New Yorkers Rally at EPA's "Fracking" Hearing to Voice Concerns About Environmental Dangers

ALBANY, NY (09/13/2010)(readMedia)-- Hundreds of people packed the Broome County Performing Arts Center auditorium today, concerned of natural gas drilling that's spreading to states around the country.

The hearing is the public comment portion of an Environmental Protection Agency investigation into the safety of a controversial process that extracts natural gas from shale rock. Known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking in the industry, it injects thousands of gallons of chemical-laced water and sand into natural gas wells, cracking the shale rock and allowing the gas to flow out.

Environmental advocates, concerned citizens and public health groups statewide are calling for the highest standards and best protections for all waters statewide. In New York State, the groups are calling on the State Legislature to enact strong laws and that regulations are on the books before any drilling is allowed in New York.

The EPA is holding the hearings, the last of four nationwide, to receive public input on the scope of its study on the potential effect hydrofracking may have on groundwater. Fracking is a natural-gas drilling technique in which a mix of sand, water and chemicals is blasted deep underground to break up shale and release the gas. The agency is looking for insight on what the highest priority of the study should be, as well as where the gaps in public knowledge are, and suggested locations for a case study.

Four hundred people with have the opportunity to speak to a panel of EPA researchers during the sessions today and Wednesday. Each speaker is limited to two minutes of testimony.

The 400 speakers, 300 of whom were held over from the original list of registrants for the Aug. 12 meeting at Binghamton University, which was postponed, include a variety of stakeholders, including Congressmen Maurice Hinchey and Binghamton Mayor Matthew T. Ryan.

"The EPA's study of hydrofracking will be crucial to understanding the gap between the thousands of reported contamination cases and the gas industry's denials of culpability," said Roger Downs, conservation program manager for the Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter. "We are confident that a scientific analysis of drilling will demonstrate that fracking, as it is currently practiced, is unsafe."

Congressman Maurice Hinchey says the study must be "Unbiased and comprehensive, and EPA must get out into the field to understand what is happening and what must be done to protect water supplies and health. EPA must not be influenced by industry or politics, as they were in 2004, and ensure the study is carried out in the public interest."

Oren R. Lyons, a traditional Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan, and a Member of the. Onondaga Nation Council of Chiefs of the Six Nations of the Iroquois said "The Onondaga Nation is very concerned about the process known as 'hydro-fracking'. We, in this area, are responsible for 1/3 of the world's potable water. If we ignore that responsibility by letting gas companies frack with our resources our children and our children's children will suffer."

Josh Fox the Director of the Sundance Winning Film Gasland (http://www.gaslandthemovie.com) said: "The EPA has to act now. They should not wait two years to shut this dangerous process down. This should never have started in the first place--we need at least a five year moratorium to protect our water and our communities."

Wes Gillingham, Program Director for Catskill Mountainkeeper said "The 2005 Energy Act exempted the gas industry from all of the critical federal environmental laws including the Clean Water Act. These hearings are the first step in bringing this industry back under the oversight of the Environmental Protection Agency."

"Even with drilling at only a fraction of what industry has planned, problems are mounting," said Nadia Steinzor of Earthworks Oil and Gas Accountability Project. "EPA must look at the cumulative impacts of drilling and the many steps involved in fracturing operations."

The environmental, public health and community groups voicing concerns at the hearings 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), Delaware Riverkeeper Network, 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 Resources Defense Council , Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation, New York Residents Against Drilling (NYRAD), New Yorkers for Sustainable Energy Solutions Statewide (NYSESS), NYH2O, Otsego 2000 of Cooperstown, NY, People for a Healthy Environment, Inc. (PHE, Inc.), Riverkeeper, Schoharie Valley Watch, Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter, Sullivan Area Citizens for Responsible Energy Development (SACRED), Sustainable Otsego, Binghamton University Student Organizations: SUNY CHOW, SUNY VINES, Food Co-op, Philosophy Club, Student Action Collective and NYPIRG.

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