By New Yorkers Against Fracking
On April 4, Sen. Mark Grisanti (R-60), chair of the Environmental
Conservation Committee, introduced five bills in the State Senate which
attempt to address concerns regarding the practice of hydraulic
fracturing, known as “hydrofracking”—none of which alter the underlying
safety issues raised by the controversial technique of natural gas
extraction.
Sen. Grisanti’s bills would develop tracking systems for potential
fracking sites and waste produced, regulate the use of wastewater from
the fracking process and establish an online notification system for
notifying the public within 48 hours of fracking discharges
self-reported by fracking companies.
Sen. Grisanti’s bills have not garnered widespread support among the
environmental community in New York. The coalition of groups New Yorkers
Against Fracking called on Sen. Grisanti to listen to his constituents
and support a statewide ban. Much like the majority of New Yorkers,
voters in Sen. Grisanti’s district are clear in their disapproval of
hydrofracking. Niagara Falls and Buffalo—two cities in Sen. Grisanti’s
district—recently passed local bans on fracking and resolutions calling
for a statewide ban on the controversial practice.
“Grisanti’s proposals are nothing but a fig leaf. They allow him to
pretend he cares about the safety of our water, but they really just
pave the way for the fracking of New York to begin,” said Dan Cantor,
executive director of the Working Families Party.
Sen. Grisanti’s constituents staged a press conference in December
2011, presenting him with petition signatures and letters from
constituent organizations asking that he support a ban on fracking. In
March, constituents also staged a candlelight vigil outside of Sen.
Grisanti’s office to remember the instances of water contamination that
have already occurred across the U.S.
The Buffalo Common Council also recently passed a resolution of
support for a fracking ban in New York, stating that a law to prohibit
natural gas drilling in New York will protect residents and neighbors
from the harmful effects of drilling, as well as safe-guarding air, land
and local waterways. The DEC, while prohibiting fracking in certain
watersheds in Syracuse and New York City, has not prohibited drilling in
any Western NY watersheds.
“The bills introduced today by Senator Grisanti are full of loopholes
and would fail to protect western New Yorkers from fracking’s threats
to our health, economy and environment,” said Rita Yelda, Buffalo
organizer for Food & Water Watch. “Senator Grisanti’s constituents
have sent him a loud and clear message that they will accept nothing
less than his support for a ban on fracking in New York.”
“With or without regulations in place, fracking is a menace to public
health,” said David Braun, a spokesperson for New Yorkers Against
Fracking. “It lays down blankets of smog, fills roadway with trucks
hauling hazardous materials, sends sediment into streams, and generates
immense quantities of radioactive, carcinogen-laced waste for which no
fail-safe disposal options exist. These measures won’t protect our water
and our health.”
Lois Gibbs, a mother of two children who narrowly survived permanent
health damage as a result of Love Canal chemical exposures in the
Niagara area, expressed concerns that questions still remained
unanswered over the health effects of the chemicals used in the fracking
process.
“When Love Canal was built, we were told that the chemicals produced
would be safe—but they weren’t. Fracking advocates say the same thing.
It’s time to learn from past mistakes,” Gibbs said.
New Yorkers Against Fracking, is a new coalition of diverse
organizations that support a fracking ban, are joining together to tell
Gov. Andrew Cuomo and our leaders in Albany to stand up for New Yorkers
to keep our water and our state safe by banning hydrofracking.
Founding members of New Yorkers Against Fracking include statewide
and national organizations like Citizen Action of New York, New York
State Breast Cancer Network, Food & Water Watch, Catskill
Mountainkeeper, Frack Action, Water Defense, the Working Families Party
joining with local grassroots anti-fracking groups and business in each
part of the state such as Brewery Ommegang, Frack-Free Catskills and
Fingerlakes Clean Waters Initiative and many more. The full list of more
than 50 organizations can be found by clicking
here.
Sandra Steingraber, Ph.D., author, biologist, advocate and recent
winner of the prestigious Heinz Award for her life’s work, donated a
significant portion of her award to help prevent fracking in New
York—providing the seed money for this effort. Diagnosed with cancer in
her youth, Steingraber is a central voice in the fight against fracking
and has devoted her career to understanding the ways in which chemical
contaminants in air, water and food endanger human health.
Sandra will serve as an honorary member of the New Yorkers Against
Fracking advisory committee. Joining Sandra as honorary advisory
committee members will be Niagara native, former Love Canal resident and
founder of Center for Health, Environment and Justice Lois Gibbs and
outspoken anti-fracking advocate and upstate resident and actor Mark
Ruffalo.
