Celebration Time!

Celebration Time! Gov. Cuomo bans  Fraking in NYS;  Campaign continues to avoid other Frack related projects

On December 17, 2014 Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a ban on hydrofracking for natural gas in NYS.  The Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation, Joe Martens, and the Acting Commissioner of Health, Howard Zucker, spoke about the environmental and health risks of fracking (to which the land, people and animals in Pennsylvania and elsewhere have been subjected). This was a tremendous victory for individuals, organizations, business owners, landowners and local government officials who have fought for five years to protect our beautiful upstate New York from the devastation of fracking.

This victory should be celebrated and savored

Yet the battle isn’t over in terms of the damage currently being inflicted on NYS because of fracking taking place in Pennsylvania and elsewhere. These assaults include :  radioactive cuttings from drilling being sent to NY landfills which aren’t equipped for radioactivity; water withdrawals from NY to facilitate drilling in Pennsylvania; waste water (which includes toxic chemicals) from Pennsylvania being sent to NY sewer systems (again, not meant to handle this kind of waste); bomb trains passing through Syracuse and other upstate cities daily with cars full of explosive crude oil fracked in N. Dakota; compresser stations and other polluting infrastructure; and a proposal to store explosive gas in deteriorating salt caverns under Seneca Lake (source of drinking water and important for the Finger Lakes wine industry).

For more information, contact Linda at LDESTEFANO3@twcny.rr.com or (315)488-2140 (8 a.m.- 10 p.m.). This article was translated into Spanish by Rob English.