Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday criticized the strategy employed by groups who favor hydraulic fracturing, saying their lobbyists should spend more time educating the public and less time focused on “hallway chatter.”
In an interview with Gannett’s Albany Bureau, Cuomo reiterated his position that an ultimate decision on whether to allow large-scale fracking in New York will be based on “facts and science.” But he suggested the pro-fracking groups aren’t using their time wisely as the state’s de facto moratorium on shale-gas drilling stretches beyond 4 1/2 years.
“I think the landowners’ consultants and the lobbyists for the pro-fracking groups would be better advised to spend their time actually getting out information to allay the fears of the people of this state than worrying about hallway chatter,” Cuomo said. “Their job is to communicate to the people of the state, to say that this is a safe process, to be open and available. And that’s what they should be doing.”
Cuomo’s decision-making process on hydrofracking has been in the spotlight over the past few weeks, with recent reports suggesting he may have been influenced by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.—his former brother-in-law—to hold off on allowing the natural-gas extraction process to proceed. Cuomo has acknowledged he discussed the issue with Kennedy, but denied that the discussions led him to put off a decision.
The governor’s comments came following a meeting of his cabinet Monday, where state Health Commissioner Nirav Shah said the department’s review of fracking’s potential impacts should be completed in “the next few weeks.” Shah had also signaled in February that his review would be forthcoming in weeks.
“We’ve been working with our experts very closely, going back and forth,” Shah said. “I anticipate we’ll be done in the next few weeks. There’s no real timetable. We are learning more information as we go and we want to make sure we cover all the ground and not rush through this.”
Meanwhile, high-volume fracking in gas-rich formations like the Marcellus Shale in the Southern Tier remains on hold until Shah’s review is complete and incorporated into permitting guidelines from the Department of Environmental Conservation.
“It’s relatively simple at the end of the day,” Cuomo told Gannett. “The Health Commissioner is going to give his opinion after reviewing the facts. We’re not going to do it without him reviewing it. It’s that simple and it’s that obvious, frankly.”
(AP file photo)
7 Comments
The best research on the safety of hyro- fracking is to talk to the people in other states which allow it and see if any of the people negatively effected are at liberty to actually tell you anything. Most are under a gag rule in order to be compensated for their heath bills, home devaluation and/or being provided with potable water because theirs wells are contaminated.
I suspect that the gas companies are spending their time at capitol hill wasting time with “hallway chatter” as the Governor puts it, instead of allaying the fears of New Yorkers that the entire process is safe, because they know the process is NOT safe and nothing they can say or do will make it safe.
One important disclosure the gas companies are not making is that once they drill, pour billions of gallons of toxic chemicals into the pipes, get their gas (we have a surplus of natural gas so drilling isn’t even necessary) and leave, the home owner is responsible for the clean up of all the toxins which will eventually contaminate wells, underwater rivers and potentially all the the fresh drinking water currently available in NYS. As a NYS Llicensed Realtor, I know how nervous home buyers are of buried oil tanks for home heating that are on the property. Imagine how nervous they will be buying property with a potentially bankrupting toxic chemical cleanup looming in the future. Something to think about.
Health Commissioner Nirav Shah must be academically-challenged, to think that a comprehensive health study could be “reviewed”—whatever that actually means—in such a short time on such a short budget. His only honest answer must be OF COURSE WE ARE NOT SURE IT WOULD BE SAFE to frack the Marcellus Shale.
I hope this does not bring more of the silly claims about 60 years of fracking when HVHF has not been done for more than a quarter of that time. And, when there is a List of the Harmed in PA, studies by Duke University and the University of Colorado’s School of Public Health which both show risks increase near areas being fracked, the repeated claims of safety are dubious at best.
Even if Dr. Shah does report the way Cuomo seems to think, there is still a process that needs to be completed to adopt regulations before permits are granted. First, the public needs to see a complete SGEIS including the health study and documents that support it and including the DEC response to the 80,000 comments submitted on the last version of the SGEIS. The document is so huge that time will be needed to review it.
Second, the regulations, all of them need to be reviewed and revised in light of the changes in the SGEIS, and also be put out for public review, and as required by law, have at least one public hearing, and a 30-day comment period.
In the meantime, it would be well if the State Legislature were to deal with and pass many of the frack related bills that have been proposed.
Some of the science that I hope Dr. Shah and the Governor are reviewing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhkswtBom4s
Fundamental Chemical Toxicology with Exposure Related to Shale Gas Development with Dr. David Brown
Interesting how pro-fracking arguments have no shelf life on this and all Gannett news media blogs. My posts were removed within a few hours. Bias in the media.
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