WATKINS GLEN, NY – A lawsuit by New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman to force the federal government to conduct a full environmental impact study of natural gas drilling is a recognition of the considerable risks posed by hydraulic fracking, say members of the grassroots Coalition to Protect New York.

“It’s regrettable that our attorney general has to go to court to force the federal government to do what it’s required to do under current law – protect the health and safety of its citizens,” said Jack Ossont, spokesman for CPNY, which opposes the destructive process of fracking. “We have no doubt that any rational, independent analysis of fracking will clearly show that the dangers far outweigh any short-term economic gains, which will benefit only a very few anyway.”

This week, Schneiderman filed a lawsuit against the federal government for its failure to commit to a full environmental review of proposed regulations that would allow drilling for shale gas – including the harmful technique known as fracking – in the Delaware River Basin. The National Environmental Policy Act requires federal agencies to conduct a full review of actions that may cause significant environmental impacts. But, ignoring this law, the Delaware River Basin Commission – with the approval of its supporting federal agencies including the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency – proposed regulations allowing gas development in the Basin without undertaking any such review.

The proposed regulations allow high-volume hydraulic fracturing combined with horizontal drilling (fracking) within the Basin. Fracking has been proven to pose grave risks to the environment, health, and communities. It involves the withdrawal of large volumes of water from creeks and streams, frequent contamination of drinking water supplies, the generation of millions of gallons of toxic waste that has to go somewhere, increased noise, dust and air pollution, and potential harms to community infrastructure and character from increased industrial activity.

“We want to thank the attorney general and all the groups involved in this matter,” said Ossont, “for pushing for an environmental impact study on fracking that should have been done long ago,” said Ossont.

Kevin Bunger, a member of CPNY, said the attorney general’s lawsuit should allow for a full, independent, peer-reviewed study of the impacts of fracking.

“It’s irresponsible that we’ve allowed fracking to take place throughout the Northeast without any non-industry-funded, comprehensive analysis of its impacts on the environment and human health,” he said. “Of course, it hasn’t been done because a multi-state, multi-institutional, large-scale study would prove what we already know from a vast array of evidence: that fracking contaminates drinking water and leads to wide-scale, probably irreversible pollution.”

CPNY members’ awareness of the destructive effects of fracking is also behind the group’s opposition to a landmark water withdrawal bill (S3798) now under consideration in the state senate that would give away billions of gallons of New York’s waters to large industrial users, including the methane gas industry which requires vast amounts of water for its fracking operations. The assembly has already passed its version of the bill.

“There is considerable pressure on our elected officials to open our state to widespread, unregulated fracking,” said Ossont. “It’s up to the citizens of New York to tell our senators and representatives to do the right thing: stop and consider all the impacts. We’re being told that the methane gas beneath our feet presents a golden opportunity for our state and our country. But it’s fool’s gold. Fracking would ruin our environment and literally destroy our way of life.”

Contact: Jack Ossont, Coalition to Protect New York, (607) 243-7262