“Everyone is thinking this is money, money, money, but the problem is that 100,000 pound trucks [bringing water to the drilling site and taking waste water away] are going to destroy hundreds of structurally deficient bridges. And who’s going to deal with the waste water? Who’s going to deal with all the infrastructure problems? Suddenly it’s not looking like the goose that laid the golden egg anymore.” – Walter Hang
Dear neighbors,
Please read the following letter. It takes so much less effort to make three phone calls than to later wish we had and to have to find ways to get clean, safe drinking water. Our City of Syracuse water supply is not safe, it’s just temporarily on hold.
If you don’t call, your children and grandchildren will be asking, “Why didn’t you stop them?”
Lonnie
From: Walter Hang <walter@toxicstargeting.com>
Date: Thu, Apr 8, 2010 at 7:57 PM
Subject: Your help urgently needed
I trust you have been well since I last communicated with you. As you will see below, my colleagues and I have been busy. I write today because your help is needed more than ever to safeguard New York from natural gas drilling hazards.
New York’s Main Line of Defense Against Marcellus Shale Horizontal Hydrofracking Threats
I implore you to redouble your efforts to withdraw the Marcellus Shale draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS). We are very close to achieving that goal. One more big push might do it.
You are likely receiving innumerable well-meaning requests to sign petitions, lobby state and federal legislators, watch documentaries, attend talks, etc. All that pales in importance to withdrawing the draft SGEIS and starting that regulatory process over again. Killing the draft SGEIS is paramount. Nothing else really matters at this point.
So long as we prevent an SGEIS from being adopted, New York’s de facto moratorium on Marcellus Shale horizontal hydrofracking continues.
If the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) adopts its draft SGEIS, Marcellus Shale horizontal hydrofracking drilling permits will be issued. Given DEC’s severe regulatory inadequacies, irreparable pollution problems will likely result.
Nearly 10,000 concerned citizens, elected officials, businesses as well as local, state and national environmental groups have signed our coalition letter requesting withdrawal of the draft SGEIS. I believe that strategy offers the best defense against Marcellus Shale horizontal hydrofracking threats in New York.
Since November, our efforts have achieved historic results. Down the homestretch of the draft SGEIS comment period, Governor Paterson reportedly received hundreds of calls and emails each day requesting the draft SGEIS to be withdrawn. Judith Enck, Region 2 EPA Administrator, got so many calls urging a tougher stand on the draft SGEIS that EPA’s phone system crashed. An incredibly hard-hitting EPA letter resulted. Resolutions requesting withdrawal of the draft SGEIS also were passed across New York.
We now need to focus on DEC Commissioner Grannis. He is the key decision-maker we must persuade.
Additional Natural Gas Hazards Documented
I just released extensive county health department data documenting water wells contaminated with brine, homes evacuated due to methane intrusion and ignitable water. That information received widespread newspaper, TV and radio coverage as well as critical editorial support. See my letter to DEC Commissioner Grannis and the data at: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/MarcellusShale/dec_letter
These findings strengthen our argument that the draft SGEIS must be withdrawn. We must drive that point home full-force.
Take Immediate Action Today
First, we need more signatories to the coalition letter. We are very close to reaching our goal of 10,000 signatories and exceed pro-drilling petition signatories by more than 2:1. Contact everyone you know who has not signed. Beat the bushes. Signatories can be added at: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/MarcellusShale/coalition_letter
Second, we need to contact three key officials who will decide the fate of the draft SGEIS: DEC Commissioner Grannis, EPA Region 2 Administrator Enck and Governor Paterson.
The bottom line is that DEC’s draft SGEIS is fatally flawed and must be withdrawn. It cannot be revised because the scope of the regulatory proceeding is insufficient. First, it assumed that existing gas drilling regulations are adequate. That has been documented to be untrue. Second, only three main issues were addressed: effects of extended time at the drill pads; effects of increased water use; and protection of New York City’s reservoir watershed. Many other concerns must be addressed. That is why DEC has to go back to the “drawing board” and start over with a revised scope.
EPA, New York City, hundreds of elected officials as well as local, state and national environmental groups have all determined that DEC’s draft SGEIS is inadequate. EPA’s letter could hardly be more blunt. See: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/3ppEPA-Dec09-Letter-HL2.pdf.
Call and Email DEC Commissioner Grannis to Withdraw the draft SGEIS.
Thank him for his many years of environmental leadership and public service. Respectfully ask him to heed the requests of all those who have expressed “grave reservations” about the draft SGEIS’s shortcomings. Tell him that adopting the draft SGEIS, even if it is revised, is totally unacceptable.
518-402-8545 (o)
Please bcc: info@toxicstargeting.com so we can maintain a record of all contacts.
Call and Email EPA Region 2 Administrator Enck.
Thank her for EPA’s incredibly strong stand regarding the shortcomings of the draft SGEIS and what needs to be done to adopt effective drilling regulations. Ask her to take further action to require the draft SGEIS to be withdrawn and to start the regulatory process over. Urge her to make sure EPA’s decision-making role is more than advisory.
212-637-5000 (o)
Please bcc: info@toxicstargeting.com so we can maintain a record of all contacts.
Call and Email Governor Paterson.
DEC’s draft SGEIS has been determined to be woefully inadequate by EPA, New York City Mayor Bloomberg, DEC’s own employees, hundreds of elected officials, local, state and national environmental groups, businesses, local health authorities and nearly 10,000 concerned citizens.
Ask the Governor to withdraw the draft SGEIS. Tell him he must prevent additional gas drilling hazards in New York State and clean up the pollution problems we already have.
518-474-8390 (o)
Please bcc: info@toxicstargeting.com so we can maintain a record of all contacts.
Conclusion
After you have mobilized all your friends, family members and colleagues to call, email and get more coalition letter signatories, you should consider trying to pass local resolutions requesting the draft SGEIS to be withdrawn. So far, resolutions have been passed in the Town of Ithaca, the Town of Enfield, the Village of Dryden and New York City Community Board One.
The Town of Ithaca resolution is very in-depth. The Community Board One resolution is the most recent and references the EPA letter. Take your pick. See: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/MarcellusShale/documents/resolutions.
Thank you Rich DePaolo, Judy Hyman, Randall Sterling and Catherine McVay Hughes for your hard work.
As you may have heard, a stupendous victory was recently won in Pulteney, NY, where more than 500 concerned citizens, local officials and business owners thwarted a proposed Chesapeake Energy natural gas wastewater deep well disposal facility within one mile of famed Keuka Lake. That was the second time Toxics Targeting helped prevent natural gas wastewater disposal in New York.
Thank you Jeff and Jodi Andrysick, the citizens of Pulteney, Eric Massa and his staff, Rachel Treichler, Arthur Hunt and Professor Richard Young for their legion efforts in the public interest.
See http://www.toxicstargeting.com/news/2010-02-08/hundreds-turn-out-oppose-wastewater-facility and http://www.toxicstargeting.com/news/2010-02-16/plan-send-fracking-wastewater-near-keuka-lake-abandoned
In conclusion, we have collectively generated enormous pressure for withdrawing the draft SGEIS and revising it on a comprehensive basis. Now we need to make that happen.
With all due respect, I urge you to stay focused on the immediate tasks I have outlined. Please note that there is very little likelihood that state or federal Marcellus Shale-related legislation will be enacted in the near future. A recently announced EPA hydrofracking study is unlikely to prevent Marcellus Shale drilling in New York. Requesting a second draft SGEIS to be issued would be a meaningless gesture.
Simply demand the draft SGEIS to be withdrawn. Keep making that request over and over until you hear otherwise from me. It is as simple as that.
Thank you so much for all your help. Onward and upward.
Best wishes,
Walter Hang
http://www.toxicstargeting.com//MarcellusShale/alerts/4-8-10
http://www.toxicstargeting.com/news/2010-04-06/activist-slams-dec-drilling
http://www.toxicstargeting.com/news/2010-04-05/hang-dec-gas-drilling-problems
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/tioga_county_man_blames_natura.html
http://www.toxicstargeting.com/ignitable-water-compilation
http://www.9wsyr.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoId=274479@wixt.dayport.com&navCatId=5
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/12/almost_10000_people_submit_com.html
Drilling Issue Started Quietly in Tompkins, Then Went Out Loud
http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009912280336
See http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/press_releases/09-15pr.shtml
See NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/24/science/earth/24drill.html?ref=nyregion
Politicians Choose Sides in Marcellus Shale Drilling Debate: http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/200912132145/NEWS01/912130366
Private Well in Geneva, NY reportedly impacted by natural gas fracking: http://www.cnycentral.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=388797
Damning New Evidence Raises Concerns About Threats to New York’s Water From Gas Drilling: New York may be the next state to become embroiled in a mess of litigation and public outcry over a controversial drilling technique: http://www.truthout.org/1213095
Coalition Letter sign-up: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/MarcellusShale/coalition_letter
Contact the Governor: http://toxicstargeting.com/MarcellusShale/contact_gov
The coalition letter’s signatories can be viewed at: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/MarcellusShale/coalition_letter
Marcellus Shale Section: http://toxicstargeting.com/MarcellusShale
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ithaca-NY/Toxics-Targeting/95035142437
Twitter: http://twitter.com/toxicstargeting
- 11/10/09 DEMOCRACY NOW!:
- * Watchdog: New York State Regulation of Natural Gas Wells Has Been “Woefully Insufficient for Decades.” *
- The New York-based Toxics Targeting went through the Department of Environmental Conservation’s own database of hazardous substances spills over the past thirty years. They found 270 cases documenting fires, explosions, wastewater spills, well contamination and ecological damage related to gas drilling. Many of the cases remain unresolved. The findings are contrary to repeated government assurances that existing natural gas well regulations are sufficient to safeguard the environment and public health. The state is considering allowing for gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale watershed, the source of drinking water for 15 million people, including nine million New Yorkers.
- http://www.democracynow.org/2009/11/10/watchdog_new_york_state_regulation_of
11/16/09 WHCU Interview With Walter Hang About Marcellus Gas Drillng
http://www.toxicstargeting.com/MarcellusShale/podcasts/whcu_gas_drilling_dec
- Natural gas quest: State files show 270 drilling accidents in past 30 years
- By Tom Wilber twilber@gannett.com . November 8, 2009, 7:15 pm
- http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20091108/NEWS01/911080372&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL
- The state’s depiction of a clean, tightly regulated natural gas industry just got a shot of muck in the eye.
- As the debate over the merits of Marcellus Shale development reaches a crescendo, an Ithaca researcher has culled a list of 270 files documenting wastewater spills, well contamination, explosions, methane migration and ecological damage related to gas production in the state since 1979.
- Walter Hang, president of Toxic Targeting, compiled the files using the Department of Environmental Conservation’s own hazard substances spills database.
Oil and gas drilling problems http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20091208/NEWS01/912080356/6-000-sign-petition-asking-DEC-to-strengthen-natural-gas-drilling-regulations
New York City’s prized tap water, which comes from upstate reservoirs, is under assault. Companies that drill for natural gas want to use a process called “hydrofracking” to access the natural gas in the vast Marcellus Shale, which runs from New York to Tennessee and west to Ohio. It is the biggest natural gas formation in the country and worth a trillion dollars, according to Walter Hang, principal of an environmental data collection company in Ithaca, N.Y. called Toxics Targeting.
If the oil and gas companies succeed in getting New York State regulatory approval to permit fractal drilling, they could pollute New York City’s water supply and create monumental problems upstate, where the toxic, radioactive waste water from the drilling would be disposed of.
The public comment period on fractal drilling ends Dec. 31, 2009. Subsequently, the comments will go to New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), which will process them. The possible outcome could include anything from adopting an environmental impact statement that would permit the drilling, to rejecting it, especially if the governor so orders. “It’s the governor’s call,” said Mr. Hang. “He runs the DEC. If he decides he doesn’t want his administration to do something, it will get yanked.”
Fractal drilling in single, vertical wells isn’t new in New York State, but the scope of what is now being proposed is new and untried here.
“New York has been mining gas since 1821,” Mr. Hang explained, “but they’d drill a well and hit a pocket of gas under pressure, and it would just come up. The Marcellus Shale is almost totally impermeable. If you drill into it, no gas comes out.”
To release the gas in the Marcellus Shale, the oil and gas companies would have to drill around one mile into the Earth and then drill horizontally, injecting millions of gallons of sand and water under tremendous pressure into the fissures to hold them open.
“You can’t drill a well within 300 feet of a city reservoir and the DEC said they had never had a problem,” said Mr. Hang. “But,” he continued, “I found a gas problem in Freedom, N.Y. where the gas came blasting out of a 2,000-foot-deep bore hole in a matter of minutes. It went 8,000 feet horizontally and actually impacted 12 homes, a pond, drainage ditches and permanently polluted private water supply wells. It happened in 1996 and the water is still polluted.”
The DEC says on its Marcellus Shale home page that other states may have had problems with natural gas drilling but New York State will not because of its superior regulatory system. Mr. Hang disagrees. “The existing regulations are completely inadequate for preventing and requiring the clean up of gas drilling and gas infrastructure problems,” he said. “I found 270 massive spills, many of which had never been cleaned up for up to 26 years. This whole effort should be sent back to the drawing board.”
In the New York State legislature, Senators Daniel Squadron and Thomas Duane and Assembly Member James Brennan have sponsored bills to protect the New York City watershed by prohibiting drilling for natural gas within five miles of the watershed boundaries and in the Delaware River watershed. Their bills would also increase regulation of hydraulic fracturing in areas where it is permitted. Community Board 1 supports these bills. In a resolution unanimously passed at the last full board meeting on Nov. 24, CB1 stated that it “is concerned that the State of New York, as a landowner, is seeking to close its budget gap in part by leasing mineral rights connected with its public lands at the same time that it is ostensibly protecting the environment for all New Yorkers.” The CB1 resolution requested that the law require natural gas drillers, gas aggregators and gas companies to be “responsible for any and all damages, including, but not limited to property and environmental damage which occurs in the process of drilling and transporting natural gas. DEC shall require financial security to ensure that landowners are protected from any contingent liability.”
Mr. Hang believes that the bills don’t go far enough. No one knows, he said, if a five-mile barrier would be sufficient to protect the water supply.
Steven Lawitts, the acting commissioner for New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), had this to say: “DEP is deeply concerned about the potential impacts that natural gas drilling poses to water quality, available water supply, and critical water supply infrastructure. DEP is conducting a comprehensive review of the draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement and will provide extensive comments. On Wednesday, DEP will brief the Water Board on the Final Impact Assessment Report, an in-depth scientific analysis on the impacts of natural gas drilling in the New York City watershed.”
If the gas drilling goes through and the New York City water supply becomes contaminated, it will cost billions of dollars to build a filtration plant to supply the city with water, “and it’s not necessarily going to render the water safe,” said Catherine McVay Hughes, vice chairperson of Community Board 1.
Mr. Hang said there could be other costs associated with the drilling. “Everyone is thinking this is money, money, money,” he said, “but the problem is that 100,000 pound trucks [bringing water to the drilling site and taking waste water away] are going to destroy hundreds of structurally deficient bridges. And who’s going to deal with the waste water? Who’s going to deal with all the infrastructure problems? Suddenly it’s not looking like the goose that laid the golden egg anymore.”
- Terese Loeb Kreuzer
Click here to comment on the proposed drilling via the office of Borough of Manhattan President Scott Stringer, who is opposed to the drilling. The Web site of Toxics Targeting ( www.toxicstargeting.com) also has a letter addressed to Gov. David Paterson. Click here for that letter.
We have updated all our papers – please give us a link http://www.otsego2000.org/
Thanks