TESTIMONY OF EILEEN HAMLIN, STATEWIDE BOARD MEMBER

CITIZEN ACTION OF NEW YORK

TO THE NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION ON HYDRAULIC

FRACTURINGNOVEMBER 17, 2011

(Binghamton Hearing)

For more information, contact:

Bob Cohen, Esq., Policy Director Citizen Action of New York and Public Policy and Education Fund94 Central AvenueAlbany, NY 12206(518) 465-4600 (ext. 104)bcohen@citizenactionny.orgwww.citizenactionny.org

Representatives of the New York State Department of Environmental

Conservation (DEC): my name is Eileen Hamlin. I am a statewide board member of

Citizen Action of New York, a membership organization that advocates for social,

racial, economic and environmental justice with chapters or affiliates in seven

communities throughout New York State. I also chair Citizen Action’s Southern Tier

chapter.

For the reasons I discuss below, Citizen Action is totally opposed to hydraulic

fracturing, or “hydrofracking” in New York State. However, today I speak not just as a

representative of Citizen Action’s over 20,000 members, but as a thirty-year resident

of Broome County whose quality of life will be seriously harmed by this practice. My

own story should stand as a dramatic example as to why the second draft of the

Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (the “draft EIS”) is completely

insufficient and that DEC should not allow hydrofracking in the Marcellus Shale.

I. Overview of Our Concerns and the Response in the SGEIS

The short time allowed for testimony at these hearings of course does not

permit me to fully address the issues presented by hydrofracking in New York State

and the proposed regulations. Therefore, I would focus on a few distinct concerns

today.

First, the draft EIS has not addressed the numerous and complex health and

environmental risks represented by hydrofracking to residents of the region. As a New

York Times article recently summarized, “a well can produce over a million gallons of

wastewater that is often laced with highly corrosive salts, carcinogens like benzene

and radioactive elements like radium….” 1 And of course, additional chemicals are

added to the wastewater by the hydrofracking process itself. Since the exact

composition of the so called “produced” water is a trade secret, it is clear that DEC

cannot assure the public the process can be made safe. The lack of a public health

risk assessment alone makes the draft EIS fatally flawed.

As the Sierra Club and others have pointed out, the ban on fracking in the New

York City and Syracuse watersheds alone amounts to an admission by DEC that the

1 Ian Urbina, “Regulation Lax as Gas Wells’ Tainted Water Hits Rivers,” New York Times (February 26, 2011).

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risks of this process are unacceptable. Simply put, if the sum total of drilling activity

and the movement of millions of gallons of potentially hazardous waste is a danger to

those who in the New York City and Syracuse regions, I cannot see why it can be

justified in other parts of the state. One standard should apply to water resources

throughout the state.

Second, the draft EIS has not adequately considered the impact of large-scale

hydrofracking on local resources such as municipal waste water treatment facilities

and roads throughout upstate New York, as well as the full economic impacts on local

communities. The draft EIS has failed to address the inadequate capacity of publicly

owned treatment works which will potentially receive millions of gallons of drilling

wastewater. To this we must add the inevitable increased wear and tear on local

roads and the increased traffic, noise and demands on local services like housing and

emergency response systems. We can also expect that hydrofracking will hurt the

state’s vital tourism industry. Local governments in upstate New York cannot afford

these increased economic burdens on top of their current crushing financial

obligations: from maintaining social services to pension obligations.

Third, we simply do not believe that the state government will be able to meet

the enormous regulatory burden necessary to protect the public from the hazards of

hydrofracking, especially in this tight economic climate. Hundreds of new DEC

inspectors will be required, at an estimated cost of up to $25 million to next year’s

general fund state budget. Given the resistance of the Legislature and the Governor

to generating new state tax revenues, we simply are not confident that funding will be

found to adequately protect the public from the known hazards of this dangerous new

industry.

II. The Impact on Landowners Like Myself in the Southern Tier

And finally, we cannot forgot the impact on homeowners and landowners like

myself. DEC has projected that there will be 21,000 wells in Broome and Tioga

Counties alone. That number of wells will cause serious impacts on landowners and

other residents who happen to live near to drill sites. My situation is a perfect

example of this, as the neighbors on all sides of my home and land will grant drilling

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rights. I am extremely concerned about the possibility of the leaking of wastewater

fluid from gas wells and open waste pits onto my land and into my pond, endangering

my well and water supply. I fear that I and my husband will have to move from the

home we have lived in for three decades, and should we have to sell, it will be at a

severely reduced price due to the fear of prospective buyers to locate near where

drilling is occurring, and the fear or unwillingness of banks to finance the sale.

On behalf of myself and Citizen Action, I ask that the state totally reexamine its

shockingly misdirected moves towards hydrofracking before the environmental and

economic damage to our state becomes irreparable.

Thank you once again for scheduling these hearings and for the opportunity to

testify.

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