BAN NATURAL GAS DRILLING IN NEW YORK STATE
- by: multiple groups: see below
- recipient: New York State Governor, DEC Commissioner, State Senate & State Assembly
Don't Frack New York!
Paper Version of the Petition
List of Organizations Supporting a NYS Ban
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INTRO:
Geological experts claim that shale beds in New York, particularly the Utica and Marcellus Shale, contain significant amounts of natural gas. Numerous energy and gas drilling companies are now vying with one another to tap these deposits using a method known as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking). The recent release of the fatally flawed draft supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement on horizontal drilling and hydrofracking by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is now bringing this issue to the forefront. Hydrofracking, a gas extraction process developed by Halliburton, pumps millions of gallons of water and 'fracking fluids' containing mixtures of up to 250 toxic chemicals under high pressure to break apart the rock, forcing the gas to the surface. With operations in 32 states, the gas industry has provided ample evidence that extracting gas from low permeable rock is environmentally unsafe.
It is unlikely that this method of drilling could ever be made completely safe, regardless of regulations, and natural gas drilling in New York State has the capacity to jeopardize the health, safety and welfare of millions of New York residents. As global corporations turn our state into a sacrifice zone, reap massive short-term profits, and significantly add to greenhouse gas emissions, the true costs of drilling in terms of environmental impacts, quality of life, and long-term cleanup costs will be passed on to state residents.
Due to the inherent danger of un-natural gas drilling and the potentially massive impact on our local rural communities, we are calling for a complete ban on drilling in low permeable stone deposits in New York State.
Join us by adding your signature to the petition!
We the undersigned ...
CALL FOR A BAN ON GAS DRILLING IN LOW-PERMEABLE STONE DEPOSITS IN NEW YORK STATE
Whereas,
1. With a failure rate of between 2 to 8 percent, horizontal drilling and hydrofracking pose an unacceptable risk to our drinking water and the quality of groundwater, aquifers, lakes and streams
2. Drilling will introduce over 250 chemicals into our air and water, placing local residents, wildlife, and critical agriculture and watershed areas at risk
3. Communities where hydrofracking has occurred have experienced explosions, fires, spills, stream contamination, and well pollution as well as degradation of aquifers and other water supplies
4. Local emergency services, including volunteer fire departments, EMS units, and healthcare providers, will be severely stressed and placed at considerable risk from accidents
5. Gas drilling in NYS will involve construction of a massive infrastructure of wellheads, pipelines, compressing stations, and processing centers spread across much of rural upstate NY
6. Infrastructure development will involve extensive clearcutting, 24 hour noise and light pollution, huge increases of truck traffic, and the permanent altering of existing landscapes
7. Industrialization is incompatible with agriculture, tourism, recreation; drilling and related development will significantly alter existing use patterns of rural areas
8. Compulsory integration of neighboring landowners to allow gas extraction against their wishes is an unlawful seizure of land and an unconstitutional abuse of power
9. Extensive drilling will undermine property values and increase tax burdens on local citizens, creating boom and bust economic cycles in local communities
10. New York City's Dept. of Environmental Protection has concluded that hydrofracking is too dangerous for the city's Catskill/Delaware watershed
11. NYS DEC's draft Environmental Impact Statement (dSGEIS) is fatally flawed in its open support of drilling, its minimization and dismissal of risks, and its failure to consider the total cost of drilling
12. NYS DEC is seriously understaffed and underfunded, and is in no position to regulate and effectively monitor drilling in NYS, and
13. Natural gas is not "clean energy" but rather just another polluting, non-renewable fossil fuel contributing to global warming
We call on you to put the people first and protect our health, environment, communities, and future by banning horizontal drilling and hydrofracking to release gas from low-permeable stone formations in New York State.
Sincerely,
The Petition Signers
and over 50 organizations from across the United States
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