draft SGEIS must be expanded

Dear Ms. Enck:

Because of the Halliburton loophole, and because the EPA does not issue natural gas hydrofracking permits and is barred from regulating natural gas activities pursuant to multiple federal statutes, at the moment it is only local bodies such as New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation that can hold gas companies accountable. This makes the EPA’s ongoing examination of the industry’s claims for the safety of its practices crucial. The environment and safety of huge tracts of this region need protection from the reckless, profit-driven urgency of an industry with an extremely bad reputation. The chemicals used in hydrofracking include, for starters, known carcinogens as well as other substances which cause neurological disorders.

It is urgent that the gas industry be brought back into compliance with the provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act before irreparable harm is done, and the EPA study can be the first step in this process Without safeguards, there will be no environment to protect, just an industrial wasteland of ruined farms and injured people. Ian Urbina’s report in The New York Times of February 27 spells this out in painful detail: flowback no one knows what to do with, the oil industry’s depraved indifference, a political climate running against regulation of any kind. EPA intervention in the deliberations of the DEC could influence the outcome of those deliberations for the best. The scope of its draft SGEIS must be expanded to include additional concerns, notably how to manage gas drilling wastewater.

Yours,

Michael O