Campaign Launched to Require Formal Public Participation and Major Revisions for DOH Fracking Review

From Walter Hang:

Binghamton Mayor Matthew Ryan and representatives of a statewide coalition of environmental, civic and good-government groups as well as scientists, physicians, farmers, artists and local business owners will announce the launching of a campaign calling for formal public participation and major revisions to the New York State Department of Health's Review of the Public Health Impact of High Volume, Hydraulic Fracturing.

The DOH Review has received intense criticism because it has been conducted in secret without any a) public notice of its scope of work, b) public comment period or c) public hearing.

A new coalition letter requests that Governor Cuomo put the DOH Review on-hold pending fulfillment of formal public participation requirements and other major revisions. The letter gained more than 1,300 signatories in less than one day. See: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/MarcellusShale/letters/2013/02/24/public-...

Walter Hang, President of Toxics Targeting, Inc., will announce the release of a new interactive web map that illustrates the locations of more than 650,000 known and potential toxic sites, approximately 5,000 abandoned and unplugged gas/oil production wells, more than 12,000 active gas/oil production wells in addition to a wide range of "sensitive receptors" that could be irreparably harmed by shale gas extraction hazards.

The free web map allows concerned citizens and government officials to identify public health and environmental threats that could be exacerbated by proposed shale gas fracking activities.See: http://maps.toxicstargeting.com/