NOTE FROM DCS:  We must still get comments in before the current deadline ends Friday, January 11, at 5 PM because it’s unlikely that the comment period will be extended, but we’re glad the Assembly is making this excellent effort.   This being New York, there is really no telling what will happen, so best to get those comments filed!

SUSPEND FRACKING COMMENT PERIOD UNTIL THERE IS
FULL DISCLOSURE OF EVALUATION STUDIES AND DATA

Statement by Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee chair Robert Sweeney, Health Committee chair Richard N. Gottfried, and Administrative Regulation Review Commission chair Charles Lavine

We call on the administration to suspend the public comment period for the proposed regulations on fracking until the state discloses all of its studies and analyses of fracking, as has been demanded under the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL), and the health impact review is completed and published.

In addition, the Environmental Conservation and Health Departments have been invited to appear at the Assembly hearing on January 10. We have requested that the departments bring all books, papers, and items including information provided to the consultants, which the agency has in its possession, custody or control concerning the potential health impacts of natural gas drilling, including high volume hydraulic fracturing.

Press reports have disclosed that the state administration produced an evaluation of fracking that claims it would cause no harm to human health. There is evidence that suggests the potential for real danger. The document released to the press does not review what might happen if something goes wrong – which we know has happened in other states.   We are concerned that this report reflects the thinking of people who are helping shape the administration’s decision on fracking and suggests that conclusions have been made before the research is conducted.

The administration is receiving public comments on its proposed regulations on fracking. The comment period ends on Friday, January 11, 2013. The Department of Health is still reviewing the health impacts of fracking, although the extent of that review is not clear, and the FOIL demands for disclosure of studies and data have not yet been fulfilled.

If the public is to provide meaningful comment on the proposed regulations, the public should be able to see the studies and analysis that were produced at public expense.

We have expressed this call in a letter to Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joseph Martens and Health Commissioner Nirav Shah. We will press these issues at the public hearing we are holding in Albany on Thursday, January 10.