77 Government Officials Sign Coalition Letter Requiring Public Participation for the DOH Review/Assessment/Secret Health Impact Document Leaked

Greetings,

I want to thank each of the 77 Mayors, Town Supervisors, City and Town Council Representatives and so many other government officials who signed the coalition letter requiring Public Notice, Public Comment and a Public Hearing for DOH's Review of New York's shale gas "health impact analysis. Your leadership is truly appreciated.

The list of signatories is impressive. You can review and sign the letter (government officials only) by clicking here: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/MarcellusShale/cuomo/gov-coalition-letter...

This coalition letter is more important than ever because it is now abundantly clear that the DOH Review is shockingly inadequate and must be started over.

Cuomo Administration Health Impact Assessment Document Leaked

A secret Cuomo Administration Health Impact Assessment document was leaked to the press and received extensive coverage today. See: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/news/2013-01-03/gas-drilling-called-safe-...

The bottom line is that the document asserts that it would be "difficult or impossible" to obtain "objective quantitative estimates of potential health impacts" for High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing (HVHF), but concludes "human chemical exposures during normal HVHF operations will be prevented or reduced below levels of significant health concern. Thus, significant adverse impacts on human health are not expected from routine HVHF operations."

The document adds: "When spills or accidents occur, the Department has identified numerous additional mitigation measures, including emergency-response planning, setbacks and buffers, so that significant exposures to people and resources on which they rely are unlikely (emphasis added).

See key excerpts below and the full document at: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/sites/default/files/118765930-Hydraulic-F...

Cuomo Administration Assertions Totally Contradicted by Extensive DEC and Local Health Department Data

The Cuomo Administration's purported "based on good science" SGEIS is obviously a pie-in-the-sky regulatory fantasy. It essentially concludes that the public will never be exposed to shale gas extraction pollutants. As a result, there can be no public health problems.

That wishful thinking is directly contradicted by hundreds of documented incidents involving New Yorkers exposed to high-level contamination associated with gas and oil extraction problems. Many of those hazards have yet to be cleaned up decades after occurring. DEC and DOH must not be allowed to ignore these findings. That would be intellectual dishonesty unprecedented in the annals of New York Government.

Conclusion

Our backs are against the wall. We have less than two months to make sure that the secret DOH Review is killed, no Final SGEIS is adopted and DEC's shale gas Revised Rulemaking proposal is not finalized. The Cuomo Administration's entire sham shale gas proceeding must be started over again. That will require super heavy lifting.

The essential first step is that we must require a) Immediate Public Notice of the intent and scope of the DOH Review, b) a 30 day minimum Public Comment Period and c) at least one Public Hearing so that the reviewers can hear testimony from interested parties.

It is entirely appropriate to request that Members of the DEC Hydraulic Fracturing Advisory Panel sign the government official coalition letter. Ask them very respectfully to do so. If you receive a favorable reply, please thank the Panel member profusely.

See Advisory Panel Members and Contact Info: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/MarcellusShale/dec-fracking-panel

We need 100 government official coalition letter signatories. Beat the bushes.

We got more press today: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/MarcellusShale/news/2013-01-03/panel-impo...

http://www.toxicstargeting.com/MarcellusShale/news/2013-01-03/video-expe...

See you at State of the State on 1/9/13 in Albany. That day will be hugely important.

Click here to get bus ride info: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/node/37555

Best,

Walter

Page four of the document states: "It is not necessary to quantitatively characterize the magnitude of a potential impact or the likelihood of its occurrence (i.e., the risk posed by the identified hazard) to require mitigation measures intended to prevent or manage the potential adverse impact. The NRC [National Research Council, not in the original] (2011) report on health impact assessment notes that while quantitative characterization of potential impacts can be valuable, information gaps will often make obtaining reliable, objective quantitative estimates of potential health impacts difficult or impossible (emphasis added).

"Public-health mitigation measures related to potential direct significant adverse impacts such as air or water contamination are intended to reduce or prevent human exposures to contaminants, thereby preventing potential adverse health outcomes, even in the absence of complete information about the types of potential health outcomes or their likelihood if human exposure were to occur (emphasis added). A mitigation strategy focused on reducing or preventing human exposures addresses a broader range of possible health impacts than attempting to identify specific mitigation measures for particular health outcomes like cancer or birth defects."

"By implementing the proposed mitigation measures identified and required in this Supplemental GEIS, the Department expects that human chemical exposures during normal HVHF [High-Volume, Hydraulic Fracturing, not in the original] operations will be prevented or reduced below levels of significant health concern. Thus, significant adverse impacts on human health are not expected from routine HVHF operations. When spills or accidents occur, the Department has identified numerous additional mitigation measures, including emergency-response planning, setbacks and buffers, so that significant exposures to people and resources on which they rely are unlikely (emphasis added).

See full document: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/sites/default/files/118765930-Hydraulic-F...