Fouled Waters: Woodlands trying to solve its own problems – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
January 1, 2013
Fouled Waters: Woodlands trying to solve its own problems – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
HIA process and request for information
December 27, 2012
Cuomo Letter Requests DOH Review to require public participation and investigation of extensive information not included in the Revised Draft SGEIS
Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo
Governor of New York State
The Capitol
Albany, NY 12224
Greetings:
I understand that your Department of Health (DOH) Commissioner, Dr. Nirav R. Shah, and three outside experts are conducting a “Review” of the “health impact analysis” in your Department of Environmental Conservation’s Revised Draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS). I write today regarding that Review.
First, it is improper that the DOH Review is being undertaken in total secrecy without any public notice regarding the scope of the Review or any details about how it is being conducted. I request that this problem be immediately resolved by:
a) providing public notice about the intent and scope of the proposed DOH Review, how it is being conducted and other pertinent details about it;
b) requiring a 30-day minimum public comment period about the proposed DOH Review; and
c) holding at least one public hearing so that the DOH reviewers can hear testimony from interested parties.
Second, it is my understanding that the work of the three outside experts is contractually limited to a mere 25 hours. The Revised Draft SGEIS contains thousands of pages related to public health concerns. Hundreds of thousands of pages of written comments have been submitted about DEC’s failure to address public health concerns adequately. It is impossible for the reviewers to read or investigate all of this information in such a short period of time.
The DOH Review is critically important because neither a Final SGEIS nor any Revised Shale Gas Rulemaking reportedly will be adopted until it is completed. The DOH Review must be technically rigorous, comprehensive in scope as well as open and transparent. There must be no arbitrary time limit on the DOH Review, just as the SGEIS has no deadline for completion.
Given the obvious shortcomings of the current DOH Review, please re-open public comment on the Revised Draft SGEISto allow interested parties to provide input about how the DOH Review should be conducted. Such formal notification would help make sure that no Final SGEIS or Revised Shale Gas Rulemaking is adopted until after an adequate DOH Review is completed.
Until the shortcomings of the DOH Review have been fully resolved, DEC’s Shale Gas Revised Rulemaking Proceeding should be terminated. DEC’s rulemaking proposal should not have been revised before completion of the DOH Review and adoption of the Revised Draft SGEIS.
Third, the Revised Draft SGEIS received scathing criticism from hundreds of physicians, scientists, elected officials, the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency as well as more than 22,000 signatories to a coalition letter which requests that it be withdrawn and restarted to address 17 key concerns. See:http://www.toxicstargeting.com/MarcellusShale/cuomo/coalition_letter/2011
That is why limiting the DOH Review to the published Revised Draft SGEIS makes no sense. It is imperative that the reviewers also investigate all of the documented concerns. For that reason, I request that the reviewers be required to investigate all of the comments related to public health concerns in the Revised Draft SGEIS.
I specifically request that the reviewers investigate the detailed data compilation presented in Appendix A. It documents a wide spectrum of pollution incidents reported by DEC and local health authorities in Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and Allegany counties, including known drinking water contamination hazards, massive gas drilling wastewater discharges to the environment that were never remediated and still do not meet clean up standards as well as fires and explosions caused by gas and oil extraction activities across the areas of New York where those efforts have been prevalent.
Fourth, the foundation of DEC’s Revised Draft SGEIS and the Revised Shale Gas Rulemaking proceedings is that: “As a result of New York’s rigorous regulatory process, the types of problems reported to have occurred in states without such strong environmental laws and rigorous regulations haven’t happened here.”
That critical assertion is factually incorrect. In order to safeguard public health and the environment, DEC and DOH must address the thousands of gas and oil extraction hazards documented by the data I have requested the reviewers to investigate.
Fifth, in order to assess the adequacy of the DEC’s “health impact analysis,” Dr. Shah and the three outside experts must determine whether DEC has achieved these fundamental requirements:
1) identified the full spectrum of toxic air, land and water contaminants resulting from shale gas fracking as well as conventional natural gas extraction;
2) documented the environmental fate and transport mechanisms involving those pollutants;
3) documented the long-term cumulative health impacts resulting from trace-level exposures to natural gas extraction pollutants in air, surface and ground water, drinking water and soil, including health impacts involving long latency periods; and
d) safeguarded New Yorkers from shale gas extraction hazards in fulfillment of applicable law.
Conclusion
In conclusion it is imperative that New York’s existing moratorium on shale gas fracking remain in effect until all the documented public health and environmental concerns brought to DOH and DEC’s attention have been fully addressed by the SGEIS and Revised Shale Gas Rulemaking proceedings. The plan of action I am proposing can make sure that goal is achieved.
In closing, I respectfully note that a new poll by Siena College found that Upstate New Yorkers oppose DEC going forward with Marcellus Shale gas fracking by a margin of 45% to 39%. Your administration’s shale gas efforts have clearly failed to inspire public confidence.
This should come as no surprise given the immense confusion, secrecy and inadequacy of DOH and DEC’s efforts. The reported proposal to allow limited shale gas fracking in five counties of the Southern Tier would also be discriminatory.
You have sworn an oath to protect all New Yorkers from environmental hazards, not just some New Yorkers. I know you take that obligation completely seriously.
Thank you for your service. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like to meet to discuss these matters.
Very truly yours,
Walter L. T. Hang
Cc: Dr. Nirav R. Shah
Richard Jackson, MD, MPH
John Adgate, Ph.D., MSPH
Lynn Goldman, MD, MS, MPH
Honorable Barbara S. Lifton (125th AD)
Honorable Matthew T. Ryan (Mayor of Binghamton, NY)
Honorable Judith Enck (EPA Region 2 Administrator)
Signatories to the Withdraw the Revised Draft SGEIS coalition letter
Members of the Hydraulic Fracturing Advisory Panel
Appendix A: Toxics Targeting Compilation of Marcellus Shale Documents/Data
1) Coalition Letter To Governor Cuomo Requests Termination of DEC Shale Gas Rulemaking Proposal as well as a Restart of SGEIS Proceeding
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/34475
2) Withdraw Revised Draft SGEIS in Order to Eliminate Unplugged and Abandoned Gas and Oil Well Hazards
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/34424
3) Withdraw Revised Draft SGEIS in Order to Resolve Inadequate Public Health Assessment Concerns
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/34412
4) Unplugged Gas/Oil Well Concerns Documented by DEC Division of Mineral Resources and Other NYS Authorities
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/34420
5) DEC’s unplugged abandoned wells database & overview map
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/34415
6) 9-26-12 Division of Mineral Resources Documented Oil and Gas Problems
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/34369
7) 9/26/12 Letter to Governor Cuomo Documenting Decades of Division of Mineral Resources Enforcement Problems
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/34363
8) Seventy Six Legislators Send Bipartisan Letter to Governor Cuomo Requesting That Six Critical Concerns to Be Fully Resolved Before Shale Gas Fracking is Permitted
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/33707
9) New Coalition Letter to Governor Cuomo: Oppose a Possible Southern Tier Fracking Demonstration Project and Require Full Enforcement of Executive Order No. 41
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/30995
10) USDA CE Memo
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/30924
11) SEQR review requested for LPG shale gas hydraulic fracturing
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/30921
12) Cuomo Request to address mortgage lending and gas leasing concerns in DEC’s SEQRA review of Marcellus Shale horizontal hydrofracturing
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/30893
13) President Obama Letter regarding NEPA implications of horizontal hydrofracturing of shale to extract natural gas
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/30892
14) EPA RD SGEIS Comments Letter to Cuomo
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/30510
15) 1/11/12 EPA Comments on rdSGEIS
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/30502
16) 12-12-11 Senate Testimony
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/19300
17) Coalition Letter With More Than 10,400 Signatories Requesting Immediate Withdrawal of the RD SGEIS
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/18862
18) Walter Hang’s 11/17/11 Marcellus Shale Revised Draft SGEIS Testimony Binghamton, NY
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/12339
19) Letter to Governor Cuomo Regarding Ferrugia Family
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/29578
20) Ferrugia Contaminated Drinking Water Well, Jamestown, NY Video
Link: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/MarcellusShale/videos/2011/11/03/ferrugia
21) Map of Gas Production Wells Near 2641 Donelson Road, Jamestown, NY
Link: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/jamestown/2641-D…
22) 6/1/09 Letter from Chautauqua County Department of Health
Link: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/jamestown/090601…
23) 6/30/09 Letter from SUNY Fredonia
Link: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/jamestown/090630…
24) 7/6/09 Letter from NYSDEC
Link: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/jamestown/090706…
25) 11/19/09 Letter from Chautauqua County Department of Health
Link: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/jamestown/091119…
26) CCDOH Complaints Summary for FOIL Response
Link: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/jamestown/CCDOH-…
27) Harrison 1983
Link: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/jamestown/Harris…
28) USGS Response to DEC
Link: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/jamestown/dept-o…
29) Town of Poland DEC Letter
Link: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/jamestown/Town-o…
30) Natural Gas and Oil Spills Recently Reported to DEC
Link: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/jamestown/group1…
31) Letter From Veterinarian
Link: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/jamestown/ferrug…
32) Coalition Letter to Governor Cuomo to Withdraw RD SGEIS
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/8384
33) Cuomo Letter: Revised Draft SGEIS Gas Drilling and Wastewater Spreading
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/7088
34) Documents Regarding DEC-Approved Gas Drilling Wastewater Spreading for Dust Control, Winter De-icing and Roadbed Stabilization
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/6937
35) Stringent EPA Gas Drilling Wastewater Regulatory Requirements Not Being Enforced in NYS/Please Solve This Problem in the Revised draft SGEIS
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/6822
36) Letters to Commissioner Martens
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/6785
37) Letter to Commissioner Martens Requesting Revision of draft SGEIS to Address Additional Concerns
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/6730
38) EPA Detailed Comments on dSGEIS to DEC (Dec.2009)
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/6688
39) Accepting Written Public Input Without Further Delay Regarding Revising the draft SGEIS, 6/5/11
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/6687
40) BANKS, ETC, THAT WILL NOT FUND GAS-LEASED PROPERTIES
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/6511
41) Gas & Oil Leases Impact on Residential Lending and Tompkins Trust Powerpoint
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/6441
42) Letter to Governor Cuomo Regarding Natural Gas Leasing Impacts on Mortgage Lending
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/6442
43) 4/13/11 Letter to Governor Cuomo from New York State Legislators Re: Executive Order No. 41
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/6152
44) Natural Gas Drilling Wastewater Discharged to POTWs in New York’s Finger Lakes Region
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/5824
45) Letter to Commissioner Martens
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/5729
46) EPA, State, & Other Marcellus Shale Documents
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/4458
47) 3-3-11 Letter to Governor Cuomo
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/4459
48) Cuomo Executive Order: Continuation and Expiration of Prior Executive Orders
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/2510
49) Coalition Letter to Governor Cuomo Regarding Executive Order No. 41: Requiring Further Environmental Review of High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing Combined With Horizontal Drilling
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/736
50) Paterson Executive Order No. 41 Letter
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/732
51) Executive Order’s Erroneous Assertion Regarding Conventional Gas Well Fracking
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/730
52) EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 41: REQUIRING FURTHER ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/721
53) Coalition Cover Letter to Withdraw the draft SGEIS Before You Leave Office
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/719
54) Urgent Letter to Governor Paterson to Withdraw the draft SGEIS Before Leaving Office
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/716
55) Congressman Hinchey’s signature on the coalition letter for withdrawal of the Marcellus Shale draft SGEIS
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/684
56) DEC Memo Regarding Cuts
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/672
57) 9/23/10 Letter to Governor Paterson
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/635
58) 9/20/10 Letter to Andrew Cuomo
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/634
59) Map: Major Drinking Water Supply Watersheds and Aquifers
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/633
60) EPA hydrofracking study comments
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/623
61) New York Gubernatorial Candidate Andrew Cuomo: The Marcellus Shale could contribute to New York’s natural gas supply, but development needs to be highly sensitive to environmental concerns.
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/530
62) EPA’s 12/30/2009 letter regarding dSGEIS
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/496
63) 4/2/10 Chautauqua & Cattaraugus County Attachments
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/489
64) US Energy and Allegany County PDFs
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/473
65) Marcellus Shale News Article Compilation
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/465
66) 4/2/10 Letter to DEC Commissioner Grannis Regarding Additional Natural Gas Hazards
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/452
67) Freeville, NY 1/7/10: “WELL RIG ON FIRE WHEN HIT NATURAL GAS POCKET…
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/437
68) dSGEIS Comments
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/435
69) Documents Related to Private Water Well Reportedly Impacted by Fracking
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/412
70) Coalition Letter Requesting Governor Paterson to withdraw the Department of Environmental Conservation’s Draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (dSGEIS) for Oil and Gas Mining
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/390
71) Oil & Gas Spill Profiles
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/384
72) Bixby Hill Road Documents
Link: http://toxicstargeting.com/node/377
Physicians Scientists & Engineers for Healthy Energy
December 14, 2012
Physicians Scientists & Engineers for Healthy Energy.
MORE THAN 100 LEADING MEDICAL, SCIENTIFIC EXPERTS URGE WHITE HOUSE TO HALT RUSH TO EXPANDED SHALE GAS FRACKING FOR EXPORT PURPOSES
MORE THAN 100 LEADING MEDICAL, SCIENTIFIC EXPERTS URGE WHITE HOUSE TO HALT RUSH TO EXPANDED SHALE GAS FRACKING FOR EXPORT PURPOSES
First, Do No Harm: Get the Health Facts Now Is the Message From Petitioners to Obama
WASHINGTON, D.C.///December 13, 2012///Moving ahead rapidly with plans to approve several new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals would require “a rapid increase in fracking in the United States without credible science” and “could potentially cause undue harm to many Americans,” according to 107 experts who signed on to a petition sent today to the White House.
Facilitated by Physicians, Scientists, & Engineers for Healthy Energy (PSE), the petition is a response to the Obama Administration’s consideration of fast tracking of the permitting process for LNG export terminals that would trigger a substantial spike in the fracking of U.S. shale gas in order to meet foreign energy demands.
Signed by top U.S. medical professionals, researchers, and other scientists, the petition reads in part: “There is a growing body of evidence that unconventional natural gas extraction from shale (also known as ‘fracking’) may be associated with adverse health risks through exposure to polluted air, water, and soil. Public health researchers and medical professionals question the continuation of current levels of fracking without a full scientific understanding of the health implications. The opening of LNG export facilities would serve to accelerate fracking in the United States in absence of sound scientific assessment, placing policy before health.”
Seth B. Shonkoff, PhD, MPH, executive director, Physicians, Scientists, & Engineers for Healthy Energy (PSE), and environmental researcher, University of California, Berkeley, said: “The question here is very simple: Why would the United States dramatically increase the use of an energy extraction method without first ensuring that the trade-off is not the health of Americans in exchange for the energy demands of foreign nations? Health professionals are coming together today to urge the White House to make sure that we have the facts prior to making this decision. The only prudent thing to do here is to conduct the needed research first.”
Adam Law, MD, physician, Cayuga Medical Center, Ithaca, NY, and Physicians, Scientists, and Engineers for Healthy Energy, said: “Researchers are finding measurable levels of pollutants from this industry in air and water that are associated with the risk of illness. The first studies to describe this are entering the scientific literature and public health researchers are embarking on multiple approaches to study the associated adverse health effects.”
Madelon L. Finkel, PhD, professor of clinical public health, and director of the Office of Global Health Education, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York City, said: “Natural gas has been in these shale formations for millions of years; it isn’t going anywhere and will be around for future generations. Society especially owes it to those living in areas with both active and planned drilling to study the potential for harm (to the environment and to human and animal health) and to act to reduce those factors that are shown to increase the risk of disease and even death.”
Louis W. Allstadt, former executive vice president, Mobil Oil Corporation, Cooperstown, NY, said:“The current unconventional oil and gas drilling process using High Volume Horizontal Hydro-Fracturing is a much more intensive industrial activity than conventional drilling, which was the norm until about 10 years ago. It requires far greater volumes of water and chemicals, as well as disposal of much larger volumes of toxic flow-back fluids. We need to fully study and understand the health effects of the significantly greater volumes of toxic materials that must be handled and disposed of with this process.”
The full text of the PSE petition reads as follows:
“We the undersigned medical and scientific professionals urge the Obama Administration to put a hold on moving forward on the construction of new liquefied natural gas terminals for the large-scale exportation of shale gas to foreign nations. Our concern is that the Administration has not fully examined the potential for harm to health and the environment that could result.
There is a growing body of evidence that unconventional natural gas extraction from shale (also known as ‘fracking’) may be associated with adverse health risks through exposure to polluted air, water, and soil.
Public health researchers and medical professionals question the continuation of current levels of fracking without a full scientific understanding of the health implications. The opening of LNG export facilities would serve to accelerate fracking in the United States in absence of sound scientific assessment, placing policy before health.
As the White House and the Department of Energy contemplate exporting LNG to accommodate international demand for energy, the need for a deliberative process based on sound science is all the more important. We assert that a guiding ethical principle for public policy on fracking should parallel that used by physicians: ‘First, do not harm.’
There is a need for much more scientific and epidemiologic information about the potential for harm from fracking. To facilitate a rapid increase in fracking in the United States without credible science is irresponsible and could potentially cause undue harm to many Americans.
Without well-designed scientific studies, we will not know the extent of potential harm from fracking. We strongly urge the Administration to err on the side of caution as it contemplates national policy regarding the exportation of shale gas.
The health professionals below sign as individuals and do not necessarily represent the views of their employer.”
For the full list of signers of the PSE petition, go to http://www.psehealthyenergy.org/.
ABOUT PSE
Physicians, Scientists, and Engineers for Healthy Energy is dedicated to supplying objective, evidence-based, scientific information and resources on unconventional gas development (high-volume hydrofracking) and other novel energy production methods. PSE’s mission is to bring transparency to the important scientific and public policy issues surrounding energy, helping to level the playing field for citizens, scientists, advocacy groups, media, and policy-makers. For more information, go to http://www.psehealthyenergy.org/.
MEDIA CONTACT: Patrick Mitchell, (703) 276-3266 or pmitchell@hastingsgroup.com.
EDITOR’S NOTE: A streaming audio replay of the news event will be available on the Web at http://www.psehealthyenergy.org/ as of 6 p.m. EST on Dec 13, 2012.
DOWNLOAD Sign On Letter
Listen to the Audio
Letter Signatories:
| Adam Law, MD | Seth Shonkoff, PhD, MPH | |
| Physicians Scientists & Engineers for Healthy Energy
Cayuga Medical Center Weill Cornell Medical College |
Physicians Scientists & Engineers for Healthy Energy
University of California, Berkeley |
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Ajay Pillarisetti, MPH, University of California, Berkeley Alastair Iles, PhD, JD, University of California, Berkeley Allison Wilson, PhD, Science Director, The Bioscience Resource Project Amelia Pare, MD, President Elect, Allegheny County Medical Association Ann Marie O’Reilly, MSEd, OTR/L Holy Childhood, Inc. Anne Neirynck, NP, IthacaMed Antoinette Kuzminski, MD Audrie L. Paluselli, RN, UPMC Mercy Hospital Pittsburgh, Pa Barbara White, RNC, MS, FNP, Department of Medicine, Gannett Health Services Byron Demopoulos, MD, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York Presbyterian Hospital Catherine Thomasson, MD, Executive Director, Physician for Social Responsibility, Washington, DC Charles Garbo, MD, Cayuga Medical Center Claire Cifaloglio, MD, Retired Pediatrician Coby Schultz , BSN, RN, Rochester General Hospital Colleen Reid, MPH, University of California, Berkeley Cora Foster, MD, Cayuga Medical Center Cornelia E. Farnum, PhD, DVM, Professor Emerita, Cornell University Daniel Miller, MD, Chief, Clinical Quality and Training Hudson River HealthCare Daria B Crittenden, MD, NYU School of Medicine David Feldshuh, MD, PhD, Cornell University David Gould, MD, MBA David R. Brown, ScD, SWPA Environmental Health Project Deborah Payne, MPH, Kentucky Environmental Foundation Denise DeJohn, MSN, CRNP, SWPA Environmental Health Project Douglas MacQueen, MD, Cayuga Medical Associates Ellen Henry, PhD, Univ of Rochester Medical Center Elmer Ewing, PhD, Prof. Emeritus, Cornell College of Agriculture & Life Sciences Erik D. Hiester, DO, President: Broome County Medical Society, Lourdes Hospital Esther I Herkowitz, MS, Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Health Net Geoffrey E Moore, MD, FACSM, Director of Clinical Services, Cayuga Center for Healthy Living Gerri Wiley, RN, Owego RAFT (Residents Against Fracking Tioga) Helen Podgainy, MD, Children’s Community Pediatrics, Moon and Wexford J. B. Heiser, PhD, Cornell University James C. Macmillan, MD, Tompkins County Board of Health James W. Walker, MD, Bassett Healthcare Network Jeffrey Carlberg, MD, FamilyCare Medical Group Jens Wennberg, PA, Ithaca Free Clinic Joan Cain, FNP-C, IthacaMed John Cooke, MD, Cayuga Medical Center, Ithaca, NY Jose Torrado, MD, Cayuga Medical Center Joseph A. Mannino, MD, Cayuga Medical Center Josephine C. McAllister, MD, Dermatology Associates of Ithaca Judy Krisher-Bussone, RN Julie Huntsman, DVM, Councilmember, Town of Otsego, NY Karen LaFace, MD, Ithaca, NY Karen M. Landt, MS, ANP, Clinton Crossings Dermatology Katharine W. Lloyd, MD, MI Bassett Hospital Katherine Schaff, MPH, University of California, Berkeley Kathleen Nolan, MD, MSL, Regional Director for the High Peaks, Catskill Mountainkeeper Kathryn M. Zunich, MD, Iasis Partners, LLC Kathy Dervin, MPH, 350 Bay Area Kelly K. Branigan, RN Ken Spaeth, MD, MPH, Hofstra University School of Health Sciences & Human Services
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Kenneth Hill, MD, Gannett Health Services
Kimberly Carney Young, MD, Cayuga Medical Center Kristin Stevens, NP, ObGyn IthacaMed Kristine Noonan, RN, Nurses for Safe Water Larysa Dyrszka, MD, Pediatrician (retired) Leslie A. Walleigh, MD, MPH, SWPA Environmental Health Project Linda Rudolph, MD, MPH, Linda Rudolph and Associates Lisa Stankus, CRNP, Gannett: Cornell University Health Services Madelon L. Finkel, PhD, Weill Cornell Medical College Marcy Schaeffer, RN, NP, Ithaca City School District Margaret Buckley, RN, MSN, Nurse Rise, Buffalo, New York Margaret Rafferty, DNP, RN, MA, MPH Marguerite Uphoff, MD, MPH, FAAP, Northeast Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine Marianne Herr-Paul, DO, Wellspring Cottage, LLC Marie Harkins, MS, FNP, CNM, Cayuga Medical Center Mary McCutcheon, RN MS, San Francisco Department of Public Health (Retired) Mary Menapace, RN, Concerned Health Professionals of NY Marybeth Carlberg, MD, FamilyCare Medical Group, SUNY Upstate Medical Associate Faculty Mel Packer, PA-C, Pittsburgh, PA Melissa Poulsen, MPH, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University Meriamne Singer, MD Michael O’Brien, MD, University at Buffalo Michael P. Branigan, CRNA, MS Michelle Bamberger, MS, DVM, Vet Behavior Consults Monica Daniel, RN, CNM, LAc Nancy B. Stewart, MD, Cayuga Medical Center Nanette M. Dowling, DO, Cayuga Medical Center Nina Pesante, MD Peter Clark, MD, Cayuga Medical Center Peter J. Davies, PhD, Cornell University Peter Schwartz, MD, Cayuga Medical Center Philip Goodman, MD, Self-Employed/Private Practice, Binghamton, NY Pouné Saberi, MD, MPH, Philadelphia Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility Rachel Morello-Frosch, PhD, MPH, University of California, Berkeley Rajaran Rao, MD, Cayuga Medical Center Rebecca Damiani, FNP-C, Gannett Health Services Rebekah Bowser, RN, BSN, Phoenixville Area School District, Healthy Achievers, Maxim Healthcare Richard Weiskopf, MD, SUNY Upstate Medical University Robert Oswald, PhD, Molecular Medicine, Cornell University Ronald E. Bishop, PhD, CHO, State University of New York at Oneonta Samantha K. Davenport, MD, Chief of Pathology, Bassett Healthcare Network Samuel M. Lesko, MD, MPH, Northeast Regional Cancer Institute Sandra Steingraber, PhD, Ithaca College Sarah Buckley, RN, BSN, CCRN, POWR, Protecting Our Water Rights Sheila Bushkin, MD, MPH, Medical Society of the State of New York (MSSNY) Stephanie Westerman , DVM, Medaille College, Buffalo, NY Susan Cowdery, MD, Cayuga Medical Center Susan G. Miller, MD, Gannett Health Services Suzanne Anderson, MD, Trumansburg Family Health Center Tawn Feeney, MA, CCC-SLP, Speech-Language Pathologist Teresa R. Miller, MD, private practice physician Tim Cardina, MD, Cayuga Medical Center William Klepack, MD, Dryden Family Medicine William S. Tyler, MD, Cayuga Medical Center (Past President, Retired) Zoë Chafe, MPH, MS, University of California, Berkeley
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“Cuomo Puts the Cart Before the Horse on Fracking—Elected Officials, Leading Environmental and Health Experts Call on Cuomo to Open Health Review to the Public,” Dec. 3, 2012
December 3, 2012
With thanks to Richard Averett for posting info about Concerned Health Professionals of New York, here is my entire statement from the press conference today in Albany with Barbara LIfton, Matt Ryan, Walter Hang, and Roger Downs of the Sierra Club. I haven’t seen any media coverage yet. Sandra
Prepared Remarks, Albany Press Conference, “Cuomo Puts the Cart Before the Horse on Fracking—Elected Officials, Leading Environmental and Health Experts Call on Cuomo to Open Health Review to the Public,” Dec. 3, 2012
I am Sandra Steingraber, biologist at Ithaca College
I saw some of you last Thursday when I was here to announce the launch of Concerned Health Professionals of New York—an initiative of doctors, nurses, and environmental health researchers.
Concerned Health Professionals was launched in response to the secrecy of the ongoing health review, the exclusion of New York State’s own public health experts in the process, and Governor Cuomo’s rejection of our unified demand for a transparent, comprehensive Health Impact Assessment.
Not knowing what documents the three outside health reviewers have been asked by DOH to review, we’ve created a website: www.concernedhealthny.org where we’ve uploaded peer-reviewed studies, reports, and our testimonies and letters to serve as a repository of our many concerns about the consequences of fracking for public health.
Since then, we’ve also uploaded an eight-minute video appeal to the three panelists from three of New York’s leading public health physicians, two nurses, the founder of New York Breast Cancer Network, and myself—an environmental researcher. In this video, we speak directly to the three panelists about our most urgent concerns. These include—
- Radium in flowback fluid
- Diesel exhaust and its link to breast cancer risk
- Impaired birth outcomes of newborns born to women living near drilling and fracking operations
None of these concerns appear in the last iteration of the sGEIS. We have no idea if they are in the current one or are part of documents pieced together in secrecy by the DOH.
Okay. Can I just say that this is crazy? Scientists and doctors creating videos and websites funded out of their own pockets to get information and data to our out-of-state colleagues because our collective knowledge has been entirely ignored by our own government?
But it gets even crazier. On Thursday, we learned that draft regulations were being released. On Friday, we learned that two of the three outside reviews—in whose hands the fate of millions of New Yorkers now lie—are being paid for 25 hours of work. Twenty-five hours is three working days. You cannot even READ all the literature on fracking’s health effects in three days.
So what should be a linear, deliberative process of decision-making—
first, we investigate cumulative health impacts (how many New Yorkers will get sick and die if fracking comes to our state?), then we fold those answers into a larger EIS that examines if said impacts are acceptably mitigatable, and only then, if they are, do those results become the foundation for regulations—
what should be a linear process of decision-making is twisted into a pretzel:
The regs are out and we can comment on them.
But the EIS is not out.
And the health study, which should be its basis, isn’t even done, and it’s being carried out in total secrecy, and, oh, yeah, today’s the reported deadline for the receipt of the outside reviewers review based on unknown scoping and three days’ work.
That’s not just irrational. That’s surreal
In twenty years of serving on state and federal advisory panels and watching science get turned into policy, I have never seen a more shameful process. The scientific process behind the decision to frack or not to frack New York is befitting a Third World dictatorship, not a progressive democracy.
Here’s what needs to happen: The process by which the state of New York is evaluating health effects must be opened up to public scrutiny and input. We must have public hearings. We must define the broad spectrum of pollutants associated with fracking, document their fate in the environment, identify pathways of human exposure, and investigate long-term health consequences.
Until then, the public health community of New York will raise our voices in objection. Because science is supposed to be transparent, and the Governor’s process has been anything but transparent. Because this process feels like a series of reactions to attacks from the fracking industry, rather than a deliberative process for implementing sound public policy.
It is alarming for the administration to attempt to rush the enormous amount of work that must be done into the next 85 days. We hope—and demand—that they will step back, see the dangerous path they are on, step out of the backrooms to engage the public, and keep their promise to follow the science.
GDACC 
