More Recent Articles (including news of NY State fracking ban and health risks):
Buffalo News article: State bans fracking, citing health and environmental concerns
Capital: Cuomo concludes fracking is too risky
New York Times: Cuomo to Ban Fracking in New York State, Citing Health Risks
National Academy of Sciences Abandoned wells can be ‘super-emitters’ of greenhouse gas Dec 2014
Walter de Gruyter Foundation Study Links Fracking to Infertility, Miscarriages, Birth Defects – Dec. 2015
Environment NY Research and Policy Center The Spreading Shadow of the Shale Gas Boom: Fracking’s Growing Proximity to Day Cares, Schools and Hospitals – Dec. 2014
Past Articles:
Three articles written by our members made the editorial pages of The Buffalo News, all on concerns for hydrofracking and the upcoming DEC deadline for comments on the SGEIS.
- “Review of EIS shows that fracking remains dangerous” by Larry Beahan. The Buffalo News, Another Voice. November 3, 2011. Click here for a PDF of the article.
- “Land grab sets up taxpayers for fracking fallout” by Elisabeth N. Radow. The Buffalo News, Another Voice. November 1, 2011. Click here for a PDF of the article
- “Hydrofracking endangers our health, drinking water” by Robert Ciesielski. The Buffalo News, Another Voice. October 31, 2011. Click here for a PDF of the article.
In the National Press:
- Hydrofracking in Penn.: “Oil Executive: Military Style ‘Psy Ops’ Experience Applied”, by Eamon Javers, Nov. 8, 2011. CNBC News
- “Think Tank says gas fracking jeopardizes greenhouse gas goals” Nov. 9, 2011. CBC News.
- Alternative energy v. Fracking “Here Comes the Sun” by Paul Krugman, Nov. 6, 2011. NY Times.
- The City of Auburn in Central New York bans the acceptance of fracking wastewater from natural gas drilling companies into municipal waste treatment facilities.
- NJ State law makers pass a bill to ban hydrofracking in their state.The bill awaits the signature of NJ Governor Chris Christie.
- A study by the US Forestry Service found that wastewater from natural gas hydrofracturing in a West Virginia national forest quickly wiped out all ground plants, killed more than half of the trees and caused radical changes in soil chemistry. These results argue for much tighter control over disposal of these “fracking fluids.”“Fracking Fluids Poison a National Forest: New Study Details Changes in Soil Chemistry and Devastation of Trees and Plants”
On June 6, 2011 the New York State Assembly voted to extend the moratorium on hydrofracking for natural gas for one-year period until June 1, 2012. The approval vote of 91 to 46 was meant to ensure that the industrial practice could be further studied in New York State.
- Researchers have found that methane from natural gas is leaking in higher quantities than previously thought.
April 12, 2011: New York Times “Studies Say Natural Gas Has Its Own Environmental Problems” - A study by Cornell University professors finds that natural gas produced with a drilling method called “hydraulic fracturing” contributes to global warming as much as coal, or even more. Read an article on the study and controversy in Washington. View presentation by Cornell Professors on Marcellus Shale Gas and Global Warming.
Hydrofracking in PA (NYTimes)
Hydrofracking takes center stage in NY and Nationally Coverage on the practice of hydrofracking in the New York Times and the Oscar-nominated film Gasland has revamped state and national attention on the issue.
The New York Times investigative series on hydrofracking practices found that:
- Due to strong political pressure, the EPA suppressed reports that concluded New York and Pennsylvania’s sewage treatment facilities were incapable of treating drilling wastes– including levels of radioactivity 100 to 1000 times higher than drinking water safety standards.
- Drinking water intake plants downstream from those sewage treatment plants were shielded from having to test for radioactivity– leaving grave concerns about the current safety of our drinking water.
- EPA dropped plans to investigate radioactivity in its current federal study of hydrofracking wastes after receiving pressure from state regulators and the gas industry. (As quoted from the Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter)Read the New York Timesinvestigative series:Feb 27, 2011: “Regulation Lax as Gas Wells’ Tainted Waters Hit Rivers”
March 1, 2011: “Gas Drillers Recycle Wastewater, but Risks Remain”
March 3, 2011: “E.P.A. Struggles to Regulate Natural Gas Industry”
March 7, 2011: “E.P.A. Calls for More Testing of Pennsylvania Rivers”
