Citizen Letters to Commissioner Grannis

Dear DEC Commissioner Grannis:

Thank you for your many years of environmental leadership and public service.

This letter is short as it seems so unnecessary to belabor a situation whose question's answer is so black and white:

Do we want a Chemical Chernobyl in New York?

I worked for over three decades as a theoretical physicist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico where I devoted most of my professional effort to enhancing the prospect of the alternative energy source magnetic fusion. The uniquely beautiful environment of western NY State attracted my wife and me back to our native state after my retirement five years ago.

One of the unquestionable tenets of physics is the law of increasing entropy. Entropy can be thought of as a measure of disorder. This law would appear to be especially relevant to hydrofracturing.

The natural gas located in New York State is not situated like an oil or natural gas reservoir in a localized well or mine, but is distributed throughout huge expanse of NY State. So unlike the case of "mining" localized sources of oil or gas, one has to hydrofracture New York State in order to get at and concentrate; i.e., order, the gas from its previous state of random distribution. But the law of increasing entropy implies that this comes at a price; i.e., increased disorder. This disorder will manifest its ugliness as environmental destruction: poison in the biosphere, pollution in the waters and air, including arsenic, other heavy metals, and radioactive nuclides, such as radium and the gas radon.

The possible immediate financial gain to the energy companies of the short-lived 10-year supply of natural gas will be far outweighed by the future loss to the public through health and environmental degradation whose financial effect will end up being borne by New York State. Future tourists, avoiding such devastation, will look back at beautiful photographic relics and ask why didn't our state officials "Just Say No!"

Therefore, Commissioner Grannis, please heed the requests of all those who have expressed grave reservations about the draft SGEIS's shortcomings. Adopting the draft SGEIS, even if it is revised, is totally unacceptable.

Sincerely,

Leaf T

Dear Commissioner Grannis,

I am deeply concerned about the draft Marcellus Shale draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact State, and I writing you to respectfully request that you withdraw the draft SGEIS due to its unacceptable flaws.

I am grateful for the work you and your colleagues have invested in the SGEIS but after closer examination I, along with many other concerned New York State citizens, have discovered that the document is inadequate in a multitude of ways. Primarily, it assumes that the current gas drilling regulations are adequate, but these regulations have been found to be woefully insufficient, as documented by the US EPA Region 2, by dozens of local government agencies and by hundreds of groups and thousands of individuals.

The draft SGEIS simply needs to be withdrawn entirely and started anew, this time with much tighter protections and a much wider and deeper scope. Myself along with thousands of my neighbors in Freeville, NY get our drinking water from wells - what are we to do if our wells become contaminated?! What happens to our health? What happens to our property value? We cannot afford to lose our clean water!

New York State and its citizens have a lot to lose here and we have only once chance to do this right. Please withdraw the draft SGEIS and start over.

Sincerely,
Genevieve D

I am writing to redouble my opposition to the draft SGEIS. This must be withdrawn out of concern for New York's water supply. Thanks in advance for your support as I am sure you have our interests at heart.

Additionally, I recently tried to contact Commissioner Grannis via telephone to state said concerns and was not allowed to speak to him. Further, it seems the DEC is shielding itself from the opinions of the people it serves as they were 'transferring all calls concerning the Marcellus Shale proposal to the Division of Mineral Resources.'

This is an outrage. As a taxpaying citizen, I should be able to contact the appropriate agency for my concerns (the Dept. of Environmental Conservation). Instead, I am openly misdirected and, in the process, denied my voice to the appropriate authority. I have sent an email to Commissioner Grannis, but it is lamentable that policies such as this are being allowed.

Best Regards,
Justin E

We have just heard the good news that the DEC has decided to safeguard the NYC and Syracuse water supply from horizontal hydrofracking of the Marcellus Shale. Good news, yes, but only an outright ban will ensure that gas companies do not exploit the watersheds in the future.

However, the bad news is that DEC has left the rest of NYS, including the Finger Lakes and the Susquehanna Watershed, vulnerable to the dangers of horizontal hydrofracking. This decision is unfair, inadequate, and unacceptable. We do understand that the water supplies for NYC and Syracuse are from unfiltered surface waters and require special protection, but it is also true that water supplies throughout the state are threatened by the hydrofracking process as has been illustrated by numerous incidents as close as Pennsylvania.

THEREFORE, WE URGE YOU TO WITHDRAW THE DRAFT SGEIS AND REVISE IT TO PROTECT ALL NEW YORKERS – immediately.

Sincerely,
Patricia & Peter L

I read with horror the press release on the subject of DEC Announces Separate Review for Communities with "Filtration Avoidance Determinations." We, in the Cooperstown area would like to get one of those FADs to protect the drinking water drawn from Otsego Lake. We also would like the rules to be stricter on all high-volume horizontal drilling in the Marcellus Shale formation. The SGEIS is a joke. As is your quotation on the safety protocols. I understand you have to put a good face on it but how about serving the people on New York State for whom you work.

Sincerely,

Martha M

I am utterly shocked to learn that DEC just proposed to exempt New
York City and Syracuse drinking water reservoirs from Marcellus Shale
horizontal hydrofracking while failing to provide equal protection for
other communities threatened by that practice.

DEC's proposal is a tacit admission that its draft Supplemental
Generic Environmental Impact Statement (draft SGEIS) cannot provide
adequate protection of public health.

If DEC's draft SGEIS cannot protect drinking water for New York City
and Syracuse, it is inadequate for all New Yorkers, many of whom get
their water from unfiltered well systems.

I DEMAND THAT DEC PROVIDE EQUAL PROTECTION FOR ALL NEW YORKERS.

I request the draft SGEIS be withdrawn and revised so that it can
safeguard the health of all New Yorkers in the Marcellus Shale region.

Yours very respectfully,

Adam C. E

I am writing to ask that you please protect the water supply for the
citizens of New York State by withdrawing the draft SGEIS. I am very
concerned about the damage that drilling has already done to the lives
of some homeowners. There are people with gas and sludge coming out
of their water faucets.

Please, please, take the necessary steps to prevent additional
households from facing this nightmare, and please help the people who
are already experiencing it by requiring the drilling companies to
clean up their pollution and make fair restitution.

Thank you very much for looking out for the well-being of the people
of New York.

Sincerely,
Kim V

I'm writing out of concern for the beautiful natural environment and pristine water reserves that have long been a feature of the Fingerlakes area where I reside. Our thriving wine industry, our diverse agricuture and our tourism business all depend on the preservation of these resources.

Any gas drilling allowed in our region will require the strictest oversight to avoid the destruction of this priceless natural wealth. Please withdraw the S-GEIS which has been judged gravely inadequate for monitoring the gas drilling industry by EPA's Administrator Judith Enck and by many others who have studied the document. Too much irreversible damage could be done in the absence of stricter controls, adequate DEC staffing and better planning to risk giving gas drilling companies the go-ahead at this stage.

Thanks for your consideration.

Respectfully,

Arthur M. G

I am dismayed to learn that the DEC just proposed to exempt New York City and Syracuse drinking water reservoirs from Marcellus Shale horizontal hydrofracking while failing to provide equal protection for other communities threatened by that practice.

Protecting these watershed areas is a vital first step in adequately regulating hydrofracturing in NY state - but it cannot be the last step, nor a panacea for the very real environmental and health risks that such drilling can and will pose.

Care and stringent regulatory precautions must be taken before drilling can be allowed anywhere in the state. It seems to me that the DEC's proposal is a tacit admission that its draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (draft SGEIS) cannot provide adequate protection of public health.

If DEC's draft SGEIS cannot protect drinking water for New York City and Syracuse, it is inadequate for all New Yorkers. The draft SGEIS must withdrawn and revised to meet higher standards. Moreover, this should not be done until after the EPA study has been completed. Finally, laws must be put in place to ensure that gas companies are held responsible for any and all damage done.

Please do not be rushed or bullied by the economic rhetoric of the gas companies. Clean water is one of NY state's must valuable assets, one that cannot be given away in a desperate gamble. Rash action now will cost the state in the long run - socially, environmentally and economically.

Yours very respectfully,

Anaar D

I am utterly shocked to learn that DEC just proposed to exempt New York City and Syracuse drinking water reservoirs from Marcellus Shale horizontal hydrofracking while failing to provide equal protection for other communities threatened by that practice.

DEC's proposal is a tacit admission that its draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (draft SGEIS) cannot provide adequate protection of public health.

If DEC's draft SGEIS cannot protect drinking water for New York City and Syracuse, it is inadequate for all New Yorkers.

I DEMAND THAT DEC PROVIDE EQUAL PROTECTION FOR ALL NEW YORKERS.

I request the draft SGEIS be withdrawn and revised so that it can safeguard the health of all New Yorkers in the Marcellus Shale region.

Yours very respectfully,

Connie L. T

With all due respect, it is the duty of the officials serving the people of New York to guarantee equal protections to all New Yorkers. I am truly horrified to learn that the DEC today proposed to exempt New York City and Syracuse drinking water reservoirs from Marcellus Shale horizontal hydrofracking. What does this mean for other communities threatened by that practice? What protections will be in place for other New Yorkers? Not only for our water, but also our air and soils (and therefore OUR HEALTH.)

It seems clear to me that this preferential treatment of two areas of our state is a an unspoken admission that the draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (draft SGEIS) CANNOT provide adequate protection of public health. I, and many others, have been making this claim for a long time, and have written to you before to ask that you withdraw this document and begin again.

If the DEC does not consider it's draft SGEIS sufficient to protect drinking water for New York City and Syracuse, than it is inadequate for ALL New Yorkers.

I stand in solidarity with my family, friends, and neighbors to DEMAND THAT DEC PROVIDE EQUAL PROTECTION FOR ALL NEW YORKERS.

I request the draft SGEIS be withdrawn and that the moratorium be continued until sufficient regulations and a much more precautionary permitting process based on thorough independent research is in place to safeguard the health of all New Yorkers in the Marcellus Shale region.

Sincerely,
Jessica E

I am utterly shocked to learn that DEC just proposed to exempt New York City and Syracuse drinking water reservoirs from Marcellus Shale horizontal hydrofracking while failing to provide equal protection for other communities threatened by that practice.

DEC's proposal is a tacit admission that its draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (draft SGEIS) cannot provide adequate protection of public health.

If DEC's draft SGEIS cannot protect drinking water for New York City and Syracuse, it is inadequate for all New Yorkers.

I DEMAND THAT DEC PROVIDE.

I request the draft SGEIS be withdrawn and revised so that it can safeguard the health of all New Yorkers in the Marcellus Shale region.

Yours very respectfully,

Franz S

I urge you to withdraw the draft supplemental generic environmental impact statement being proposed for horizontal hydrofracking in New York State. This practice holds far too many risks for too few benefits. The dangers and environmental harm are well documented (at the least, air and noise pollution and damage to roads and bridges; at the most, but not uncommon, water contamination, spills, and fires and other accidents both at well sites and in transport). On the "plus" side, there has been a lot of discussion of the economic benefits that can not be passed upon and how natural gas is cleaner than some of our other energy sources. While it does burn cleanly, the extraction is anything but environmentally benign and some studies are showing that the overall carbon emissions are comparable to coal (with methane being a much more effective greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide).

Further, a significant negative economic impact is already being felt. I have spoken to several area 1) architects who have clients who have cancelled plans to build new or add on to existing homes because of the uncertainty of whether they would like to stay in this area if natural gas drilling becomes commonplace; 2) homeowners who are having trouble selling their homes because adjacent lands are leased; and 3) homeowners who are unable to get any kind of bank mortgage to finance additions because they and/or their neighbors have signed leases. This hits the construction industry statewide hard at a time when other areas of the country have started to see a rebound in construction.

Today's move to exempt New York City and Syracuse drinking water reservoirs from Marcellus Shale horizontal hydrofracking is a step in the right direction -- sort of. This tacit admission that the draft SGEIS cannot provide adequate protection of public health should be a clear sign that the draft SGEIS is unacceptable. These are critical reservoirs, but the practice of extracting natural gas itself is so deeply flawed that it should not be allowed to proceed, period. The draft SGEIS does far too little to protect reservoirs or any of the individual landowners who are being daily harassed to sign leases all around the state.

Natural gas may (arguably) be better than some other types of fuel, but it is far worse than many people realize and far worse than several options we currently have. First, I applaud NYSERDA and others for promoting and putting funds behind energy efficiency work around the state. This should be the biggest priority. Second, we are giving far too little attention to on-site residential and small-scale solar, wind, and, perhaps most neglected, biomass. To be sure, there has been a huge increase in solar and wind production in the past decade, but our potential has barely been tapped. Municipalities should be encouraged and given the resources to push forward wind and solar -- and conservation -- projects on every municipal building, school, and in every neighborhood. And New York State has an abundance of poorly managed forests and fallow grasslands. These could be sustainably managed to deliver a significant portion of our heating and energy needs, with current clean-burning technologies (and resources should be invested in making them cleaner and more efficient).

Beyond these known technologies, New York State has the potential to be at the forefront of developing technologies, rather than depending on the current selection of poor energy choices. Instead of accepting something like natural gas, we should be pouring resources into finding better solutions: cleaner-burning combustion equipment for residential and commercial heating; large-scale municipal, clean-burning combined heat and power facilities fueled by garbage; digesters running on manure and other agricultural waste; improvements in public transportation; etc.

The pursuit of natural gas is already pitting neighbor against neighbor. This will only get worse if drilling is allowed to proceed with inadequate oversight and protections.

I request the draft SGEIS be withdrawn and, at the minimum, revised so that it can safeguard the health of all New Yorkers in the Marcellus Shale region.

Yours very respectfully,
Guillermo M

It is my understanding that you have proposed safeguards from the dangerous aspect of hydrofracking for the water supply of Syracuse and NYC but not for any other area in NY.

As a resident in Newfield, NY I have to tell you that I need as much protection as anyone in NYC or Syracuse. Your proposal is completely unacceptable. If the hydrofracking process is too dangerous for major cities, it is certainly too dangerous for the well at my home.

What are you thinking? Have you protected your water supply and plan to sacrifice mine?

Withdraw the SGEIS. it is madness.

Esther H

The statement in New York's DEC's Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement that the fracking fluid is "non-hazardous industrial waste" needs to be altered to read 'hazardous industrial waste'

That this is so is indicated by the DEC's recent statement that Syracuse's and New York City's reservoir watersheds be exempted from gas drilling.

If the fracking fluid is non-hazardous, why should these cities' watersheds be protected from it?

If it is hazardous -- as indicated by many reports -- then every citizen of New York State needs to be protected from the accidents that will inevitably occur during the gas industries' operations. As one gas industry person has said: "Accidents are part of the process."

Stanley N, S

As a citizen of New York State, I am writing to express my absolute opposition to adoption of the SGEIS. It is completely inadequate as a template for protection of our priceless freshwater resources, and it would be criminal to allow short-term gain by a few to outweigh long-term public and environmental health.

We are extraordinarily blessed with an abundance of fresh, clean water in this region of New York. Please heed the call to keep it that way.

SIncerely,

David B

Your follow thru in withdrawing the draft SGEIS is imperative and your help will be sincerely appreciated.

Ellen R

I commend you for years of environmental leadership and public service. And I urge you to heed the "grave reservations" thast have been raised about the draft SGEIS's shortcomings. Adopting the draft SGEIS, even if it is revised, is totally unacceptable.

I own property in Schoharie County, as beautiful a piece of America as there is. My property includes seven acres of woodland which I steward with the help of NYS Forestry Owners Association and Cornell Extension, as well as NYS Forestry Service. It is surrounded by dairy farms. I've read about the consequences of hydrofracking shale mining as its been experienced in Wyoming and Pennnsylvania, and according to those reports if that sort of mining started here in Schoharie Country, no one could farm or tend forestland for generations.

I urge you to oppose the mining in NYS (Marcellus shale) with the force of your office and your years of commitment to the environment.

Respectfully,
Richard L

I am writing in the hope that you will scrap the current SGEIS regarding hydrofracking. As a result of the budget crisis the number of inspectors needed to oversee this dangerous process is diminishing at the same time that much more stringent oversight is necessary. Numerous cases of aquifer contamination, well contamination and air pollution due to hydrforacking have been extensively documented, I would like to raise a real world scenario that is all too probable given New York's almost complete lack of water treatment facilities.

Trucks with millions of gallons of contaminated brine will soon by riding the back roads of upstate New York if the SGEIS is accepted. Given the difficulties of finding treatment plants, and the attendant expense, it is all too likely that sub-contractors, of the gas companies themselves, will begin to take shortcuts and dump contaminated water into our lakes, rivers and streams. As you know, upstate New York comprises a vast area which is virtually impossible to police to any great extent. I can think of dozens of spots right here in Delaware County---just outside the watershed---where unscrupulous operators could dump contaminated water without the slightest fear of being observed, particularly at night.

Until many treatment plants are up and running, and until the number of DEC inspectors is increased exponentially, there should be a moratorium on hydrofracking in New York State.

As a long time Democrat, and a media consultant to a recent state Senate campaign, I have decided that I will no longer support the Democratic party if the SGEIS goes into effect in its current form.

Thanks for your attention---Michael B

Do not allow our water supply to be destroyed. It will cost billions of future public dollars to only attempt to repair the destruction to our environment that will happen if the hydrofracking drilling is allowed.

Sincerely,

Erin E

Yesterday I gave my sister and her husband, who live in Detroit, a day-long tour of the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge. It is a place dear to my heart of which I am justifiably proud, and I was able to show them dozens of species of birds and other wildlife which they had never seen before. As a native of Ithaca, I have always been privileged to enjoy a wealth of natural beauty and an abundance of wildlife, and I fear I may have taken some of it for granted. Now as the risk of destruction of this way of life looms imminent, I realize that it is time for me to act and to call upon those charged with the protection of our glorious environment to stand up to the ill-founded commercial efforts that seek to topple the delicate balance of nature in New York State. As a citizen of this fine state, and a resident of Danby, NY, where we draw our water from a well, I write to respectfully request you to withdraw the Marcellus Shale draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement due to its unacceptable shortcomings.

While I appreciate all the hard work you and your colleagues have put into this effort, the draft SGEIS is fatally flawed and has been the subject of extreme criticism by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 2, New York City drinking water protection authorities, dozens of local government agencies, hundreds of local, state and national environmental groups and nearly 10,000 concerned citizens who signed a coalition letter spelling out its problems.

The draft SGEIS cannot simply be revised because the scope of the regulatory proceeding is insufficient. First, it assumed that existing gas drilling regulations are adequate. That has been extensively documented to be untrue. Second, only three main issues were addressed (effects of extended time at the drill pads; effects of increased water use; and protection of New York City's reservoir watershed). There is widespread consensus that DEC must "go back to the drawing board" and start over with a revised scope that addresses many critical issues that were excluded from the "Supplemental" GEIS proceeding.

For many decades you have been recognized as an environmental leader. Please heed the request for withdrawal submitted by so many elected officials, environmentalists and citizens who you have worked with for so many years. In particular, EPA's summary of the draft SGEIS's inadequacies could hardly be more blunt. See: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/3ppEPA-Dec09-Let....

Thank you for considering my request and for your public service. I look forward to your prompt response. I feel fairly confident you will do the right thing to protect the future of our safe-drinking-water supply and the consequential health of me and my children and grandchildren and their children to come as well as all the other fine folks who enjoy life in the Empire State.

Very truly yours,

Asher

Thank him you for your many years of environmental leadership and
public service in New York State.

I am a resident of Enfield, NY in Tompkins County. I own 20 acres of
land in a beautiful rural area with farming residential and commercial
use. I am concerned that High Volume Hydrofracking in the Marcellus
Shale will endanger our water supply, pollute our air and turn this
area into an industrial zone, not fit for the health of ourselves and
our children. Please protect our resources until a safe method can be
found to harvest this natural gas. Water is our most precious resource
and must be protected at all costs. The draft SGEIS, even if it is
revised, is totally unacceptable. Adopting it at this time would be
a grave error. 'We would not be able to protect the environment in New
York State. I respectfully ask you to please listen to the requests
of those of us in New York who are concerned about the future of our
state's resources, not short term possible economic gain.

Thank you for your time on this issue of grave importance to New York.

Sincerely,
Nancy S

My family is EXTREMELY disturbed by the very real prospect of contamination of New York City's drinking water as a result of hydraulic fracturing of the Marcellus Shale in western New York. I have read the EPA's assessment of the situation, which could hardly be more clear about its grave reservations regarding this undertaking, or more worrisome to me and mine.

We're talking about DRINKING WATER for millions and millions of people!!! The SGEIS, as written, is completely, utterly, unacceptable and must be rejected. I should not have to remind you that your job is to protect the public good, not bow to the likes of Halliburton and other energy companies -- companies that have shown little regard for the public good or purse in the past, even yesterday.

I have family in western New York as well as the Adirondack Mountains, and I well understand how much the money from fracking could mean to these long-depressed areas. But it must not come at the expense of safe, clean drinking water any more than a Wall St banker's personal profits should come from the life savings of the middle class.

Because fracking has the clear potential to destablize, even unsettle, one of the great cities of the world, I ask you to stand up for public safety and reject the SGEIS in toto and restart the regulatory process with the focus on water, as opposed to greenbacks and natural gas.

Sincerely,
Janine N

My name is Scott Rodlin, and I am a small business owner working and residing in Aurora, NY (Cayuga County).
I recently purchased an old farmstead here in Aurora and renovated it as a place to operate my horse business.
Both I and my horses drink from a well on this property, and I am gravely concerned with the risks to the water supply posed by proposed Hydrofracking operations for natural gas exploitation.
I'm sure you've heard plenty about this topic.

Hydrofracking is not safe for the local water supply, and the draft SGEIS as it stands is totally inadequate to protect the water in communities where it takes place. The gas companies are already trying to get our local cities (Ithaca, Cayuga Heights and Trumansburg in particular) to process wastewater from fracking operations into lake Cayuga. I moved here and based my business here assuming the environment would continue to be safe for me and my horses. There is plenty of evidence that Fracking is hazardous to water supplies. The recent decision regarding the New York City watershed supports this.

I implore you to please consider the health and safety of us, the residents of communities sitting above the Marcellus Shale. Please support withdrawal of the draft SGEIS. I realize this is a complicated topic, and you are likely being pressured from all directions on this matter. But the bottom line is that I need to live here, and I need safe water to drink. The oil and gas companies are not looking out for my interests, and the SGEIS is inadequate to protect my well should gas exploration be sanctioned here.

I appreciate your time and attention, and ask you to please consider the health and safety of those of us who need to live here.

Best Regards,
Scott R

Thank you for your environmenal leadership over many years. I appreciate your willingness to work through tough issues.

I am writing to request that you examine the huge shortcomings of the draft SGEIS. Adopting it at this time even if revised is totally unacceptable. Let us take the time to truly work through the issues and exercise environmental leadership not only for ourselves but for future generations.

We have more than a century of lessons learned to be applied to exploitation of NY States precious resources. We have the opportunity to model the way for managing NYs environment and illustrate through your organizational leadership creating intentionally NYs environmental future. Please heed the requests of the many individuals and organizations that have expressed grave reservations about the SGEIS.

Your actions will have huge impact and represent our generation's legacy to future New Yorkers; please act wisely.

Fred S

I am utterly shocked to learn that DEC just proposed to exempt New York City and Syracuse drinking water reservoirs from proposed Marcellus Shale horizontal hydrofracking regulations while failing to provide equal protection for other communities threatened by that practice. Surely you realize that there are New York State citizens across the state who drink unfiltered water. The DEC's latest proposal is a tacit admission that the pending SGEIS cannot provide adequate protection of public health.

If the DEC's draft SGEIS cannot protect drinking water for New York City and Syracuse, it is inadequate for all New Yorkers.

I DEMAND THAT THE DEC PROVIDE EQUAL PROTECTION FOR ALL NEW YORKERS.

I request the draft SGEIS be withdrawn and a new draft be created for public review that can safeguard the health of all New Yorkers in the Marcellus Shale region.

Yours very respectfully,
Anne J

Mary S

I am deeply disappointed in the partial solution you have offered to reduce the danger of hydro-fracking to New Yorkers. As the editor of Central New York Environment for many years, and a Biology major at the State University College at Oswego, I am familiar with the costs and benefits of this technology. The former, particularly the environmental costs, far outweigh the meager benefits. Even though the industry would bring some jobs to New York, the reality is that the loss of revenue for our tourism industry would far outweigh those benefits.

As the head of an environmental regulatory industry, you should be focused on protecting us from hazardous industries such as hydro-fracking, not subjecting us to further toxic dangers. In order to carry out your job duties which are paid for by taxpayers and small businesses such as mine, you should take a stronger position on this issue and withdraw the draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement released on 9/30/09 by your Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

Sincerely,

Bill M

Please add my voice to the thousands demanding that you withdraw this
draft SGEIS.

DEC's proposal is unfair, inadequate and unacceptable.

DEC's plan fails to address how gas drilling in our watersheds can be
done safely. If the proposed regs are insufficient for NY City and
Syracuse reservoirs, they are equally insufficient for all other New
Yorkers living in the Marcellus formation.

This draft SGEIS must be wihdrawn and revised to protect ALL New
Yorkers.

Kim H

Henry S.

I am writing to ask for the withdrawl of the draft SGEIS. It is fatally flawed and must be withdrawn. It cannot be revised because the scope of the regulatory proceeding is insufficient. First, it assumed that existing gas drilling regulations are adequate. That has been documented to be untrue. Second, only three main issues were addressed: effects of extended time at the drill pads; effects of increased water use; and protection of New York City's reservoir watershed. Many other concerns must be addressed. That is why it's necessary to go back to the "drawing board" and start over with a revised scope.

Thank you for your many years of environmental leadership and public service. Please heed the requests of all those who have expressed grave reservations about the draft SGEIS's shortcomings. Adopting the draft SGEIS, even if it is revised, is totally unacceptable.

Sincerely,
Carrie C

I thank you all for your efforts to safeguard New York's natural resources while also enabling economic development. I ask you to withdraw the draft SGEIS regulations for hydrofracking natural gas. I am not opposed to gas drilling in New York but I am very concerned about the current proposed regulations. I am not satisfied that the proposed regulations will adequately safeguard our water or hold gas companies responsible for cleaning up any potential accidents.

My view is that the gas under our feet is not going anywhere and we can afford to take our time to implement methods and accountability standards that will ensure the protection of our environment. Gas prices are very low right now, the market is at a bottom. Lets not rush into drilling with inadequate safeguards only to find we are receiving the lowest prices for our gas. Lets take our time to figure out how to ensure we are drilling in the right way and getting the best value. I understand the budget woes in NY right now and how attractive the gas leases are relative to our current financial situation, but we will regret making mistakes if we find that we have sacrificed crucial environmental quality in exchange for low prices for our gas.

I live in the Marcellus region and drink from beautiful spring water. I do not want to lose my quality of life from industrial contamination. I also want to see America end its addiction to foreign oil and I know that domestic gas is a big part of the solution, so I am in favor of drilling in the big picture. But I want to see NY take a slow and steady approach that takes environmental protection seriously while also making use of the resources beneath our feet.

The draft SGEIS is poorly written and does not provide the level of oversight we need to protect our land and water. Lets get better rules in place before we start drilling in earnest and in the mean time gas prices will go up and NY will get a better deal.

Slow the rush to drilling, withdraw the SGEIS!

Sincerely,

Ed D

Please count our family as among the many who are standing up and
requesting that the draft SGEIS be withdrawn. The dangers posed by
gas
drilling are not satisfactorily contained. Please listen to your
fellow
New Yorkers who join in these concerns. Please accept that there is
sufficient worry about permanent damage to our water supply, among other
concerns, that action to withdraw the draft SGEIS is appropriate at this
time.

Thank you for your consideration,

Respectfully,

The Dusenberry family

Thank you for your many years of environmental leadership and public
service.

As a concerned resident of Tioga County, who relies solely on well
water for drinking, I am asking you to please heed the requests of all
those who have expressed "grave reservations" about the draft SGEIS's
shortcomings. Adopting the draft SGEIS, even if it is revised, is
totally unacceptable.

The bottom line is that DEC's draft SGEIS is fatally flawed and must
be withdrawn. It cannot be revised because the scope of the
regulatory proceeding is insufficient. That is why the DEC has to go
back to the "drawing board" and start over with a revised scope.

There is so much at stake. Please help to protect our local natural
environment and the drinking water for so many residents!

Sincerely,

Patricia V

I am writing you to request that you please withdraw the draft SGEIS now. Your environmental and economic leadership in this area is critical to make sure that our families do not drink contaminated water and that we don't get stuck paying the bill for cleaning up the contamination from spills due to gas mining and transportation mistakes.

Thank you very much for your hard work over the years.

Sincerely,

Catherine H

First I would like to thank you for your many years of environmental leadership and public service.

I write this letter today as a very concerned citizen, whose precious water supply could be damaged if the draft SGEIS is accepted. I will not go through the litany of what others have already provided you about the damage hydrofracking has caused in other New York counties, but simply voice my concern and request.

I ask that you withdrawl the draft SGEIS or any revised version, as there are many who have expressed grave reservations about the draft SGEIS' shortcomings.

Sincerely,
Kimberly B

Especially in light of your years of public service and protection of the environment, it's absolutely essential--and urgent--that you publicly recognize that the present draft SGEIS statement is appallingly inadequate and that it must be abandoned. If it is approved, the evidence already brought to light clearly suggests that the resulting damage to the environment by hyrdofracking will be widespread and irreversible. The failure so far of the DEC to pay serious attention to those who have demonstrated the existence already of pollution and the crucial absence of the kinds of further testing and investigation without which no one in your position should approve the draft make it essential that no further drilling take place until a proper study, which cannot be done quickly, is completed.

Withdraw the Draft SGEIS now!

Sincerely yours,

Reeve P

I am writing to thank you for your many years of environmental leadership and public service.

I am also writing to respectfully ask you to heed my and others' requests expressed regarding our "grave reservations" about the draft SGEIS's shortcomings. Adopting the draft SGEIS, even if it is revised, is totally unacceptable. I understand that it cannot be revised because the scope of the regulatory proceeding is insufficient. First, it assumed that existing gas drilling regulations are adequate. That has been documented to be untrue. Second, only three main issues were addressed: effects of extended time at the drill pads; effects of increased water use; and protection of New York City's reservoir watershed. Many other concerns must be addressed. Because of these facts, it needs to start over with a revised scope.

Please continue to protect our environment for ourselves and our grandchildren's grandchildren.

Thank you.

Alice B

will not be able to support the regulatory posture in the draft SGEIS. The
language in the draft is weak with too many should's and not enough shall's
to the Natural gas industry. I don't have faith that the industry will have
my interest/concerns in mind when they look at ways to handle the
environment from drilling to disposal and clean-up. It is an austere time
in our economy and will be for some time. The economics and financial
obligations of the drilling industry will drive their decision making
process. I have been involved with the commercial sector too long not to
appreciate that process and the high demands of profit motive and budgetary
requirements. The first thing to attack is any regulatory/advisory guidance
that has unclear language.

I am asking you as the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental
Conservation (DEC) to not adopt the draft SGEIS on the Marcellus Shale

horizontal hydrofracking drilling process. I am asking that the
environmental process at assessing the viability of the natural gas
extraction from the Marcellus Shale be started anew with thoughtful
consideration and inputs from all of the citizens of New York. Thank you

for your consideration.

Karl K

I am writing to you to urge you to withdraw the draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement (dSGEIS) that will be the regulations governing the gas extraction process of high volume hydraulic fracturing in New York State.

I have been chairing a 60-member Task Force on Gas Drilling in my own community in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State . We have been studying the process of hydrofracturing, its environmental effects, its economic effects, etc. for more than a year, and we have come to the conclusion that this process could be enormously dangerous to the our region. Our Task Force reviewed the dSGEIS and found many things absent in it, especially regulations regarding wastewater, volume of water used, and cumulative effects of gas drilling. Since the industry has openly stated that it plans about 60,000 wells in N.Y.S., we obviously need to closely study these concerns before any permits are approved.

In the end, we have come to the conclusion that this gas extraction process is not safe, and involves huge risks to our water, air, infrastructure, and economy. It would be wise to withdraw the draft regulations, wait for more conclusive studies like the one the EPA is scoping right now, and then reconsider this in a year or more, when we know more.

To risk the water of the Finger Lakes Region, where the industries and businesses depend on clean water for their existence (tourish, wineries, etc.) is unthinkable.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Katherine H

Please heed the requests of all those who have expressed grave reservations about the draft SGEIS's shortcomings. Adopting the draft SGEIS, even if it is revised, is totally unacceptable.

Upstate NY is economically depressed, and about the only thing we have is clean water and clean air. With clean water and air, I know that if things get worse economically I can at least grow my own food. If we don't have clean water and clean air, where will we live? We don't have money to move somewhere else.

Please wait until the EPA does its research before allowing the gas companies to ruin our home.

Sincerely,
Sarah M

I am a resident of Ithaca NY and am requesting that the draft SGEIS regarding gas drilling/hydrofracking of the Marcellus Shale in NY be withdrawn.

The current SGEIS lacks the scope to deal with this issue in full and we are looking at environmental pollution and degradation should horizonal gas drilling of the Marcellus shale go forward. There is no question that the negative effects would cancel any supposed short term benefit.

Please take heed -- I thank you for your steadfast environmental work over the many years! Let's not see it all go to waste!

Sincerely,
Peter S

I own a 20 acre certified organic farm in Ithaca, NY which is part of The Full Plate Farm CSA (community supported agriculture). Our CSA has over 500 member families in the summer, and 220 families for our winter share membership. We have a website - google 'Full Plate Farm CSA'. We grow organic field crops: vegetables, herbs, berries and flowers. Summer shares are $450 per family, and winter shares are $275. We provide (long term, sustainable) employment for 8-25 people, depending on the time of year.

Each of the three farms in our CSA has the threat of abutting neighbors who have leased their mineral rights to the natural gas industry. Also, we are right on top of a large NG pipeline, constructed in 1996, making us even more likely to be impacted sooner. My neighbors say they never would have signed, had they known what they were getting into, both for themselves and for us. They were not told anything about high volume slickwater / chemical hydrofracking, and it's potential dangers.

Local farmers and grape growers are outraged that industry 'landmen' have duped landowners into signing leases. These farmers are quick to understand the very significant differences between conventional wells and the new ones. Farmers have long term commitments with their land, and the idea of being shoved aside by speculators is sickening. When you decide to start the type of farming we do, you know that it's going to be years before your operation is really solid, in terms of your soils, farm infrastructure and equipment, marketing your product, etc. The idea of moving is entirely different than for other families.

Farmers are accustomed to being at the mercy of larger forces which they cannot control. They do not wring their hands needlessly. In our area we have the Cornell University School of Agriculture and the Geneva experimental station, and growers work closely with extension services. Good science has provided guidance for us. Farmers are waiting for some good science here, before any permits are granted.

We want to thank you for your work to protect our investment in our land and our business. We ask that you withdraw the SGEIS, because it does not contain protections which would make any difference to us, if drilling proceeds, according to it's unenforceable "rules".

Please contact us if we can help in any way. We thank you for considering our perspective.

Sincerely,

Gay G

I am writing today to extend my deep appreciation for the many years of time and energy you have dedicated towards environmental protection and conservation and education.

Secondly, I am writing
not to "ask" you to Withdraw the draft SGEIS,
but rather
to beg you
and your colleagues
to withdraw and reconsider the existing SGEIS
which
assumes that
existing gas drilling regulations are adequate.
That has been documented to be untrue.

Only three main issues were addressed:

effects of extended time at the drill pads;
effects of increased water use;
and protection of New York City's reservoir watershed.
Many other concerns must be addressed.

We moved to upstate NY from rural NW New Hampshire in 2006 to raise our family; in the name of clean air, healthy water, community supported agriculture, orchards, vineyards, gorges/waterfalls and lakes galore.

We presently live on a 100 acre parcel which happens to be atop
the Marcellus Shale.
Althought we are surrounded by natural beauty and moved to the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York because of the thriving natural, agricultual and cultural communities that exist here.
We are also surrounded by a variety of farmers and landowners who were seduced by corporate $$$.
Many of our neighbors now regret their decision and I can say firsthand that the leasing agents
were not honest about the methods of extraction that would be taking place on our properties.

These out of state sales people working for out of state and even international companies, seem not to care very much for the existing beauty and wonders of this community.

The salesmen came to my door and tried to intimidate me
w baby in arms, claiming that they had the right to come onto our land and drill for natural gas! While their SUV engines were running in my driveway telling me that they WERE going to be coming onto our land!

These people do not seem to care about the destructive process or the end result of devastating an entire community, the bottom line , once again is
$$$$$.
WHEN? I ask, WHEN will we as a collective people, people of this
sacred and beautiful and wonderfull EARTH, WHEN will we be protected from this kind of invasive, contaminating, toxic sludge, frack water, noise pollution, air pollution, water pollution ,etc???

My main link and concern here is the disconnection from nature.
The absolute lack of care and respect for this earth and obsession and addiction to acquiring wealth $$$ is leading us into deeper and deeper trouble.

These wonderfull, powerfull out of state companies now plan to dig in and plunder in the name of "hydrofracking" and they are packaging it to convice poeple that it is a great thing! so we will be energy "independent" ??? for how long? a few years??? and in the meantime we are going to wreak havoc and plow through some of the finest existing, conscientious, caring, agricultural , model communities in the USA.

As I imagine you already know, hydrofracking has become the source of much wasted water and contaminated land and wells!
Please see Dimock, PA, and Dish, TX.
Please see the film SPLIT ESTATE if you have any doubts.

Hydrofracking is an invasive process that has clearly been proven by many scientists and experts in the field to do more damage than good, rendering small amounts of "natural gas" in return for large amounts of destruction.

And although we have not leased our land/mineral rights I am told that they will have "sideways rights" which means that they paid all of our surrounding neighbors various sums of $$$ and they will be allowed to drill underneath our orchards, vineyards, fields, barns and houses and schools; depositing all kinds of toxic chemicals that will remain and those that will be supposedly removed will then have to be transported around in trucks to a variety of other fortunate sites, further extending the damage and toxicity.

We talk about all of this at the supper table with our children.
Our son says, "let's talk about hydrofracking, the gas drillers"
Yesterday, w unseasonable temps of 80', my 4 year old son enjoyed an afternoon in the waters by Cayuga Lake. Today we had the blessing of visiting an Amish farm where the farmers share their work w horses to till their fields. It is truly something to witness the beauty and care in the way these people and many others in this region choose to live their lives. Tomorrow? What will be? For our children/ for you and me?
I pray for strength, wisdom and clarity...
I believe that we already know the truth here,
its just a matter of navigating, and rethinking things so that we can evolve away from destructiom, lies, unfairness
towards an outcome of awe and inspiration, wealth and health and balance!

Once again I thank you for your time and care
and I ask you and the powers that be to
please review and reconsider withdrawing the SGEIS.

Sincerely,
C. Harben

Please add my name to the growing list of New Yorkers who are vehemently opposed to any gas drilling in Central New York. To consider the impact of even one accident -- say, a 200,000 gallon chemical spill that ruptures an aquifer -- is to understand that this risk is unacceptable.

From the standpoints of ecology, tourism, agriculture, and the duty to safeguard the health of New York's citizenry, the draft SGEIS for Marcellus Shale drilling is insufficient at best, and dangerous at worst.

The DEC proposal acknowledges that safeguards are inadequate for the Syracuse & NYC watersheds, and therefore acknowledges that New York State in its entirety is threatened by gas drilling.

Withdraw the SGEIS. Ban hydrofracking in New York State. The risks are unacceptable, given what we know about gas drilling technology, and what we don't know about the toxins in hydrofracking fluid.

~Joel C

I am writing to implore you to withdraw the environmental impact statement regarding high volume slickwater hydrofracking in New York State.
The process is a hazard to the environment, as proven time and again by damage done in Texas, Pennsylvannia, Wyoming and Colorado. In New York State we have an abundance of clean water. If it is polluted, it cannot be undone.
Hydrofracking will economically benefit a very few. It will affect a very many, adversely, with millions of gallons of hazardous waste being produced in our backyards, stored and transported who-knows-where for treatment. It is unthinkable to me that anyone would even consider accepting the frack fluid for treatment or burial here in New York. Yet Watertown is accepting fluid from Quebec, and areas in the Finger Lakes are considering fluid from Pennsylvannia. Does no one ask the obvious question of why they don't want it? Because it is damaging ecosystems, it is toxic to the rivers, trees, aquifers. Why ever would we take it here, produce millions more gallons here? Entirely unacceptable, unthinkable, and unnecessary.
I believe there will be better answers to meet our energy demands - solutions that do not involve polluting the earth, air, water. And I believe there should be zero tolerance for the possibility of polluting our earth, air, water here in Central New York with the process of high-volume slick water hydrofracking. Until it is absolutely safe, until we have sensible regulations that cover the myriad of human effects of drilling, until we have the oversight and public involvement processes in place, until we have complete transparency and accountability from the oil industry, we have to insist on a ban on high-volume slickwater hydrofracking in New York State.

Sincerely,

Mary M

I am utterly shocked to learn that DEC just proposed to exempt New York City and Syracuse drinking water reservoirs from proposed Marcellus Shale horizontal hydrofracking regulations while failing to provide equal protection for other communities threatened by that practice. The drilling companies have alternate processes for drilling for natural gas in shale that are orders of magnitude safer than the hydrofracking process that you are about to expose us to. They won't employ them voluntarily simply because they cost more to apply than hydrofracking. You have the power and the duty to compel them to use the safer methods. If drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale region is as beneficial as the companies and politicians are broadcasting, the companies ought to be able to spend, and pass on to consumers, the extra cost of keeping us safe. For you to do anything short of that borders on criminal negligence.

If DEC's draft SGEIS cannot protect drinking water for New York City and Syracuse, it must be inadequate for all New Yorkers as you cannot reach a good faith conclusion that water filtration systems will filter dangerous chemicals, since you really don't even know what chemicals the industry is using!

DEC's proposal is a tacit admission that its draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (draft SGEIS) cannot provide adequate protection of public health.

I live in NYC and have a summer residence in the Catskills. Am I to be protected at my permanent home but poisoned at my summer home? NYC and Syracuse are being protected because drinking water for those areas is unfiltered. This suggests that the DEC believes that water filtration systems will adequately filter water polluted with the chemicals used in hydrofracking. They won't. Have you not read the studies of Dr. Theo Colborn? She has identified over 400 chemicals used in hydrofracking, some of which are undetectable in water and not capable of being filtered out. As the industry has never disclosed all the chemicals used in hydrofracking, it is not possible for the DEC to determine that existing water filtration systems will be adequate. It is extremely irresponsible of you to allow this process to occur in our State, exposing our citizens to unknown pollutants because you somehow reached a political conclusion for which you have no reliable basis to think is safe. At a minimum, you should be compelling the companies that want to do the drilling to disclose to you all the chemicals that they put in the hydrofracking solution so that you can make an informed decision about public safety. Until they make such disclosures, you should absolutely ban hydrofracking. You have been elected and appointed to you positions to protect our interests, our safety, our health and our quality of life, not the interests of the natural gas drilling industry.

I DEMAND THAT DEC PROVIDE EQUAL PROTECTION FOR ALL NEW YORKERS. I request the draft SGEIS be withdrawn and revised so that it can safeguard the health of all New Yorkers in the Marcellus Shale region.

Yours very respectfully,

Stephen G

I have been a resident of New York State my entire life. I was born in New York City, and have lived in Syracuse, Saratoga Springs, Rochester and, presently, in the beautiful Finger Lakes. I co-own and operate a thriving bed and breakfast on Seneca Lake.

I am also a member of the Seneca Lake Pure Waters Association – and serve on the Marcellus Shale Committee, under the leadership of Dr. Edwin Przybylowicz. Our committee has, over the past year and a half, done a great deal of research on the Marcellus Shale issue and has sent your department and others, a considerable amount of input on the issue. Our committee is also actively involved in providing input to the recently announced EPA study of hydraulic fracturing and its impact on drinking water supplies.

When we became aware of the potential of utilizing the natural gas deposits in the Marcelus Shale, I had some hope that our great state, with the assistance of the DEC, would ultimately act in the best interests of the people of New York and in the best interests of the environment, while developing this energy resource.

Since the DEC released the dSGEIS , the dire anecdotal information from neighboring states already involved in hydrofracking for natural gas in shale, and reports from a number of scientists have demonstrated that the hydrofracking process, as it is conducted today, is an extreme environmental hazard – for water, air, and people. Presently, as the DEC is reviewing over 13,000 comments to the dSGEIS, and the Federal EPA is beginning a study on the safety of the hydrofracking process, statements by you and other NYS officials are being made that drilling will commence in NY by the end of 2010, or shortly thereafter.

Friday, you released a statement that New York City and Skaneateles will be exempt from SGEIS because they have “unfiltered water systems” and presumably are a special case. What about the rest of the state? Are we dispensable? Is the DEC not aware that multitudes of people have private wells that do not have filtration systems - that thousands of people in upstate are supplied water from municipal systems taking water from Hemlock, Ontario, Seneca, Keuka, and other Finger Lakes that are part of the Great Lakes Basin – that thousands of home owners take their water directly from many of the lakes – and that even municipal filters do not filter out heavy metals, NORM (naturally occurring radioactive materials), and other substances likely to be present if water is contaminated from the fracking process?

The DEC Website reads: Mission: "To conserve, improve and protect New York's natural resources and environment and to prevent, abate and control water, land and air pollution, in order to enhance the health, safety and welfare of the people of the state and their overall economic and social well-being."

Do you not take your own mission statement seriously? The Finger Lakes area is a jewel in New York State. It is an economically vital area with its wineries, agriculture, and tourism, with all of these industries dependent on the abundance of fresh, pure water for which the area is known. I am sure you are aware that the Finger Lakes/Great Lakes Basin contains about a fifth of the world’s fresh water. Considering the scarcity of pure, fresh water worldwide, our water is New York State’s most precious resource!

All of New York State should be considered as one. If the dSGEIS is not adequate to protect the New York City, and Skaneateles watersheds, then it is not sufficient to protect the rest of the state and should be abandoned. Under your leadership, the DEC must impose a moratorium on hydrofracking all across New York State until the EPA completes its work, and the report is thoroughly studied. It would be foolhardy for New York State to move forward with hydrofracking for natural gas anywhere in the state, until it is proven that the hydrofracking process will not be a threat to our precious water supplies.
Sincerely,

Barbara S.

If hydrofracking is too dangerous to be carried on in the NYC
watershed, it must necessarily be too dangerous to be carried on
elsewhere. Is it all right to destroy the Finger Lakes watersheds and
environments (including farm land which are becoming increasingly
important) while protecting the Catskills? The logic is apparently:
well, they don't filter their water. Well, neither do a lot of the
rest of us. And I am afraid the logic is really: we are afraid of
Mayor Bloomberg and his personal fortune and the rest of you can go to
the devil. Do not say that there are ways of making it safe. Can you
make safe over a thousand 18 wheelers per day roaring down rural
roads? Can you preserve the environment (and essential water) by
spreading 4 acre pads all over the place? The list of questions goes
on and on. And there are no satisfactory answers. Let us just stop the
nonsense and admit that there is no safe way to hyrdofrack—and that is
the long and the short of it.

Sincerely yours,
Donald M

Thank you for your service throughout your distinguished career.

This email is to ask you to ban hydrofracking gas drilling thoughout New York State.

Your own union has said to throw out your first impact study. Why are you not ilstening to your own experts?

You say you are worried that lease holders will sue you if you ban this drilling that is poisoning water and land wherever it is used as a method of extraction. If you said that there is a ban because of the truth: that this driling will cause irreparable damage to water, land, people, animals, and plants, you would not be sued. If you spoke the truth, no one would have any reason to sue you or the state.

Let the lease holders keep their lease money. And protect them from their land being ruined.

The gas companies have lied to the lease holders. Maybe they are lying to you, too.

You would not be saying there needs to be special rules for drilling near New York City's and Syracuse's watersheds if you were certain that this technology was safe.

We all know that water moves. Drilling in upstate New York would cause the New York City water supply to be contaminated. New York State is one entity where water is concerned.

What would you say if someone said that terrorists were planning to poison the water supply of New York State?

In war, the first thing you do is get control of your enemy's water supply. Then you can control them.

Mayor Calvin Tillman has said that municipal wells are being poisoned in Texas.

You know what Dr. Theo Colborn has to say on the subject.

http://www.endocrinedisruption.com/chemicals.video.php

In her public talks Dr. Colborn has discussed the diseases that are caused by the chemicals in the fracking fluid. Neurological diseases are common to people exposed to the emmissions from the hydrofracking drilling process. My parents died of such diseases. It is a terrible way to die.

By the way, you live on the Upper East Side. Why didn't you attend the symposium at Cooper Union on gas drilling on the 15th of this month? There was a lot of information about how the poison water from the wells will migrate way beyond well sites over time.

Of course you have Jilda Rush's paper to you on the fact that the concrete used will not contain the poisons.

Josh Fox , the creator of Gasland, has said to the gas companies he will film any place where people are happy about the drilling. They have not come up with one place yet.

You are a lawyer. You know about externalities. We, the people, do not want to be the externalities and no one wants the land to be posioned so it will be useless to all who come after we are gone.

God Bless you, Commissioner Grannis. May you find it in your heart to speak the truth and ban the drilling.

Respectfully submitted,

Miriam B

The hydrofracking which the DEC has banned from both the NYC and Syracuse watersheds is tacit acknowledgement by the three of you that the DEC guidelines are inadequate and that hydrofracking can indeed be dangerous to one's health and the water from lakes, wells, and reservoirs. Please allow more sensible guidelines to be put in place for the rest of our vulnerable citizens. Thank you. Victor S

Thank you for your continued public service and lifelong commitment to protecting the environment of our beautiful state.

I am writing today to express my extreme concern about the potentially irreversible damage to our environment from hydraulic fracturing , especially in the Marcellus Shale .

I implore you to rethink the draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement released on 9/30/09 by your DEC and take into consideration the long term effects that gas drilling could have on our precious environment .

What is the rush ? Why can we not be absolutely sure that there are sufficient safeguards in place, up to date, that will ensure that the gas companies do no harm?
If there is one spill, one gas leak, one well destroyed , one case of methane migration, that is too many. Too many times we have allowed the environment to suffer for the sake of "progress" only to find that we have destroyed something that can never be replaced .

I know from friends and neighbors who gave permission to drill on their property in the past few years that many of them feel that they were hoodwinked and not given correct data. Many wish they could take back their permission now .

Please withdraw the draft SGEIS .

Sincerely,

Nancy U

As a long-time resident of the Fingerlakes region, I strongly urge you to respect the requests of the growing number of concerned citizens of this region who take issue with the numerous shortcomings of the draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement as it relates to proposed drilling in the Marcellus shale. Adopting the draft SGEIS, even if it is revised, is totally unacceptable as there is clear scientific evidence that it would very likely threaten the health and welfare of people living in the Fingerlakes area, to say nothing of what it would do to tourism in this idyllic part of the State.

It would be unconscionable to allow poorly regulated gas drilling to be thrust upon us.

Sincerely,

Kelly F

I am appreciative of your many years of public service and am writing to add my voice to the many others who have serious concerns about the limitations of the SGEIS, so many concerns that I don't believe that revisions could adequately address them. As a result of the limited scope and depth of the regulatory proceeding, it is necessary to withdraw it and start over. I trust you will continue your record of putting the public first in protecting our health, safety, and social and economic viability.

Here is my thinking on this issue:
The document assumes that existing gas drilling regulations are adequate, which has documentation to the contrary. In addition, effects of extended time at the drill pads, effects of increased water use, and protection of New York City's reservoir watershed were the only issues addressed. Among other major concerns that must be addressed are geological considerations for the region, disposal of waste water and its associated dangers, air pollution concerns from gas drilling operations as well as increased truck traffic volume, social/economic effects such as drops in property values in drilling areas that will polka dot the landscape, effect of drilling on tourism, a major industry, and whether there are actual long-term gains in employment.

It is my conclusion that the DEC must return to the draft stage to take in the breadth and depth of this major step that will affect the populace of the state.
I am apparently not the only person who has reached this conclusion:

EPA, New York City, hundreds of elected officials as well as local, state and national environmental groups have all determined that the DEC's draft SGEIS is inadequate.

Thank you for giving your full attention to this weighty matter.

Sincerely yours,
Ellen S

Your many years of public service are appreciated. I am writing to add my voice to the many others who have serious concerns about the limitations of the SGEIS, so many concerns that I don't believe that revisions could adequately address them. As a result of the limited scope and depth of the regulatory proceeding, it is necessary to withdraw it and start over. I trust you will continue your record of putting the public first in protecting our health, safety, and social and economic viability.

The document assumes that existing gas drilling regulations are adequate, which has documentation to the contrary. In addition, effects of extended time at the drill pads, effects of increased water use, and protection of New York City's reservoir watershed were the only issues addressed. Among other major concerns that must be addressed are geological considerations for the region, disposal of waste water and its associated dangers, air pollution concerns from gas drilling operations as well as increased truck traffic volume, social/economic effects such as drops in property values in drilling areas that will polka dot the landscape, effect of drilling on tourism, a major industry, and whether there are actual long-term gains in employment.

The DEC must return to the draft stage to take in the breadth and depth of this major step that will affect the populace of the state.
I am apparently not the only person who has reached this conclusion:

EPA, New York City, hundreds of elected officials as well as local, state and national environmental groups have all determined that the DEC's draft SGEIS is inadequate.

I appreciate your attention to this weighty matter.

Sincerely,
Oskar S

I am utterly shocked to learn that DEC just proposed to exempt New York City and Syracuse drinking water reservoirs from proposed Marcellus Shale horizontal hydrofracking regulations while failing to provide equal protection for other communities threatened by that practice.

DEC's proposal is a tacit admission that its draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (draft SGEIS) cannot provide adequate protection of public health.

If DEC's draft SGEIS cannot protect drinking water for New York City and Syracuse, it is inadequate for all New Yorkers.

I DEMAND THAT DEC PROVIDE EQUAL PROTECTION FOR ALL NEW YORKERS.

I request the draft SGEIS be withdrawn and revised so that it can safeguard the health of all New Yorkers in the Marcellus Shale region.

Yours very respectfully,

Juan A

Sustainable Otsego, a sustainability network in the Cooperstown NY area,
strongly supports the withdrawal of the DSGEIS regarding unconventional gas
drilling. We are supporters of the petition to that end sponsored by Toxics
Targeting of Ithaca.

You are well aware of the serious inadequacies of that document, and of the
unlikelihood that unconventional gas drilling in NYS can be done safely or
at a cost acceptable to local communities.

We also urge you to support a moratorium on unconventional gas drilling (the
subject of the DSGEIS) until such time, if ever, that it can be shown to be
safe and cost-effective.

Below is a press advisory for a press conference and lobby day calling for
such a moratorium in Albany on Monday, 24 May.

Adrian K

I have just been reviewing the EPA’s summary of its reaction to the dSGEIS.
My head is spinning, and I am afraid.

It does seem to me that, despite the commendable effort made by DEC in drafting this document, it should indeed be withdrawn asap. Please do withdraw it on my behalf, and on the behalf of all New Yorkers.

Although the process of actual scientific study of the health effects of, and relationship to water and air contamination of gas drilling is yet to be seen through, and even the new EPA study is woefully limited in scope, it is very clear to me that the pattern: good water supply plus gas drilling results in significant occurrences of contaminated water, is 100% confirmed in every location the drilling has been practiced. The fact that there are various means of contamination (vertical migration due to fracking; or a drilling “accident” or misprocedure is hardly a consolation to the people, estimated in various studies that you must be familiar with, at 1-8% of wells in the vicinity of this activity.

I am getting a quick and hard education, and you, as I gather, have been safeguarding our environment and our health already for many years, so I make my comments and ask my questions with all respect and gratitude for your service to New York.

But the EPA’s summary assessment of dSGEIS does seem very appropriate to what has been going on everywhere the drilling has been done. And the range of inadequacy indicated in that summary do, in my view, call for the withdrawal of this document.

I am simply a man who sees people flocking here from all corners of the country. Scientists, elected and appointed officials, victims. The range of appropos comments on the dSGEIS is dizzying. And I don’t want to see what I know I will see if the trajectory of this isn’t altered very dramatically soon. The exemptions gas industry has to basic federal law have opened the way for people to be harmed, and it will be no different here. Put aside the great inconveniences- you still have the VOC’s, Nox’s, and ozone.

And the chemicals Theo Colborn has been painstakingly researching and listing- no one tests for those in anyone’s water- either before or after- no one is even aware to any degree where those chemicals are going, and in what concentrations, and how much has been ingested by how many people. Even contaminated water here in New York remains, as far as I know, untested by any gas company or government agency for those toxins. And many of those toxins are on the superfund list- among the more dramatic ways of expressing their toxicity.

We simply have no way of maintaining federally mandated concentrations or less os any number of toxins in our air and in our water, and what some of these toxins do to health was made as clear as a bell by Theo Colborn.

This scratches the surface of my concerns, nothing more. I will leave it at that for now- and hope to get a response from you as soon as possible.

Many thanks,

Paul B

We know that you have served New York State for many years as a strong advocate for the environment. We have no doubt that you are considering thoughtfully the mountains of comments you have received detailing New Yorkers' concerns over hydrofracking in the Marcellus Shale and you are aware of the numerous environmental risks that accompany hydrofracking and deep drilling operations.

Please use your influence to withdraw the draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement for oil, gas and solution mining in New York State. From reports of drilling operations gone awry in both New York and Pennsylvania, we are convinced that current NY State regulations and the minimal additions of the draft SGEIS do not do enough to regulate conventional drilling or address our additional concerns about hydrofracking in the Marcellus Shale. Nothing short of a complete regulatory overhaul for drilling in New York State will be adequate to safeguard us from the potential harm of deep drilling and hydrofracking in our area.

The natural gas locked in the Marcellus Shale will still be there many years from now. It is worth the wait to make sure that the DEC is being true to its mission and has the resources available to protect New York State's environment and its citizens.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Very Truly Yours,

Jeb and Christina M

Meanwhile the NYS Attorney General has allowed thousands of people to be suckered into signing inadequately protective open-ended leases that allow the gas industry to apply any new technology they fancy to our land without regard for our health and safety. We no longer have control over the land we bought and paid for and still pay taxes on. Older leases should have been grandfathered out of the shale gas drilling procedures at the time of the passage of the 2008 law that allowed for an unspecified number of "infilling wells" to be established in 640 acre parcels and later with the dsgeis proposal to allow multiwell pads. Signers of earlier leases including me had no knowledge that the technology of shale gas drilling existed much less any idea of the vast extent of industrialization that the technology would create and so would never have signed leases if those possible changes had not been hidden from us.

For the DEC to withdraw Syracuse and New York City from consideration in preparing a new Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement is a denial of equal protection under the law for the rest of us who don't happen to live in those watersheds. We deserve protection at least equal to NYC and Syracuse from the highly dangerous and polluting shale gas drilling and fracturing which has caused water contamination and serious air pollution around the country.

The DEC's safety setback in the 1992 law is an abysmal 100 feet between gas well and an unfiltered water well. In the recent DSGEIS the proposed setback is a dismal 150 feet. These provide no protection at all. Even a required thousand foot setback has not been adequate for people in multiple locations in PA who have recently been subjected to severe water, air and noise pollution from shale gas drilling.

Another problem with the old GEIS and the new proposed one is that landowners and neighbors are not afforded any opportunity to review and object to a dangerous proposed siting of a gas well or even a multiple well pad and compressor stations because the supposed environmental reviews have been and will be conducted in secret in Albany. We are not allowed any benefit of access to a local public hearing. This and the concept of a generic environmental impact statement are perversions of the original concept of Environmental Impact Statements that were supposed to allow the public some oversight over specific locally proposed projects.

The DSGEIS and the 2008 Law that the DEC urged the Legislature to pass, claiming that it would have no environmental impacts, allows a company to establish a multiwell pad on large parcels of land such as mine, dig an open air 5 acre waste pit, install up to 4 miles of pipe to transport waste from multiple sites to the pit and carry on heavy shale gas industrial processes of drilling and fracking with 1,200 trucks hauling in water and hauling out wastes for each well for up to 3 years. And then the companies are allowed to install compressor stations with their around the clock noisy shutdowns and startups emitting toxic fumes and spilling and spraying all sorts of toxic compounds for years into the future. What kind of misery will that kind of outrageous development inflict on landowners such as me and my neighbors for the next 3 years and beyond?

In 2007 I asked Jack Dahl, now Director of Bureau of Oil and Gas Regulations for the DEC DMR if there had been any problems with or any damage to the environment or to human health from gas drilling. He said that no, there had not been any. In fact, he told me that leasing my land to drilling would be a good and pleasant way to make money. The industry hardly needs to spend millions on ad campaigns when they have the DEC Bureau Chief for Oil and Gas Regulation Jack Dahl promoting their environmentally damaging activities.

When I talked to him more recently and reminded him of what he told me 3 years ago he said that that was his opinion and if I had wanted more protections like wider setbacks I should have hired a lawyer. But Jack Dahl did not tell me to hire a gas lawyer or any lawyer for that matter at that time. In spite of Jack Dahl's bad advice, I did hire a lawyer, but since that lawyer was not a gas specialist, he was not familiar with the deceptive terminology of gas law and was not able to see the overly permissive nature of my lease.

David Eddy reported to Walter Hang in his video http://www.toxicstargeting.com/MarcellusShale/videos/andover_independenc...

that U.S. Energy contaminated their water well 4 times during drilling and fracturing and that the DEC has done nothing in response to his complaints. I asked Jack Dahl why the DEC has done nothing about the obvious evidence that U.S. Energy caused the contamination. Dahl said that the contamination was caused by an unplugged, abandoned well. Dahl seemed to think that that was an adequate defense for the DEC's inaction. If locating, mapping and plugging abandoned wells is not done or overseen by the DEC then who pray tell should do it? The DEC proves by its lackadaisical failure to prevent and clean up this and other contaminations that it is not carrying out its mandate to protect the public's health, safety and welfare. This kind of behavior from a public NYS agency charged with "environmental conservation" is inexcusable

Linda Collart, a Regional Manager of Mineral Resources for District 6-8 at the DEC challenged me last year to prove that drill cuttings were toxic and maintained that there was absolutely no harm in burying them on my land.

With the DEC Division of Mineral Resources giving out incorrect information that favors the industry why does the Governor and the Legislature place such faith and trust in them?

Please review the 2 videos of Stephanie Hallowich at the following site, http://pafaces.wordpress.com/2010/04/23/stephanie-hallowich-speaks-out/ They document the multiple assaults of water contamination, air pollution and around the clock truck traffic and compressor station noises on Stephanie and her neighbors living in what were only recently quiet, rural settings. To add insult to injury the royalties from the gas company are not even enough to cover Stephanie's extra costs of having to buy bottled water.

The DEC in its DSGEIS offered no cumulative effects analysis evidently in order to avoid having to give an accurate picture such as Stephanie's of the total transformation of rural areas into noisy, smelly and dangerously unhealthy industrial sites.

Professor Howarth of Cornell University has concluded in a recent paper that shale gas drilling will be a major contributor to global warming probably exceeding that of coal.

Will the NYS Legislature and Governor allow such assaults on us, your constituents, and taxpayers? We live here. We value our health and welfare.

Shale gas drilling and fracturing should not be allowed in New York State. At the very least it should be put on hold until the EPA releases in 2012 what we hope will be an accurate and environmentally friendly report on the devastating damage of shale gas drilling and hydrofracturing.

Peter H

I'd like to thank you for your hard work on the dSGEIS and for all you have done to protect the environment of NYS. I hope that your handling of the SGEIS will not tarnish a long and accomplished record.
It is my understanding that the dSGEIS is based upon the 1992 regulations (GEIS) and the claim that those regulations have adequately protected the environment and health of the citizens of the State. Recent investigations by Walter Hang, however, have revealed that there have been numerous unrecorded spills, accidents water contamination and the like, even with conventional drilling. Given that many of these events have not been rectified, it is very unlikely that these regulations can even begin to address the immensity of issues related to high volume slickwater hydrofracking. In other words, we the citizens of NYS will not be protected form the contamination that extends to the land, air and, of course, water, nor will such contamination be rectified (particularly at industry expense!).
I drink from a well and I am surrounded by leased land. There is no meaningful protection for me and my family in the SGEIS, based on the 1992 GEIS! The potential health debacle this form of drilling presents is even more disturbing given that the Texas health officials have now found known carcinogens from gas drilling and compressors in the the blood and urine of residents of DISH,TX. This is but the tip of the iceberg!

Please, genuinely protect the people and environment of NYS by withdrawing the dSGEIS and start the regulation process from scratch!

Sincerely,

Gretchen H

I am very concerned, disappointed and dismayed by the recent announcement by
the DEC to require a separate review for the NYC watershed, while
maintaining the SGEIS for the rest of NYS Marcellus.

The SGEIS does not adequately protect NYS or NYC from the harms and dangers
of Hydraulic Fracturing as has been made clear in the Hazen and Sawyer
report. It's been mentioned that the DEC does not have enough funds and or
staff to even spend the time carrying out the SGEIS well enough to protect
the watershed. I wonder how then will the DEC have enough funds and
manpower to inspect and watch over industry known for their accidents (in
PA, Louisiana, Texas) when the DEC is understaffed and underfunds.

Furthermore, regarding the NYC watershed, there are areas outside of the
watershed boundaries, such as Hancock NY that have pipelines running through
(cracked already from what's been reported). What happens when accidents
take place in Hancock, and that contamination goes straight to the NYC water
system?

PLEASE withdraw the SGEIS as it is inadequate to protect the public health
of all New Yorkers (up and downstate). The formations aren't going
anywhere, let's be an example of sanity to the rest of the country and keep
our citizens safe.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Marilyn G