Today is the deadline for the public to comment on the controversial New York State fracking issue. Councilmember Brad Lander explains:
If you’ve ever tried a bagel outside of New York, you know why ours are considered the best. Many people say the difference is the water. New York has the largest unfiltered water system in the country – but that massive source of clean water is now in danger.
Oil and gas giants are planning to start “fracking” (hydraulic fracturing) in New York – a process that involves injecting secret chemicals into the ground at high pressure to access the natural gas contained in underground rock formations. The United States Environmental Protection Agency says that fracking may be responsible for groundwater pollution in other states.
Will you join me in submitting a public comment today calling on the Cuomo Administration to protect our water?
Today, I am submitting my comments to the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation on their draft plans to open much of New York to fracking.
While the Cuomo Administration proposal does not technically allow for fracking within New York City’s upstate watershed, there are so many loopholes that the Marcellus shale could soon look swiss cheese – maybe tasty on a bagel, but too risky where our water is concerned. Drilling would be allowed with 1,000 feet of our water infrastructure, including the tunnels and aqueducts that bring it down to the city.
As the New York City Department of Environmental Protection has argued, natural gas well construction must be limited to no less than seven miles from NYCDEP’s underground infrastructure.
We must also hold gas and oil companies accountable for their pollution. Fracking produces large amounts of wastewater, polluted with toxins that our water treatment plants cannot process. The Cuomo Administration must ensure that our water treatment facilities do not take this toxic wastewater.
Please join me and submit your comment today.
Only we can protect New York’s water. Thanks to a giveaway to Big Oil back in the Bush Administration, the EPA is barred from taking action to protect our water from fracking. So it is up to us.
Take action to protect our water – and our bagels – before it’s too late.
The Department of Environmental Conservation told WNYC yesterday that the state has received nearly 21,000 comments already. The review that follows is expected to take several months.
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