NY DEC Comment Period For SGEIS on Fracking Regulations is Fast Approaching

Please find below the latest Press Release from Catskill Citizens...the deadline for submitting public comments on the fundamentally flawed and incomplete Hydraulic Fracturing SGEIS is fast approaching, and we need every man, woman and child in the state of New York to speak up in opposition to it.  Rather than ramble on, shall let Catskill Citizens Press Release speak for itself...PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE submit your comments on this important document that will negatively impact all of our lives.

DEADLINE APPROACHES! 

In less than two weeks the public comment period of the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement will draw to a close.   After that, fracking can get underway in New York State as soon as the DEC issues a final SGEIS. 

But before the DEC can do that, it is required to read and address all the public comments it receives - and that means we can hold off fracking by burying the DEC in comments!

Do your part today by submitting written comments to the DEC.  We've made it easy for you by providing you with fifteen different letters you can submit.   Send one or more of these letters, or use the open source website 2011 SGEIS Flaws(NY) and our Newsroom and Learn More sections of our website to find the information you'll need to craft your own comments.

ONE MORE PUBLIC HEARING

The DEC's public hearings on the Draft SGEIS were a disgrace.  The department provided just four hearings throughout the entire state, and, not surprisingly, many people travelled for miles to attend hearings only to be turned away at the door.

To provide the public with another opportunity to speak out about the Draft, Catskill Citizens partnered with several other organizations to sponsor an additional public hearing to be held at the OKUN Theatre at SUNY-Delhi in Delhi on Saturday January 7th from 1-5 PM.

All are welcome to speak and their remarks will be transcribed and submitted to the DEC as a part of the official record of comments on the Draft.  For more information contact: info@catskillcitizens.org or call 845 468 7063.

MARTENS ADMITS FLAWS IN DRAFT, CALLS FOR REWRITE.
CATSKILL CITIZENS CALLS FOR AN EXTENDED PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD                    

Just weeks before the public comment period is due to end, DEC Commissioner Martens admitted that the socioeconomic portion of the Draft SGEIS is "a little thin" and needs to be revised to do a better job treating subjects such as emergency response and housing.

In response, economist Jannette Barth, Ph.D., wrote a letter on behalf of Catskill Citizens calling on the DEC to extend the public comment period so New Yorkers can consider the revised socioeconomic study.  Dr. Barth's letter has been cosigned by more than one hundred others, including over sixty organizations and many elected officials

                     

For more information email info@catskillcitizens.org or call (845) 468 7063

Two out of three people who find out about fracking think the risks aren't worth the rewards.

Public awareness is the key to our success, so spread the word!
                   

Please donate to Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy.

First of Four Fracking Hearings Being Held in Albany Today, as State Government Gives LIP SERVICE to Concerned Citizens

Leave no doubt about it...baring a miracle, the State of New York, its government, its elected officials HAVE SOLD US OUT to the deep financial pockets, the financial donations to campaign coiffures that the Natural Gas Industry, Chesapeake Energy, Exxon and other Hydro Fracturing earth despoilers have been doling out.

It does not matter that most citizens are not buying the propaganda campaign Exxon has been waging in our rural communities, does not matter that the majority of New Yorker's will take fresh, safe drinking water over Natural Gas being sucked out of the ground and exported to China every time, the EPA, our turncoat Governor Cuomo have decided to line their own collective and individual pockets with the same silver with which Judas lined his own at the expense of our health, our clean drinking water, and our pristine rural communities.

Today's Albany hearing is Political Kabuki Dancing at its finest, our politicians putting lipstick on the pig as they sit around looking important, listening to hand picked speakers, knowing that the rubber stamping in favor of the Natural Gas industry wishes has already begun, once again the health and safety of the states citizens being callously sacrificed on the altar of corporate greed. Safe clean drinking water, the health of our children and grandchildren nothing more than collateral damage, our lives, our health an acceptable trade off when compared to the fossil fuels that can be removed from under our lands in the name of a transitional energy source, that under a best case scenario, will only last us another 15-20 years.

Let us be clear...giving citizen stakeholders a scant 90 days to submit comments on a document that is some 1500 pages in length is woefully inadequate, the comment period being kept deliberately short in an attempt to silence our voices, deny us our opportunity to be plugged into and a part of a decision that will affect in a negative fashion every New Yorker's life.

Let us be CLEAR...scheduling just four public meetings in the entire state of New York is inadequate to give citizens a true opportunity to SPEAK THEIR MIND on this issue...those four public hearings are even more inadequate in scope when you look at how the process of those hearings works. Public Officials, Industry Spokespersons, and local community VIP's are always given the first opportunity to be heard...most of those folks ARE ALREADY BOUGHT AND OWNED by the Natural Gas Industry. The rest of us peons are shuffled to the end of the list, and most of us never get heard, the hearing board announcing, "We're sorry, but we are running out of time, we we will hear four more speakers, then the rest of you are welcome to submit your comments in writing.

If you visit the public comments submission page, you see our rights being further curtailed. We are told that our comments should be supported with scientific support...uhhh...could someone please explain to us AVERAGE CITIZENS how we are supposed to digest a 1500 page document, find scientific support for our comments, and have it all together and submitted to the DEC in just 90 days? We are average lower and middle class citizens for the most part. We have families, we have jobs, and as much as the DEC may disagree, we do have to sleep. The DEC, and every other department of government involved in the writing of this document, every member of the Natural Gas industry have the luxury of working on this document, submitting comments on it as a job, are getting paid...however, most ground zero citizens who will be forced to live with the health risks and quality of life issues from Hydraulic Fracturing do not have that luxury, cannot spend eight hours a day, five days a week study the document, understanding it, and doing the research necessary to make scientifically supported comments for or against Hydraulic Fracturing.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- The state Assembly is holding a hearing to receive public comment on the Department of Environmental Conservation's permitting guidelines for natural gas drilling in the lucrative Marcellus Shale region of southern New York.

Environmental Conservation Committee Chair Robert Sweeney and committee members will take testimony in Albany starting at 9:30 a.m. Thursday.

Among those scheduled to testify are DEC Commissioner Joe Martens and New York City Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Carter Strickland.

DEC has scheduled four public hearings on the proposed permit guidelines and regulations between Nov. 16 and Nov. 30. They'll be held in Dansville, Binghamton, Loch Sheldrake, and New York City.

I would encourage every citizen to speak their voice on this issue....start by formally requesting an extension of time to comment on the proposed permit guidelines and regulations, asking for additional public hearings in your communities. Contact the folks at Catskill Citizens, volunteer, put up signs in your yards, get bumper stickers, find out where protests are planned and attend them....we here in Sullivan County will be one of the hardest hit communities if companies like Exxon and Chesapeake Energy are allowed to use Hydraulic Fracturing to drill for natural gas they have already sold to China.

Support The Efforts To Ban FRACKING This Saturday Night September 17th

Forget fighting city hall...we are in a fight against the millionaires and billionaires that ARE THE GAS INDUSTRY, and they are spending tens of millions of dollars blanketing our airways with a pro-fracking propaganda campaign. Catskill Citizens is a small not for profit organization trying to fight the proverbial good fight, and they need our support. This Saturday night, September 17th they are holding a fund raiser that sounds like a lot of fun...I encourage you to attend if you find yourself free for the evening...or, if you are busy, consider sending them a donation in the mail.

We Need Your Cash to Fight Big Gas

Join us for our fourth annual fundraiser this Saturday (September 17th) at the Delaware Youth Center in Callicoon New York. The potluck dinner party gets underway at 6 PM and will feature live music, a raffle and silent auction.

Performers include Sean Zigmund, Sara Hulse, Most Ambitious Sloth, Bears in my Living Room and The Drummers with Kazzrie Jaxen.

Suggested donation $10. Bring a dish to share & BYOB

Delaware Valley Youth Center
8 Creamery Road
Callicoon New York

For more information email info@catskillcitizens.org or call (845) 468 7063

Two out of three people who find out about fracking think the risks aren't worth the rewards.

Public awareness is the key to our success, so spread the word!

Please donate to Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy.

Slow Down FRACKING....Ask For Extension of Comment Period

Just in from our friends in the Fight to Keep Fracking and its insidious environmental damages out of our communities. Tomorrow the fight to save our county, and the Greater Catskills from the environmental and health ills that come along with Hydraulic Fracturing (Fracking) begins when the state of NY releases its fundamentally flawed, industry created Revised Draft SGEIS...it is imperiative we be given ADEQUATE TIME to read and understand this 1000 page document. Below is the Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy Press Release...please, weigh in on this IMPORTANT ISSUE.

PRESS RELEASE



Extend the Public Comment Period

On Wednesday, the NYS DEC will release the last section of the Revised Draft SGEIS on the Oil, Gas and Solution Mining Regulatory Program which already runs to well over one thousand pages. While there's abundant evidence that hydrofracking should be prohibited, it's unlikely that we'll see a ban in New York any time soon. In the short term, we must do everything we can to forestall unsafe drilling while continuing to build public awareness, so that elected officials will eventually be forced to do their job and protect the public.

Right now, this means focusing our efforts on getting the NYS DEC to give the public ample time to read, analyze and comment on the Draft. Please take action and demand at least 180 days to read, analyze, and comment on this highly technical document.

An extended public comment period will give us time to formulate tens of thousands of substantive comments, which the DEC is required by law to read and address. Comments submitted on the first Draft SGEIS occupied the DEC for more than a year. We can do it again!

Commenting on the Draft: A Workshop Conducted by Roger Downs

Residents of the Upper Delaware region are invited to attend a free workshop led by Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter's Roger Downs. Roger is one of our most knowledgeable experts on the draft SGEIS, and with his guidance, ordinary citizens will be able to submit the type of comments that will force the DEC to rethink its disastrousplan to frack New York. Don't miss this chance to make a difference. Attend the two-hour workshop:

Saturday, September 3 10 a.m.-Noon



The Old North Branch Inn

North Branch, New York

To RSVP, and for more information, call (845) 468-7063, or email info@catskillcitizens.org

Two out of three people who find out about fracking think the risks aren't worth the rewards.



Public awareness is the key to our success, so spread the word!

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