Two HRW Petitions: first is copy and paste, second is online.
To Governor Cuomo, Legislators, and the Department of Environmental Conservation:
I am the __(title) _____ of ________(name of business)______ located at.______(address)____. I am vitally concerned about a wide variety of negative effects that hydrofracking will have upon my/our community and our state, which consequences include, but are not limited to, the possibilities of: Water Contamination, of wells, ground water, streams, reservoirs, aquifers; Air pollution, occasioned by emissions from massively increased truck travel on our roads, from toxic emissions from waste water and the inevitable spills, from the emissions from every apparatus associated with the processing of the gas, and from methane leaks occasioned by the drilling itself and along pipelines; Radon and Radioactive contamination of water, air, and land, occasioned by the waste water coming back out of each well and possible migration from the fracturing itself; Truck Travel, increased by millions of more trucks, tearing up our roads 24/7/365, polluting our air, causing massive traffic tie-ups, and first responder problems with the accidents and spills of both the toxic fracking fluids on the way to the wellsite, and Toxic, potentially Radioactive, Waste in the form of waste water and other waste materials being hauled away from drill sites; Noise and Light Pollution; occasioned by the flaring, the burn-off of excess methane, and the 24-hour-a-day lighting of the drill sites and accessory parking and storage sites, from the trucks themselves, traveling 24/7/365, and the intense sound from the stations required always thereafter to keep the gas flowing along the pipelines: The Pipelines, seizing our land by public domain, destroying private property and scenic beauty; The Loss of Scenic Beauty and Recreation, which provide our area and state with billions of dollars of income each year from recreation, tourism, and hunting and fishing; The effect on Agriculture, contamination effects on both animals and crops, and on our ability to sell pollution-free milk, beef, fruit, vegetables, wine, industries that bring in more billions each year; The Effects On Real Estate and our ability to sell our property, as more and more banks, plus HUD and Federal lending organizations, declare that they will not lend money on property that contains a well site OR on surrounding properties, or as banks call the mortgages on such properties, and as Insurance Companies refuse to insure same, or jack rates sky-high; Societal Problems, occasioned by drill site teams brought in from outside the state, some of them employing non-documented workers, with increased crime, which other areas have experienced with the invasion of this sometimes rough element, by massive new Health Care costs occasioned by the exposure of our people to chemical and other contamination, by Mental and Emotional Stress occasioned by water, air, light, and noise pollution, by Inter-personal Frictions, occasioned by the stress and by differing opinions and goals among our people, by an increase in Homelessness as people are put out of their rental units in favor of the transient workers who have allotments like $1500 a month for housing, by the increase of children sent to Foster Care, and increased Child Abuse due to family tensions and problems, all recorded in places like Pennsylvania; Repair Costs on Infrastructure. as roads, bridges, culverts are destroyed by millions of 80,000 pound trucks; Flight From the State,
Loss of the Tax Base, Sky-rocketing Property Taxes, the 2% Cap Trodden Underfoot, as a dwindling tax base has to pay more and more.
For all or some of the above reasons, I/we consider that my/our business would be put in definite jeopardy, and that the admission of a hydrofracking industry that is totally outside the law would put stress on my/our business in a range of mild to terminal. The admission of the hydrofracking industry into this state is totally unnecessary, benefiting no one but a relatively small number of landowners, though massively benefiting energy corporations, many of which are international corporations, whose only care is profits for their shareholders. I/we are against hydrofracking in New York State and I//we ask our governor and our legislators to protect the health, the environment, the peace and tranquility, the livelihoods, and the sanity of its citizens, putting aside any imagined gains for the state, understanding instead the great devastation and destruction being contemplated, and what will in fact be enormous and unending financial costs (in health care alone) to the state, its communities, and its Taxpayer/Voters.
Respectfully submitted.
________________________________
Signature
I am the __(title) _____ of ________(name of business)______ located at.______(address)____. I am vitally concerned about a wide variety of negative effects that hydrofracking will have upon my/our community and our state, which consequences include, but are not limited to, the possibilities of: Water Contamination, of wells, ground water, streams, reservoirs, aquifers; Air pollution, occasioned by emissions from massively increased truck travel on our roads, from toxic emissions from waste water and the inevitable spills, from the emissions from every apparatus associated with the processing of the gas, and from methane leaks occasioned by the drilling itself and along pipelines; Radon and Radioactive contamination of water, air, and land, occasioned by the waste water coming back out of each well and possible migration from the fracturing itself; Truck Travel, increased by millions of more trucks, tearing up our roads 24/7/365, polluting our air, causing massive traffic tie-ups, and first responder problems with the accidents and spills of both the toxic fracking fluids on the way to the wellsite, and Toxic, potentially Radioactive, Waste in the form of waste water and other waste materials being hauled away from drill sites; Noise and Light Pollution; occasioned by the flaring, the burn-off of excess methane, and the 24-hour-a-day lighting of the drill sites and accessory parking and storage sites, from the trucks themselves, traveling 24/7/365, and the intense sound from the stations required always thereafter to keep the gas flowing along the pipelines: The Pipelines, seizing our land by public domain, destroying private property and scenic beauty; The Loss of Scenic Beauty and Recreation, which provide our area and state with billions of dollars of income each year from recreation, tourism, and hunting and fishing; The effect on Agriculture, contamination effects on both animals and crops, and on our ability to sell pollution-free milk, beef, fruit, vegetables, wine, industries that bring in more billions each year; The Effects On Real Estate and our ability to sell our property, as more and more banks, plus HUD and Federal lending organizations, declare that they will not lend money on property that contains a well site OR on surrounding properties, or as banks call the mortgages on such properties, and as Insurance Companies refuse to insure same, or jack rates sky-high; Societal Problems, occasioned by drill site teams brought in from outside the state, some of them employing non-documented workers, with increased crime, which other areas have experienced with the invasion of this sometimes rough element, by massive new Health Care costs occasioned by the exposure of our people to chemical and other contamination, by Mental and Emotional Stress occasioned by water, air, light, and noise pollution, by Inter-personal Frictions, occasioned by the stress and by differing opinions and goals among our people, by an increase in Homelessness as people are put out of their rental units in favor of the transient workers who have allotments like $1500 a month for housing, by the increase of children sent to Foster Care, and increased Child Abuse due to family tensions and problems, all recorded in places like Pennsylvania; Repair Costs on Infrastructure. as roads, bridges, culverts are destroyed by millions of 80,000 pound trucks; Flight From the State,
Loss of the Tax Base, Sky-rocketing Property Taxes, the 2% Cap Trodden Underfoot, as a dwindling tax base has to pay more and more.
For all or some of the above reasons, I/we consider that my/our business would be put in definite jeopardy, and that the admission of a hydrofracking industry that is totally outside the law would put stress on my/our business in a range of mild to terminal. The admission of the hydrofracking industry into this state is totally unnecessary, benefiting no one but a relatively small number of landowners, though massively benefiting energy corporations, many of which are international corporations, whose only care is profits for their shareholders. I/we are against hydrofracking in New York State and I//we ask our governor and our legislators to protect the health, the environment, the peace and tranquility, the livelihoods, and the sanity of its citizens, putting aside any imagined gains for the state, understanding instead the great devastation and destruction being contemplated, and what will in fact be enormous and unending financial costs (in health care alone) to the state, its communities, and its Taxpayer/Voters.
Respectfully submitted.
________________________________
Signature
HRW Online Petition to the Governor - go HERE to sign.
July 4, 2011
Dear Governor Cuomo,
With the DEC announcement that Hydrofracking can be done “safely” and its’ plan to divide New York State into protected and unprotected zones and populations – we urgently appeal to you for a state-wide ban on Hydraulic Fracturing (fracking).
The hydrofracking process can not be done safely under the current technology and the current institutional regulatory capacity of the state - due to the vast scope of hydrofracking, as it is envisioned. The sheer quantities, types and geographic reach of the chemicals used in this process, should make this conclusion more then evident.
To be clear Governor, it is your moral obligation to protect ALL of New Yorkers from this horrid process of shale gas extraction called hydrofracking. It poisons air, water and soil. It has been scientifically proven to produce sever health effects in people and animals. It has categorically been shown to reduce property values and have overall negative affects on local economies.
Given the complexity of the geology and hydrology in New York State, the “protections” offered to New York City and Syracuse by the DEC may not even exist in actuality. Nevertheless, the fact that the DEC frames their regulations in terms of special carve-outs for these two metropolitan areas is a double standard that we in the rest of New York State, who are in the crosshairs of drilling, find insulting.
This is your chance to prove that you are on the side of ALL New Yorkers, Governor Cuomo. Please do the right and just thing: ban hydrofracking in New York.
Sincerely,
Hydro Relief Web - Based in Oneida County. Member of the Coalition to Protect New York
Dear Governor Cuomo,
With the DEC announcement that Hydrofracking can be done “safely” and its’ plan to divide New York State into protected and unprotected zones and populations – we urgently appeal to you for a state-wide ban on Hydraulic Fracturing (fracking).
The hydrofracking process can not be done safely under the current technology and the current institutional regulatory capacity of the state - due to the vast scope of hydrofracking, as it is envisioned. The sheer quantities, types and geographic reach of the chemicals used in this process, should make this conclusion more then evident.
To be clear Governor, it is your moral obligation to protect ALL of New Yorkers from this horrid process of shale gas extraction called hydrofracking. It poisons air, water and soil. It has been scientifically proven to produce sever health effects in people and animals. It has categorically been shown to reduce property values and have overall negative affects on local economies.
Given the complexity of the geology and hydrology in New York State, the “protections” offered to New York City and Syracuse by the DEC may not even exist in actuality. Nevertheless, the fact that the DEC frames their regulations in terms of special carve-outs for these two metropolitan areas is a double standard that we in the rest of New York State, who are in the crosshairs of drilling, find insulting.
This is your chance to prove that you are on the side of ALL New Yorkers, Governor Cuomo. Please do the right and just thing: ban hydrofracking in New York.
Sincerely,
Hydro Relief Web - Based in Oneida County. Member of the Coalition to Protect New York