Tell Andrew Cuomo about your concern about unconventional shale gas extraction!

Help bring Attorney General Andrew Cuomo up to speed on fracking. Please customize the letter below and it will be faxed the the Attorney General's office.

Subject:

Your Letter:

Dear Mr. Cuomo,

I am writing you because of my concern that unconventional shale gas extraction utilizing high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF) may seriously impact public health, our natural resources, and important sectors of New York’s economy.
 
As you may know, hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” involves injecting huge quantities of toxic fluids into the ground to extract natural gas from shale formations. The process has been linked to numerous instances of water contamination and human health problems throughout the country.

Given this history of contamination and the absence of scientific data on the short and long-term effects of chemical injection on drinking water supplies, we think it is imperative that New York State proceed with caution as it decides how and when to develop its shale gas reserves. The EPA is presently conducting the first credible peer-reviewed scientific study of fracking and drinking water safety and New York should await the outcome of this study before allowing drilling to get underway.

The DEC has been charged with developing new ground rules for unconventional drilling, but it has been disheartening to find that its 809 page Draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement failed to propose a single new regulation to govern HVHF. The new permitting conditions proposed in the Draft can be easily changed with little public or legislative oversight. There are no substitutes for laws and regulations that can assure that public health is protected.

If the DEC has failed New Yorkers, our elected officials haven’t done much better.  You’ve said that Albany is broken and we’ve seen that as it pertains to gas drilling.  The legislature has failed to pass a single bill to protect the public from any of many hazards associated with this new industrial process. Important matters such as bonding, liability, water testing, and waste fluid disposal have been addressed by some very good bills, but not a single one of them has been brought to the floor for a vote.

Finally, much has been made of the supposed economic benefits that HVHF will bring to New York, but there’s good reason to suppose that these benefits may be illusory. In her 2010 study, “Unanswered Questions About the Economic Impact of Gas Drilling in the Marcellus Shale: Don’t Jump to Conclusions” [http://catskillcitizens.org/learnmore/bartheco.PDF], economist Jannette Barth, Ph.D., takes a hard look at the other gas-drilling regions and fails to find the evidence that they benefited from gas extraction. Moreoever some regions of New York that are targeted for shale gas extraction are heavily dependent on agriculture, tourism, and the second-home market; all of these important economic sectors stand to be severely hurt by the rapid, disruptive industrialization.
The next governor of New York is going to face immense challenges, not the least of which is a yawning budget deficit, but that is no reason to throw caution to the winds and open the floodgates to dangerous and poorly regulated hydraulic fracturing. High-volume hydraulic fracturing is not ready for prime time, and that means it’s not ready for New York State. We hope that as a leader of the Democratic Party in New York, and as candidate for governor, you will use your power and influence to support a cautious, science-based approach to HVHF. We ask you to speak out in favor of a moratorium on HVHF until the DEC, the legislature, and a new administration have had the opportunity to chart a course that will safeguard all New Yorkers.

Sincerely,

Andrew Cuomo

Attorney General NY

Fax:(646) 597-6195