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Tompkins County Legislature concerns about hydrofracking were actively communicated to State lawmakers Tuesday, as hundreds of people from across the state rallied at the State Capitol to urge a statewide drilling ban, with many of them then speaking individually with State lawmakers to state their case.

Legislature Chair Martha Robertson and Legislator Pam Mackesey, who has chaired the Legislature’s Planning, Development and Environmental Quality Committee, were among the participants in the day-long event. The Legislature has called for a statewide hydrofracking ban, as well as a ban on such drilling in the Finger Lakes region, and has also urged the State to clarify and reaffirm municipal home rule regulatory land use authority regarding such issues as natural gas extraction.

Chair Robertson was among nearly 600 people who consulted with individual legislators, leading a group that met with staff of Sen. Gustavo Rivera (D, Bronx) and Assemblyman Jim Conte (R, Suffolk County), and with Senator Tom Duane (D, NYC).  Junelle King, a Keuka College senior currently interning with the County Legislature, led another team that contacted other State Legislators.

“In our lobbying meetings we presented information about the many problems with ‘fracking’ - how the industry crowds out existing economic activities and competes with renewable energy, how the job claims are greatly exaggerated, and how the environmental and health impacts include go beyond water contamination alone,” Chair Robertson stated. “Compared to previous lobbying trips, lawmakers and their staff members seemed much more aware of the issues and we hope, ready to take action this year.”

Tuesday’s sessions followed a round of meetings January 10 in Albany, where Chair Robertson, former City of Ithaca Mayor Carolyn Peterson, and Dominic Frongillo, Deputy Supervisor of the Town of Caroline, voiced municipalities’ gas drilling concerns.  The officials met with Tom Congdon, Assistant Secretary for Energy and the Environment at the Governor’s Office; Robert Mujica, Senior Policy Advisor to Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos; and officials at the Department of Environmental Conservation, including Deputy Commissioner Eugene Leff.

“Our message was New York cannot afford hydraulic fracturing.” said Deputy Supervisor Frongillo.  “It is not worth the costs to our economy, water, health, and climate.”

“I thank representatives of the Governor’s Office, the DEC, and Senator Skelos’ office for meeting with us the day before tens of thousands of comments were due in Albany,” said former Mayor Peterson.  “Each of us attending brought a unique perspective and background. It is critically important for communities around the state to impress upon Albany the importance of home rule in relation to our individual zoning laws and comprehensive plans. Furthermore, it is responsible for New York State to wait for the results of EPA ongoing studies on hydraulic fracturing if NYS does not ban hydrofracking out of hand.”

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