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Tompkins Officials Among More Than 250 Across the State Urging Governor to Require More Study Before Hydrofracking Moratorium is Lifted

More than 280 municipal leaders from across New York State—including more than 50 from Tompkins County—have signed a non-partisan letter to Governor Cuomo, urging the Governor to  maintain the State’s current moratorium on hydrofracking until potential health, economic, and cumulative environmental impacts on local communities from such drilling are properly addressed.  Those signing the letter to the Governor include representatives of cities, towns, villages, and county governments, including 12 members of the Tompkins County Legislature.

Leaders launched the “Elected Officials to Protect New York” initiative at a news conference this afternoon in Albany.  Among those speaking was County Legislature Chair Martha Robertson.  At the event, it was reported that the letter had been signed by at least 282 officials from 34 of the State’s counties.

The letter to the Governor urges that high-volume hydraulic fracturing not be permitted until the following independent assessments have been completed:

• A comprehensive health impact assessment of the entire shale gas extraction process—including, but not limited to, direct and indirect health effects and cumulative health impacts;
• A revised and thorough analysis that considers all potentially negative socioeconomic impacts—including, but not limited to, increased demands on local governments, first responders and law enforcement, and the effects of drilling on property values and home mortgages, existing businesses and economies, and local community character;
• A revised and properly thorough study of cumulative environmental impacts—including, but not limited to, those affecting the rural landscape, water resources, air quality, and greenhouse gas emissions, and the lack of safe alternatives for wastewater disposal.

The letter calls for all studies to be made available for public review and comment before regulations are finalized or the moratorium is lifted.

“As elected officials from across New York State, we share with you the responsibility to protect and defend our people and our state,” the letter states.  “Although the geographic area where drilling may occur may be limited, the impacts will be felt across the state.  Unless and until the facts and the science prove that horizontal hydraulic fracturing is safe, New York’s de facto moratorium must remain in place.”

Elected Officials to Protect New York will continue to collect signatures on the letter to Governor Cuomo, through its website at http://www.nyelectedofficials.org.

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