Main Office: 119 Washington Ave, 3rd Floor, Albany, New York 12210
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Websites: www.cectoxic.org  www.ecothreatny.org  www.toxicfreefuture.org
June 14, 2012
Hand Delivered
Commissioner Joseph Martens
NYS DEC
625 Broadway
Albany, NY 12233-1011
Re: Governor's Announcement regarding approval of High Volume Hydraulic Fracturing for Selected
Areas of New York State
Dear Commissioner Martens,
Citizens' Environmental Coalition is totally uninformed about the evaluations that have been
undertaken by your Agency since final comments on the final environmental impact statement were
submitted by the thousands in January 2012. We have heard little about Agency progress since that
time. We believe it is essential to delineate the progress that has been made in addressing hundreds of
issues raised before announcements are made that hydrofracking will be moving forward in selected
areas of the state. The public has a right to know how your Agency plans to handle very serious
environmental concerns before hydrofracking permits are proposed for issuance anywhere in the state.
This letter raises several major issues of concern:
1. New information in a 1972 Federal government research study showed the unpredictability of
fracture location when using horizontal hydraulic fracturing
2. Has a Staffing Resources report been prepared that will ensure sufficient qualified personnel to
monitor and ensure compliance of this industry?
3. Information on state evaluations of necessary fees that will be paid by the industry to cover all
state and local government needs associated with this industry-- environmental, public health,
emergency services, etc.
4. Whether the staffing resources and the fees recommended above will address the neglected and
critically important State's Water Resources Management Strategy.
5. How the DEC addressed the significant comments of EPA and USGS.
1. Since we submitted comments we learned about a study done a long time ago that relates directly to
hydraulic fracturing. In 1972, the federal government was considering using hydraulic fracturing to
create fractures that it could use to inject radioactive waste deep underground. The Oak Ridge National
Laboratory conducted a research study to evaluate the viability of this proposal. The federal
government learned that it could not predict the direction of the fractures -- whether they would be
vertical or horizontal. Vertical fractures could obviously contaminate water supplies and they found
that one of the fractures was vertical. Given their findings they abandoned the idea of handling
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead
radioactive waste this way. The significant lesson for us is that, despite the fact that relatively low fluid
volumes and low pressures were used in this study, the results were unpredictable and disturbing. The
importance of this study is that it involved real work in the field, not modeling work, and that it was a
federal government study. This study also supported the findings of Tom Myers in the article,
"Potential Contaminant Pathways from Hydraulic Fractured Shale to Aquifers", Groundwater, 2012.
New York should use these findings in evaluating the advisability of moving forward.
2. Staffing levels at DEC are at historically low levels and many members of the public have asked for
a detailed evaluation of the Agency resource needs to ensure that permits will not be treated like
applications for library cards. The complexity of these hydraulic fracturing operations, the considerable
record of harm from other states including irreversible harm as well as the sophistication and political
power of the gas industry means that DEC needs to amass the technical and legal staff to protect the
state's resources and the public from harm. We are especially concerned because we note that a number
of the most knowledgeable senior DEC staff are not working on hydraulic fracturing. This must
change if you are expecting us to believe that there will be an adequate oversight program.
Since the evaluation of staffing needs was not provided in the last version of the GEIS, the public has
not had an opportunity to review and comment on its adequacy. If DEC has prepared such a report it
should be released so the public could review its adequacy.
3. Similarly not all economic issues were addressed in the last version of the GEIS, particularly the full
range of government services and their costs, associated with the gas industry's impacts. A
comprehensive analysis of this issue must be provided to ensure that the gas industry is assessed
appropriate fees.
4. Plans for hydraulic fracturing are directly connected to New York's Water Resources. Despite this
fact, DEC has allowed the State's Water Resources Management Strategy to languish on a shelf. This is
likely primarily due to more than a decade of cuts to the Agency as well as competing priorities.
However, the reality is that New York has a LAW, that requires updates to the New York Water
Resources Management Strategy every two years. Following the completion of the strategy in 1989,
there have been no updates. The Water Resources Management Strategy Act of 1984 (Article 15, Title
29, ECL) requires a Water Resources Planning Council, but we don't believe a Council currently
exists. The purpose of the law was to ensure the adequate management and improvement of the state's
water resources-- ground and surface waters, lakes, rivers, etc. Given data gaps and lack of information
at the time it was anticipated that additional studies would be needed. If ever there was a need for a
maximum effort in managing and assuring the quality of the State's Water Resources it is Now, given
the potential for significant degradation of these resources by the rush to drill. We believe sufficient
staff resources must include an adequately staffed division that revives the states moribund Water
Resources program and that fees for drilling cover this program's needs. It will not be adequate for this
strategy and program to be filed on a shelf.
5. A detailed report should be provided showing how the DEC has addressed the significant comments
of the EPA and USGS, which indicated major changes were needed in DEC's regulatory program.
We look forward to receiving the information described above as soon as possible, but definitely
before any action is taken to allow drilling operations to proceed. As you are aware, the Final EIS and
the regulatory conditions to protect the environment and public health must be completed before any
permits are proposed for issuance, in accordance with Executive Order 41. If all of this work is not yet
completed, you must inform the Governor that announcements are premature.
Thank you for your attention.
Sincerely,
Barbara J. Warren
Executive Director