Report: NY's Environmental Agency Can't Adequately Protect Drinking Water from Dangers of Natural Gas Drilling

ALBANY, NY (12/03/2009)(readMedia)-- Research conducted by Environmental Advocates of New York has uncovered that the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has insufficient staff to monitor water pollution in New York State. Emerging threats to water quality, such as natural gas drilling by means of hydraulic fracturing or "fracking," are water intensive-requiring 2.5 to 8 million gallons of water per well-and will produce salt-laden, toxic wastewater. The DEC's Division of Water will need increased staff and resources to oversee the safe handling and disposal of this industrial waste. Since 1990, 72 staff positions have been cut at the DEC's Division of Water, while responsibilities to protect drinking water, fisheries and aquatic habitat have nearly doubled. Go to http://eany.org/issues/reports/DEC_Water.pdf to read the report.

"As pressure to drill for natural gas increases, New York's leaders must ensure that our waterways are protected from fracking dangers. Any and all water used must be obtained sustainably and all wastewater treated and disposed of responsibly. These critical tasks can't be met by current staff levels at the Department of Environmental Conservation," said Alison Jenkins, Fiscal Policy Program Director, Environmental Advocates of New York. "Until the DEC has the staff and resources to protect New York's water, we should hold off on fracking."

An agency-wide hiring freeze and retirement incentives have forced the DEC to do less with more over the past two years. The agency protects water quality by setting standards for dam safety, regulating water pollution from factories and sewage plants and controlling storm water runoff from construction sites and factory farms. Currently, New York has only nine staff to oversee the safety of 5,663 dams. By the end of the 2009-10 State Fiscal Year, the DEC's Division of Water will have lost an additional 40 staffers. Permitting natural gas drilling presents new challenges for which the agency isn't prepared.

Additional staff and resources are desperately needed. For instance, one result of DEC staff shortages is the agency's failure to meet federal requirements for water pollution oversight. Under the Clean Water Act, New York is tasked with protecting water from industrial polluters, sewage treatment plants and runoff by means of the State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System program. However, the permit program is flawed due to staff and resource shortages, leading to a crisis-more than 1,000 polluters have not undergone the federally required five-year review of their permits in more than a decade; some permits have not been reviewed for more than 20 years. In 2008, the DEC was forced to test 94 percent fewer effluent samples than it had in 1990 due to staff shortages.

Without staff to inspect industrial, municipal, construction and farm water discharges, the health of New York's waters, as well as that of New Yorkers, is at risk. The State needs to dedicate additional resources to the DEC and environmental protection. Without the employees to do the work, water quality cannot be monitored and new contamination from sources such as natural gas drilling cannot be prevented. New York State dedicates hundreds of millions of dollars every year to clean up the State's legacy of toxic contamination. By dedicating resources to enforce existing laws today, New York can avoid expensive and dangerous situations in the future.

The Division of Water's federal and special revenue sources have declined in recent years, leaving taxpayers to make up the difference. Without federal stimulus funds for water infrastructure, federal dollars for water programs would have declined by almost 43 percent. Of 267 current staff in the Division of Water, 98 are federally funded, down from 114 in 2001.

"Defending Drinking Water" is the third in a series of briefs that takes a detailed look at DEC operations, appropriations and staff levels. For more information on previous reports, visit www.eany.org.

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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. The tax-exempt 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization is also the New York affiliate of the National Wildlife Federation.