revised sgeis testimony

8/3/2019 Revised SGEIS Testimony

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THE C ITY OF NEW YOR K

OFFICE OF THE PR ES I D EN TBOROUGH OF MANHATTAN

SCOTT M.STRINGERBOROUGH PRESIDENT

MUNICIPAL BUILDING y 1 CENTRE STREET y NE W YORK , NY 10007

PHONE (212) 669-8300 FAX (212) 669-4305

www.manhattanbp.org [email protected]

MANHATTAN BOROUGH PRESIDENTS OFFICE COMMENTS ON THE NYS

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATIONS REVISED DRAFT

SUPPLEMENTAL GENERIC ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT ON THE

OIL, GAS AND SOLUTION MINING REGULATORY PROGRAM AND WELL

PERMIT ISSUANCE FOR HORIZONTAL DRILLING AND HIGH-VOLUME

HYDRAULIC FRACTURING TO DEVELOP THE MARCELLUS SHALE AND OTHER

LOW-PERMEABILITY GAS RESERVES

January 11, 2012

The Manhattan Borough Presidents Office submits these comments in response to the NewYork State Department of Environmental Conservations (DEC)Revised Draft SupplementalGenericEnvironmental Impact Statement on the Oil, Gas and Solution Mining Regulatory

Program and Well PermitIssuance for Horizontal Drilling and High-Volume Hydraulic

Fracturing to Develop theMarcellus Shale and Other Low-Permeability Gas Reservoirs. These

comments are a supplement to oral testimony that was delivered by Borough President Stringer

at the DECs November 30, 2011 public hearing in Manhattan.

PROPOSED ACTION

DEC proposes to permit horizontal drilling and high-volume hydraulic fracturing to obtain

natural gas in the Marcellus Shale, including areas as close as 1,000 feet away from crucial

subsurface water supply infrastructure used to transport unfiltered water from the New York Citywatershed.

The proposed action poses potentially harmful environmental impacts to the New York Citywatershed and to New York Citys subsurface water supply infrastructure, which could result in

the irreparable devastation of a unique and invaluable natural resource. Additionally, the revised

draft SGEIS fails to provide adequate analysis of the impacts and risks associated with hazardouswaste, human health impacts, potential seismic activity linked to high volume horizontal

hydraulic fracturing, and socio-economic impacts.

INADEQUATE PROTECTIONS FOR THE NEW YORK CITY WATERSHED

All proposed natural gas drilling prohibitions in the New York City watershed apply only to

high-volume hydraulic fracturing using 300,000 gallons of water or more. Drilling operations


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that use less than this amount would still be permitted in the New York City watershed andwould not be subject to any of the restrictions outlined in the revised draft SGEIS. Natural gas

drilling of any type could jeopardize the crucial filtration avoidance determination that the City

relies on for the safe delivery of its unfiltered water supply and is therefore unacceptable. It isimperative that the DEC address this regulatory gap in the final regulation and include a strong

and unambiguous prohibition of all forms of natural gas drilling in the New York Citywatershed.

INADEQUATE PROTECTIONS FOR SUBSURFACE WATER SUPPLY

INFRASTRUCTURE

The buffer zone prescribed in the revised draft SGEIS does not adequately protect the subsurface

water supply infrastructure that delivers unfiltered water to New York City. The environmentalconsulting group Hazen and Sawyer recently called for a minimum buffer zone of seven miles

around New York Citys subsurface water supply infrastructure. A buffer zone of this size

should be given serious consideration by the DEC. Additionally, the DEC must ensure thatadequate buffer zones are also established below New York Citys subsurface water supplyinfrastructure, not just around it.

The threats to New York Citys subsurface water supply infrastructure that could result from thesize of the DECs proposed buffer zone are clear. These threats include: risks posed by the

potential accumulation of methane gas in or around tunnels and shafts; risks to water tunnels that

could result from elevated external pressures in the regional stress field from hydraulicfracturing; and the potential for vertical migration of fracturing fluids via geological faults or

fractures into water delivery tunnels. It should be noted that this subsurface water supply

infrastructure is already functioning in a compromised state. Specifically, the Delaware

Aqueduct which supplies half of New York Citys unfiltered drinking water supply has beenleaking an estimated 30 million gallons of water per day for the past two decades. The

consequences of additional stress on this vulnerable water delivery system posed by hydraulicfracturing could be severe.

Also deeply troubling is the reconsideration provision outlined on page 1-17 of the revised

draft SGEIS. This provision would allow the DEC to permit hydraulic fracturing in primary

aquifers, principal aquifers, public water supply wells and tributaries within two to three years ofmeasuring actual experience and impacts associated with permit issuance. The DEC lists no

actual criteria for how the experience and impacts associated with permit issuance would be

measured and/or assessed. This loophole should be eliminated in order to protect drinking watersupplies.

HAZARDOUS WASTE

The revised draft SGEIS proposes the classification of contaminant-laden and potentiallyradioactive drilling and fracturing fluids, mud-drilled cuttings, pit liners, flowback water and

produced brine as non-hazardous industrial waste. This inappropriate classification system could

potentially allow waste from hydraulic fracturing to cycle through landfills or standard

wastewater treatment plants.


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Although there is no wastewater treatment plant in New York that would be able to effectivelytreat the toxic byproducts associated with hydraulic fracturing, the development of privately

owned treatment plants for this purpose may eventually occur. The revised draft SGEIS does not

adequately analyze the potential impacts of such a privately owned treatment plant. Therefore,should future wastewater treatment plants materialize, it is unclear how the revised draft SGEIS

proposes to protect New Yorkers from the serious public health threats associated withinadequately regulated hazardous wastes. It is also unclear where a future private wastewatertreatment plant could be safely sited so that citizens and the environment are adequately

protected. It is imperative at the final SGEIS account for all potential impacts and scenarios

related to the treatment of wastewater resulting from the use of hydraulic fracturing.

HEALTH IMPACT ASSESSMENT

The revised draft SGEIS omits a crucial Health Impact Assessment which would evaluate the

potential risks to human health posed by the use of high volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing

in the Marcellus Shale. Because of the potential for drilling at an unacceptably close proximityto New York Citys subsurface water delivery infrastructure, a thorough evaluation of the humanhealth consequences of high volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing is clearly merited.

I add my voice to those of over two hundred fifty health professionals in New York State that

have called on the DEC to include a health impact assessment in the final SGEIS which includesan analysis of the existing documentation of the baseline health status of the New York State

population; systematic identification and analysis of direct and indirect health effects; a

cumulative health impacts analysis that includes a reasonable worst case assessment; and anypotential measures to eliminate these impacts.

SEISMIC RISKS

An increasing amount of anecdotal and empirical evidence has pointed to a possible linkage

between high volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing and seismic activity. On November 2,2011 the drilling company Cuadrilla Resources published a report that linkages between

hydraulic fracturing and two small earthquakes in the U.K.1

Furthermore, the U.S. Geological

Survey has noted in the past that seismic activity caused by human activity has been caused bythe injection of fluids into deep wells for waste disposal and secondary recovery of oil, and the

use of reservoirs for water supplies."

Here in the United States, some have suggested that recent low-level seismic activity in Ohio,

Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas may be linked to hydraulic fracturing activities. Clearly the

emerging research on the potential linkage cannot be ignored. The revised draft SGEIS was

released long before the most recent research on this topic was published and it is anticipated thatnew research on the relationship between hydraulic fracturing and seismic activity will be

forthcoming.

It is imperative that the DEC not move forward with a final SGEIS until new peer reviewed

research and information on this linkage, including the identification by the DEC of areas in New

1http://www.cuadrillaresources.com/cms/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Final_Report_Bowland_Seismicity_02-11-

11.pdf


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York where seismic activity caused by hydraulic fracturing could potentially occur, is compiledand disseminated for public comment.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACTS

The economic assessment report that supplements the revised draft SGEIS does not adequatelyconsider the long-term impacts that hydraulic fracturing will have on the State economy beyond

the period required to extract natural gas from the earth. Key phases of the shale gas extraction

process such as land leasing, the construction of transmission systems for extracted gas, and the

potential impacts of large scale shale gas exports on local and global markets have goneunstudied. Furthermore, the economic assessment report routinely fails to assess several worst

case scenarios, in many cases examining only the positive potential outcomes that could result

from hydraulic fracturing.

Finally, internal documents reportedly circulated among members of the DECs Hydraulic

Fracturing Advisory Panel indicating that the DEC will require 226 additional staff membersover the next five years to properly regulate hydraulic fracturing in New York State are notincluded in the economic assessment report. According to some reports, the DEC has lost some

806 full time employees since 2008, I am remain deeply concerned that State government may

not have the necessary resources to adequately staff the DEC and properly enforce the finalSGEIS.

CONCLUSION

The Manhattan Borough Presidents Office reviewed the DECs revised draft Supplemental

Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS). We respectfully urge DEC to prohibit allforms of natural gas drilling in the New York City watershed and to substantially increase the

buffer zones for all high-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing surrounding New York Citys

subsurface water delivery infrastructure. We also urge DEC to establish mandatory regulationsrelated to hazardous waste disposal, human health impacts, seismic risks and socio-economic

impacts as previously described.

It has been approximately forty-two months since authorizing legislation set the prospect of

hydraulic fracturing in motion in New York State. Since that time the Manhattan Borough

Presidents Office has monitored this type of gas drilling in other states and nations and theresults have not been encouraging. The potential for leaks, spills, contaminations and explosions

to poison drinking water supplies in New York have not yet been adequately mitigated by the

drilling industry. The litany of recent incidents at drilling sites in Pennsylvania speaks for

themselves. Based on the revised draft SGEIS, the DEC has not mitigated these risks either.

At this time, it is clear that high volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing would be unsafe

anywhere in New York State. This issue is far too important to be rushed. Natural gas hasbeen trapped in the Marcellus Shale for 380 million years and will still be there after the

technology used for high volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing matures. I urge the DEC not to

permit hydraulic fracturing anywhere in New York State until the drilling technology used forhigh volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing can be proven to be safe.

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