Government Officials Request that Governor Cuomo Require Public Participation for DOH Review/Assessment

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December 27, 2012

Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo
Governor of New York
The State Capitol
Albany, NY 12224

Dear Governor Cuomo:

We, the undersigned, are government officials concerned about protecting our jurisdictions from horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing that could be permitted by your administration in New York’s Marcellus Shale formation.

It is our understanding that your State Department of Health (DOH) Commissioner, Dr. Nirav R. Shah, and three outside experts are conducting a Review/Assessment of the Marcellus Shale gas fracturing "health impact analysis" conducted by your Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

The DOH Review/Assessment is critically important because no final decision reportedly will be made about permitting shale gas fracturing in New York until it is completed. DEC has also stated that no Final Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS) will be adopted and no shale gas Revised Rulemaking proceeding will be finalized until the DOH Review/Assessment is done.

We believe it is imperative that DOH's Review/Assessment be comprehensive in scope and properly undertaken with full public participation. We write today because DOH’s Review/Assessment is being conducted in secrecy without any public participation whatsoever.

We very respectfully request that you immediately require:

a) public notice regarding the intent, proposed scope of work and investigatory protocol of DOH’s Review/Assessment;

b) public release of DEC’s reported shale gas fracturing “health impact analysis;”

c) a 30-day minimum public comment period of the proposed DOH Review/Assessment and DEC’s “health impact analysis;” and

d) at least one public hearing to require the DOH reviewers to hear testimony from interested parties about the DOH Review/Assessment and the “health impact analysis.”

Conclusion

In conclusion, you have repeatedly pledged that any decision to permit Marcellus Shale horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing in New York would be based on sound scientific analysis. We believe achieving that goal through an open, transparent decision-making process is equally important.

We represent communities where proposed shale gas fracturing activities could potentially cause irreparable public health and environmental harm. We believe that any final government decision to permit Marcellus Shale gas extraction must not be made in secret and without full public participation.

Until you have fulfilled our public participation requests, we ask that you:

a) Put on hold DOH’s “health impact analysis” Review/Assessment and

b) Make sure that DEC adopts neither a Final SGEIS nor a shale gas Revised Rulemaking proposal.

We trust that you will find our respectful request self-explanatory, but please do not hesitate to contact us if you have questions about it. We look forward to receiving your response. Thank you for your consideration.

Very truly yours,