"If it's so safe, why does it need loopholes?" asked Barbara Lee Jackson, referring to the infamous Halliburton Loophole in the 2005 Energy Bill, which exempted the practice of hydraulic fracking from most environmental standards.
She was one of over a hundred members of the public, who waited on a line for a ticket to speak at a public hearing, held a few blocks away from Occupy Wall Street. Nearly two thousand attended the meeting, which was hosted by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to permit public spoken comment on the 15,000 page SGEIS guidelines it had produced at Governor Cuomo's request to fast-track fracking in New York State.
Cuomo had promised that his decision on fracking would be based on "facts and science," but many speakers expressed disappointment with omissions in the state's document.
Dominating the stage at both day and evening sessions was a giant timer under which sat a trio of DEC representatives. The timer assured people kept their comments to three minutes apiece.
So much to say, and so little time. Based on what fracking has wrought elsewhere, speaker after speaker waxed eloquent with average citizens, elected officials, and advocates characterizing fracking outcomes as:
"A roll of the dice.."
"A state-wide health emergency.."
"The next Love Canal.."
"An economic wasteland.."
"A boom and bust economy."
"Poisoned aquifers.."
"Sick children."
"Reckless endangerment."
"The next Enron."
Some were public officials. Some were people who had never spoken in public. Some were measured. Some passionate. One read a long list of the ailments correlated to fracking chemicals. One recited the precautionary principle. Many simply urged more time.
Time for the EPA studies which conclude in 2014.
Time for New Yorkers to consider all relevant data before making an irreversible step.
Time for the understaffed DEC to prove capacity to regulate what many called an inherently dangerous activity.
"This is far too important to be rushed. The shale gas has been there for millions of years." said Manhattan Borough President, Scott Stringer.
"Let's de-accellerate this process," agreed New York State Senator Tom Duane.
"We must not buy into corporate junk science in order to allow a practice that jeopardizes life and health, and the economy of millions of New Yorkers," said State Assemblyman, Richard Gottfried, Chairman of the NYS Assembly Committee on Health.
Joe Martens, head of the DEC did not attend the public meeting. But the biggest omissions speakers noted were in the guidelines themselves, (which were rushed to completion at Governor's Cuomo's behest.) Speaker after speaker asked why the DEC would signal readiness to proceed with fracking when they contend that the guidelines contain:
No health impact assessment
No health expense projection
No socio-economic assessment
No provisions for increased first responder use for managing crises
No risk management and liability plan for death, injury, contamination, and accidents
No fallbacks for lawsuits, defaults, or bankruptcy by gas leasing, drilling, or sales companies
No bailout projections for investment losses
No data on the risk of declining properties values both downstate and upstate
No plan for potential foreclosure crisis, triggered by mortgage forfeiture
No provision for damage insurance
No evaluation of NYC's aging water infrastructures for seismic destabilization or contamination risks
No comprehensive plan for hazardous waste disposal
No evaluation of possible increased contamination risks due to more frequent hurricanes, floods, and other artifacts of climate change
No evaluation of hazards arising from fracking induced seismic activity leading to increases in earthquake frequency and intensity
No strategy for increased tax payer burden to cover any of the above
"The guidelines are inaccurate and unacceptable," said Jeannette Barth, Ph.D., an economic forecaster. "Extensive literature shows a boom and bust economy which leaves fracking regions economically worse off long term. But the DEC focused only on the benefits, and those were exaggerated."
"Industrializing New York's farmland is no boon. The SGEIS distorts key facts: Most of the estimated jobs would be filled by out of state workers, but there's no mention of fracking's impact on major New York industries, agriculture and tourism," said Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food & Water Watch.
"Who will go to the Catskills to see the autumn leaves when the region smells like Newark?" another speaker asked.
David Braun of United for Action called the plan to drill at a short distance from the upstate watershed, "Feeble, and inept. It won't completely protect our unfiltered water supply, even though it shows that the DEC and Governor know that fracking is a toxic enterprise."
"The state has made no effort to quantify the kinds of expenses that have occurred in other states, which include hundreds of millions of dollars for remediation. Most communities will receive no revenue from fracking, and we've learned from Pennsylvania, that industry will not cover costs and losses. If the DEC fails to develop an accurate socio-economic assessment, as is legally required, Riverkeeper will go to court," said Katherine Hudson, Watershed Program Director of Riverkeeper.
Many contended that Governor Cuomo's basic premise is misguided.
"No regulations can make fracking safe. No attempt to regulate it for safety anywhere in the world has succeeded." asked Josh Fox, director of the Oscar-nominated film, Gasland. "Ban fracking now."
Stringer agreed, questioning the DEC's power to hold industry accountable. "We've seen in the Gulf how an anemic regulatory body is a recipe for disaster when they can't control the industry they're supposed to regulate. The result is environmental catastrophe," he said. "We don't have the science or the wherewithal to extract gas safely. It's time we owned up to this."
One speaker addressed Deputy Commissioner Steven Russo who moderated the session. "The gas industry spent millions trying to convince us, but we're not buying. The question is: Why is your boss buying it? We're the people who voted for him, and we're getting the word out about this because the more people know, the more they oppose it. This is not a threat, this is democracy."
"We all know that the decision will be made by Governor Cuomo," agreed Ed Wood of A Million Fracking Letters. "Fracking is standing between him and the White House."
One man asked Russo. "Do you see what's happening here? You are not required to convince us that fracking is safe. We are forced to convince you not to poison us. You've turned democracy on its head."
"I've been active in democratic party leadership for several decades," said a local party organizer from Staten Island. "But if he runs for President, Governor Cuomo will be the first Democrat I will not vote for."
"The future of New York depends on the action and resolve of its citizens," said actor Mark Ruffalo, founder of Water Defense.
"This is a people's movement," said Josh Fox.
The DEC guidelines for written public comment have been extended through January 11th. You can go here and here to comment.
For environmental health blogs, radio, and activism, please sign up at www.healthjournalistblog.com Or listen to my radio program, Connect the Dots.
Follow Alison Rose Levy on Twitter: www.twitter.com/AlisonRoseLevy
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New Yorkers: Speak Out Against Fracking | Food & Water Watch
Ingraffea doesn't say all wells leak. He studies aerospace engineering as well, and he will also say "you can't build a plane that won't eventually crash".
His position is that fracked wells leak very rarely, but he wants them to be even more rare .... as rare as commercial plane crashes. He'd like to see the technology evolve to that point before fracking begins in NY.
I don't think you'll get Ingrerffa to say something like "fracking should be banned" or even "there should be a national moratorium on fracking".
At any rate, Ingrerffa is just *one* scientist. The overwhelming majority of scientists endorse fracking. There were many, many scientists (each one more prominent than Ingraffea) that went into reports like these. http://web.mit.edu/mitei/research/studies/naturalgas.html which is very enthusiastic about fracked gas.
We have created a problem by becoming dependent on carbon based energy. Solution: take millions of gallons of perfectly good water, poison it with the same chemicals which have created toxic superfund sites all over the country, pump it into the ground near life sustaining aquifers, to release carbon based gasses we can then burn for energy. Result? New source of carbon emissions added to the ones we have with vast new toxic waste sites and permanently poisoned aquifers.
Ten years ago the World Bank identified a looming shortage of drinking water as the greatest threat to global political stability, not dwindling oil reserves. What we are doing is genuinely insane.
You know something akin to witch burning? As my grandmother once said, "It takes a lot of ignorance to have a decent witch burning!"
I read the Duke University report. I agree with the conclusion, Testing before fracking to establish a base line, testing during fracking, testing after fracking has concluded.
Why?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/04/abandoned-oil-gas-wells-water_n_844662.html
Fracking is being plagued by past petroleum offenses in my opinion.
If I were Governor Cuomo I would have the new drillers fix an oil abandon well before being allowed to drill another well. Let them clean up past mistakes of the forefathers. They will pug those abandon wells better and with less expense than the state!
A win win.
This could play out very, very badly on a national stage. The "drill baby drill" argument is persuasive to the electorate as a whole. NY will vote for Obama re:less of what happens here. However, if the Democrat party becomes the "no frack" party, then Ohio will *not* vote for Obama, and likely Colorado won't either. That would pretty much destroy his electoral college, and hand the election to the Republicans.
The greenies are putting the Democratic leadership in a very, very tight spot. They are poised to swing the White House to the Republicans, just like they did in 2000. This is not something I want to see, but the greenies are the lunatic fringe of the left, so perhaps it's to be expected.
Movies and anecdotal examples.
They make Climate Change Deniers look smart!
I believe intellectually many anti fracking people understand this. Now that's got to be frustrating!
That being said, there's a great series of articles on how drilling has impacted many facets of life - not just ecological, but related to economics, health and safety, and social cohesion. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/us/DRILLING_DOWN_SERIES.html
We New Yorkers only need to look 1 state south to witness the negative effects that fracking has had on land owners, residents, tourism etc to clearly indicate that this technology is neither safe nor mature.
The Gas drilling companies are already claiming the the proposed NY regulations are too restictive for them to be able to maximize profits. Yet these regulations do not go far enough to make sure that these same gas companies are held liable for infrastructure damage and environmental damage that they will incur. Its time we put the energy companies profits on the back burner and rationally think about the future that we want our great state to have. A few thousand temporary jobs is not a reasonable tradeoff for the pristine mountains, valleys, and lakes in our great state.
This person needs a refresher course in what the Founding Fathers called tyranny of the majority.
The majority cannot vote to appropriate the mineral rights of the minority. The upstate landowners have the right to drill on their property. In order to remove that right, you have to prove that drilling is dangerous.
Good luck trying to vote away mineral rights. This country has a long tradition of allowing people to mine and drill on their property. Sooner or later, the landowners will sue the state, and fracking will happen in NY.
There's another right if you own property -- and that is the right to "quiet enjoyment." I may do anything on my property that I want (within zoning and other laws) as LONG as is does not interfere with my neighbor's quiet enjoyment of their property. This is why the gas companies have worked so hard to both black mail owners into signing leases -- and to get laws changed to force you to agree to signing if a percentage of your neighbors have already signed.
You want an obliteration of your property rights? Watch what happens when the gas companies come to town. Don't believe me? Okay, believe the people in Bradford County, PA: http://mediasite.cidde.pitt.edu/mediasite/SilverlightPlayer/Default.aspx?peid=689293c50f404f12b8c628b8f2285780
There are no "reports" to this effect. Their are anecdotal stories, similar to stories involving car accidents or drownings. Re:less, I drive my car and take my kids swimming.
There are many **scientific** surveys indicating that shale gas drilling is quite safe (if you define safe as in "accidents are rare"). The MIT Energy Initiative natural gas report, (linked to from here) http://web.mit.edu/mitei/research/studies/index.shtml , is probably the most important such study. The Penn State study is also very telling
http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2011/10/25/study-finds-little-evidence-of-water-contamination-from-fracking/
As is Barack Obama's panel.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904006104576500652618505700.html
None of these groups call for anything like a moraturium, but rather for regulation which is very close to Cuomo's proposal.
"There's another right if you own property -- and that is the right to "quiet enjoyment.Â""
Legally, there is no such concept. Certain cities have noise ordinacies, but that's pretty rare in the country.
I agree, that is the crux of the fractivist argument here. Not the fracking, but the noise and traffic that mining brings. However, good luck implementing a ban based around such complaints, as you are on shaky legal ground removing someone's mineral rights because the initial drilling and fracking is noisy.
The fractivists don't like these studies - they then attack the scientists involved
In NY state, the laws that have been set up to facilitate fracking run counter to the rights of many, many homeowners and landowners. We can be forced into drilling units via the Compulsory Integration Law, which would allow laterals to be run beneath the surface of our land so the shale belonging to us can be drilled and fracked for gas whether we like it or not. Zoning cannot be used to keep gas wells out of residential areas. There are no public hearings when a gas well is sited. There is no notification of adjacent landowners. The setback from homes is just 100 feet--dangerously close and also close enough to make obtaining a mortgage problematic even if someone is foolish enough to want to buy the home. NY state law would allow huge, multi-well gas well pads to be built in places where you couldn't build a bookshop without a variance. Many of us will lose control of our land, our property, and our lives if fracking is allowed in NY.
You can't do whatever you want with your land, but, with very few exceptions, you can't be denied the mineral rights to your land.
Banning fracking = the removal of mineral rights. Pure and simple.
Perhaps the set backs ought to be farther, and perhaps Compulsory IntegratioÂn is too generous to the drillers.
But that is not what the anti-frackers are saying. The anti-frackers are saying "no fracking", which is the same as "no mineral rights".
The US has the ***strongest history of supporting mineral rights*** in the history of the world. "Ban fracking" is fighting against a literal mountain of legal and historical precedent. The idea that drilling for gas is illegal, but pumping something into the well to promote flow is illegal will simply not stand in this country.
This has been shown in Penn, OK, TX and N.Dakota. It will be shown in OH within the next 24 months. And it will be shown in NY state within the next 5 years.
Neither the science nor the law is on your side here. Your neighbor is going to be fracking within your lifetime. If you don't like it, you should sell now.