources must and should be our primary concern."

"The 60-day period proposed by state leaders shortchanges New Yorkers," said Katherine Nadeau, Water & Natural Resources Program Director for Environmental Advocates of New York. "New York State's fracking review is a technical document that will weigh in at more than 1,000 pages. Every New Yorker, and technical expert, too, deserves more time to read and analyze the state's proposal given the tremendous impact fracking will have on our water and our communities."

Seventy six organizations released a letter to Governor Cuomo and Commissioner Martens calling for a 180-day comment period along with public hearings in at least the same four areas where the DEC held hearings on the 2009 draft fracking document-Binghamton, Sullivan County, New York City and Delaware County. The letter also calls on state leaders to hold hearings in as many of the communities likely to be affected by fracking as possible, including but not limited to, cities and towns in Western New York and the Hudson Valley. Many New Yorkers in these areas did not have the opportunity to attend a public hearing in 2009.

The DEC's preliminary revised draft fracking assessment was released in July. The complete revised draft is expected to be released for public comment and review in late summer or early fall.

To frack a gas well, millions of gallons of water, sand, and toxic chemicals are pumped deep underground at high pressure. This fractures the rock that has trapped the gas for millennia and allows it to escape. From start to finish, gas development that relies on fracking is an industrial process that threatens our water. State after state, from Wyoming to Pennsylvania, has documented its dangers. New York can't afford to put short-term gas profits ahead of the long-term health of our water and our communities.

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Environmental Advocates of New York's mission is to protect our air, land, water and wildlife and the health of all New Yorkers. Based in Albany, we monitor state government, evaluate proposed laws, and champion policies and practices that will ensure the responsible stewardship of our shared environment. We work to support and strengthen the efforts of New York's environmental community and to make our state a national leader. To learn more, visit www.eany.org.