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| Welcome | |
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| Act Now | |
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=========================================== ACTION ALERT =========================================== Greetings to all citizens who care about the quality of life in New York: We have made great progress in halting the expansion of Fracking into New York State, but there is still a long way to go. There is currently a discussion among decision makers in Albany about allowing the Southern Tier of New York to be a "Demonstration Project" for fracking - i.e. an experiment to see how it goes. I don't know about you, but I don't want our beautiful home to be a science experiment for the gas companies to make a few billion dollars while the rest of the state watches. We need to tell Governor Cuomo that the Southern Tier of New York DOES NOT WANT fracking - and that we do NOT want to be a "Demonstration Project." We urge you to immediately sign the coalition letter described below and to encourage family and friends to do the same. Even if you have already signed previous letters, we need your signature on this one TODAY - it only takes a minute and could be the difference between fracking and no-fracking in New York. Please contact us with any questions about this - we need to generate as many signatures as possible right away because the decisions are being made NOW in Albany. Thank you for your support, =========================================== You can help: 1) block a possible Southern Tier Horizontal Hydraulic Fracturing "Demonstration Project" and 2) require Governor Cuomo to fulfill the truly onerous requirements of Executive Order No. 41. PLEASE SIGN THIS NEW COALITION LETTER: http://toxicstargeting.com/MarcellusShale/cuomo/coalition_letter/2012/demo-order-41 =========================================== Excerpt from a letter from Walter Hang, www.toxicstargeting.com:Bad Compromise Deals Alert I recently reported that Governor Cuomo has been unable to render a "final decision" to permit horizontal hydraulic fracturing despite his February 8th promise to do that "in a couple of months." It is also now apparent that no "statewide ban," "moratorium," "home-rule" or any other anti-fracking bills are likely to be enacted this legislative session. Some environmental groups are reportedly discussing potentially allowing limited shale gas fracking in Broome, Tioga and Chemung counties. Those are the main areas where shale gas extraction has been proposed in New York. See one national environmental group's "demonstration project" comments to DEC: http://toxicstargeting.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/ene_12011201a-p8-9.pdf Sign This NEW Coalition letter Please join me in signing a Coalition Letter to Governor Cuomo which requests that he withhold permitting for any horizontal hydraulic fracturing "demonstration project" in the Southern Tier or anywhere else in New York. The coalition letter also requests that Governor Cuomo fulfill the mandates of Executive Order No. 41 without further delay. I urge you to read those mandates. They are extraordinarily powerful. SIGN THE NEW COALITION LETTER TODAY!!!. GET MORE SIGNATORIES: http://toxicstargeting.com/MarcellusShale/cuomo/coalition_letter/2012/demo-order-41 ========================================= PUT UP A SIGN!
We have both of these yard signs available NOW. Call (607) 798-0787 or write to info@nyrad.org to get one for YOUR yard. Let your neighbors know that YOU care. Tell us where you are located - signs are too large to be mailed. $5 donation per sign requested so that we can buy more. Your help is much appreciated. ========================================= CRITICAL ACTION ALERT It was early February when Gov. Cuomo said that a decision about whether to frack for shale gas in NY would be made in "a couple months." TIME IS GROWING VERY SHORT. It is critical to contact the governor NOW and tell him your concerns about shale gas extraction. If you are convinced there should be a BAN on fracking for shale gas, please tell Gov. Cuomo. If you think we need a MORATORIUM while more study takes place, tell him that. If you think we need a HEALTH STUDY before any decision is made, tell him that. If you think we need a study of the CUMULATIVE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS of drilling tens of thousands of shale gas wells in NY, tell him that. If you are worried about ADVERSE ECONOMIC IMPACTS--like devaluation of residential property, damage to farming, damage to tourism, etc., tell him that. Please urge everyone you know to contact the governor EVERY DAY. Every phone call makes a difference. The more calls and emails he gets, the better. ========================================== The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo ========================================== |
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| News | |
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http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/03/us/20110303-natural-gas-timeline.html DID YOU KNOW? Lax Rules for the Natural Gas Industry The natural gas industry has exemptions or exclusions from key parts of at least 7 of the 15 major federal environmental laws designed to protect air and water from radioactive and hazardous chemicals. Below are the seven laws listed in the order they were passed. National Environmental Policy Act 1969 Requires that government agencies evaluate environmental impacts of major federal actions like authorizing oil and gas drilling on public land. 2005 Congress exempts drillers from having to produce certain types of rigorous reports on the potential environmental impact of some types of oil and gas activities. 2006-7 The Bureau of Land Management grants the exemption to a quarter of all wells approved on public land in the West. Clean Air Act 1970 Limits emissions of toxic air pollutants. 1990 Congress amends the act, strengthening limits on emissions of more than 180 hazardous air pollutants, but exempts all oil and gas wells from certain protections under this rule. Clean Water Act 1972 Limits discharges into rivers, lakes and streams. Establishes goals of water that is “fishable and swimmable” by 1983 and zero discharge of pollutants by 1985. 1987 Congress amends the act, requiring the E.P.A. to develop a permitting program for stormwater runoff, but these amendments largely exempt oil and gas exploration, production and processing. 2005 Congress expands the industry’s exemptions to the act. Safe Drinking Water Act 1974 Protects the quality of drinking water and regulates the injection of waste into underground areas. 1995 Carol Browner, head of the E.P.A., writes that hydraulic fracturing is not regulated by the part of the law that pertains to the “underground injection” of waste. 1997 A federal court rules that hydraulic fracturing constitutes “underground injection” and falls under the regulation. 2004 An E.P.A. study focused on coalbed methane concludes that the injection of hydraulic fracturing fluids into underground wells does not present a threat to drinking water. An E.P.A. whistleblower later charges that the study’s conclusions were unsupported and that some members of the study’s peer review panel had conflicts of interest. 2005 Congress exempts hydraulic fracturing from regulation under the act unless diesel is used. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act 1976 Sets standards for the handling of hazardous wastes. 1980 Lawmakers tell the E.P.A. to study oil and gas exemptions and report back to Congress. 1988 Over objections from agency officials, the E.P.A decides not to apply some hazardous waste rules to specific oil and gas wastes. Superfund Act 1980 Establishes a governmental response to releases of hazardous substances into the environment and holds polluting industries liable for cleanup costs. But natural gas and oil are not considered hazardous under this law, making it more difficult for the E.P.A. to hold some oil and gas operations liable. Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act 1986 Requires certain industries to report to the E.P.A. on the storage, release or transfer of significant levels of toxic substances. But much of the oil and gas industry has not been required by the E.P.A. to follow the law’s reporting requirements. |
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| Why We Care | |
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What we have to keep in mind is that the proposed shale gas extraction is an extremely radical idea. Pick any one of the major problems that accompany the drilling and ask yourself if it is in any way reasonable to ask anyone to live with such a problem. We are being asked to uncomplainingly live with ALL of these problems and more. Is that okay? Suppose we had been asked these questions before we had ever heard of the Marcellus Shale: what would we have said? |
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