The court’s decision reaffirmed the long-standing practice of New York towns exercising their zoning authority against heavy industry, and in favor of local protection of residents and existing industries, such as agriculture, wineries, tourism and recreational land uses. Without municipal zoning rights, corporations could drill and frack near homes, schools, hospitals, and religious institutions.

This is only round one in the fight. We anticipate that Plaintiff Anschutz Exploration will appeal the decision. A similar action brought by Cooperstown Holstein Corporation against the Town of Middlefield also remains pending before Judge Donald Cerio of the Sixth Judicial District New York Supreme Court.

Riverkeeper and other organizations will continue to fight to uphold municipal rights. Meanwhile, we need you to urge your State Senator to pass the Home Rule Bill, S5380, which would legislatively guarantee your municipality’s right to protect you from fracking! You can find your Senator’s contact information here.

Read Riverkeeper’s statement, and find out what you can do to take action today!

Last summer, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed New York’s first-ever uniform water use management legislation, closing the loophole that long allowed high-volume water withdrawers to pump large amounts of water out of New York’s water bodies without regard for protections to natural resources and aquatic life. The new law, which took effect Feb. 15, 2012, mandates that operators of oil and gas production facilities, power plants, golf courses, snow-making facilities, mining operations, water bottlers and other commercial and industrial entities seeking to withdraw more than 100,000 gallons-a-day must first secure a Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) permit. Existing water withdrawers will be entitled to an initial permit, for a limited term.

Since high-volume hydraulic fracturing (or fracking) associated with natural gas production requires millions of gallons of water per well, fracking and water withdrawal issues are inextricably related. This legislation should provide crucial protections to the state’s water bodies and aquatic life, which are currently under threat from the prospect of fracking moving forward in New York.

To implement this law, DEC proposed draft regulations that would establish the water withdrawal permitting program on Nov. 23, 2011. Riverkeeper filed comments on these draft regulations on Feb. 6 aimed at fully protecting our water bodies from the threat of fracking and other high-volume water uses. Our comments emphasize that while the draft regulations go far to establish a solid program to oversee large-scale water withdrawals, there are a number of significant changes that must be made before they can be considered adequately protective of the environment and sustainable in the long-term. Riverkeeper urged DEC to make several changes to the regulations; our top five include:

• DEC’s proposed scheduling for issuing permits to existing water withdrawals is unacceptable. The draft regulations would allow some existing water withdrawals to withdraw water for five years at existing levels before obtaining a permit. Riverkeeper has recommended an aggressive schedule, which would require all water withdrawers to submit permit applications in the next 15 months.
• DEC should impose permit fees and fees based on consumptive use. The draft regulations fail to propose any permit application fee or fees for water usage, despite the known need for funds to implement the program.
• DEC should impose a water conservation and efficiency program. The water withdrawal legislation mandates that DEC establish a conservation and efficiency program, but the regulations fail to do so. DEC should set statewide goals for water conservation and efficiency.
• DEC should mandate water conservation. The draft regulations require each permit applicant to submit a “water conservation plan,” but the regulations are unclear as to whether water withdrawers are then required to implement that plan.
• Monitoring records should be kept with DEC, not the water withdrawer, and made available to the public upon request. The draft regulations require the water withdrawer to self-monitor and retain records of all monitoring information. By failing to require that DEC maintain its own copy of records, the draft regulations render such documents publicly inaccessible. Water withdrawers should be required to submit all monitoring records on a monthly basis to DEC and DEC should make such records easily available to the public.

Permitting of water withdrawals will only begin once DEC finalizes the regulations, so Riverkeeper has urged DEC to act swiftly to implement stringent regulations incorporating the changes identified above, in addition to the other significant deficiencies we identified in our comments.

Counties would initially determine whether to levy the tax, although a majority of municipalities could override a decision not to. The bill, in turn, preempts municipalities’ current authority in Pennsylvania to establish zoning requirements for drilling in residential neighborhoods, and dictates extremely limited maximum setbacks that will force residents to live as near as 300 feet from fracking operations, threatening their health and safety. Myron Arnowitt, the Pennsylvania director for Clean Water Action, estimates that zoning laws in 100 to 200 municipalities will be at risk of being undermined or voided if Gov. Corbett signs this legislation as anticipated.

In New York, two lawsuits challenging the authority of New York townships to zone fracking within their borders are currently pending. There are also three bills under consideration this term (A.8557/A.3245/S.5830) in the New York State Legislature which would clarify that, under the current law, New York municipalities do have the authority to dictate if and where fracking takes place within their borders.

This huge power grab by the gas industry in Pennsylvania should serve as a warning for the New York Legislature to act swiftly to pass a bill that clarifies that local governments can control fracking operations that threaten the character of their communities and the health of their residents.

If you are a New Yorker, you can look up who your State Assembly Member is here and your State Senator here. Please call them and urge them to support local control over fracking, by supporting Assembly bills A.8557/A.3245 or Senate bill S.5830.

Citizens rally against fracking on Monday, January 23, 2011, at the capitol in Albany. Photos courtesy Jessica Riehl

The day of action began with people flooding the well of the Legislative Office Building for a rally in which both Republican and Democratic elected officials voiced their strong opposition to fracking in New York. The legislators included State Senators Tony Avella, Greg Ball, and Liz Krueger, as well as Assembly Members William Colton and Robert Sweeney, among others. They were joined by three-time Academy Award®-nominated actress Debra Winger; Josh Fox, director of the Academy Award®-nominated documentary Gasland, along with a number of leaders from environmental non-profit organizations.

After the rally, volunteers headed upstairs to discuss the detrimental impacts of fracking with Senators and Assembly Members. Some elected officials pledged to oppose fracking and support alternative energy initiatives. NY Water Rangers, a coalition of environmental groups including Riverkeeper, issued a press release, including a summary of the bills, available here.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation is currently reviewing and responding to over 40,000 comments (an unprecedented number) on its most recent proposal to allow fracking in New York. This is a crucial time period to ensure the DEC will not move forward with fracking unless and until we can be sure that it can be done safely. Help us keep the pressure on Governor Cuomo! Contact him now and tell him to champion clean renewable energy sources instead of toxic fracking.

EPA is still collecting data in Dimock, and we hope that EPA will decide soon to deliver water to all of the affected residents.

The victory today in Dimock reminds us of why it is so important for New York not to rush to permit fracking. Even though the comment period on New York’s fracking proposal is over, you can still take action.

Call Governor Cuomo today – (518) 474-8390 – and tell him that you don’t want what has happened in Dimock to happen here.

Then, commit to calling him every Friday to tell him you don’t want anyone to frack with your New York water.

Riverkeeper submitted individual comments (pdf 180K) underscoring six fundamental flaws in the state’s fracking proposal that pose a major threat to the NYC Watershed and, in turn, the drinking supply for nine million of New Yorkers.

We also worked along with our coalition partners, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Earthjustice, Catskill Mountainkeeper, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, and a talented set of experienced experts to prepare over 600 pages of detailed technical comments (pdf 9MB) calling out some of the most significant deficiencies in the state’s draft fracking review and regulations. These range from the state’s failure to adequately address toxic and hazardous wastewater to its complete omission of the negative economic impacts associated with fracking.

The coalition also prepared detailed comments calling out the legal and policy problems (pdf 3.6MB) with DEC’s fracking proposal.

NYSDEC is obligated to review and prepare responses to all of the issues raised in the comments, which is likely to take months. In the meantime, there is still much you can do as we focus our efforts on persuading state legislators to take action on fracking.

Riverkeeper and its partners are organizing a Fracking Day of Action to lobby New York lawmakers at the state capital in Albany at the opening of the legislative session. Register, and plan to join us on Monday, Jan. 23, to tell the state legislature what you think of fracking.

The New York Water Rangers campaign is supported by a network of organizations working to protect the rights and health of New Yorkers and one of our most precious environmental resources-water-from the dangers of irresponsible, poorly regulated, and under-inspected natural gas exploration and development. The campaign is supported by Catskill Mountainkeeper, Citizens Campaign for the Environment, Earthjustice, EARTHWORKS Oil & Gas Accountability Project, Environment New York, Fleased, Natural Resources Defense Council, Otsego 2000, and Riverkeeper. Visit www.CleanWaterNotDirtyDrilling.org to learn more.

Image on right courtesy WVSORO.org

Comment on DEC fracking proposals by Jan. 11
The state has drafted a deeply flawed environmental impact study and regulations for fracking in New York, and state officials need to hear from the public—now! Review our 10 Major Flaws with New York’s Fracking Plan, and then see our commenting guide to do your part. The comment deadline is Wednesday, Jan. 11 and comments being sent in the mail must be postmarked by this date.

Host a fracking comment party
Magnify your impact by gathering your friends and colleagues for a fracking comment party. Share information from our fact sheet or public presentation on fracking. Just make sure all comments reach the DEC by Jan. 11.

Join the Fracking Day of Action
Riverkeeper and its partners are organizing a Fracking Day of Action to lobby New York lawmakers at the state capital in Albany. Register, and plan to join us on Monday, Jan. 23.

Donate to Riverkeeper
Contribute to Riverkeeper’s Watershed Program to support our legal team as they respond in detail to the DEC’s voluminous fracking proposals. We pledge to keep fighting until we are confident that both our water quality and our quality of life are protected.

You have until Jan. 11, 2012 to submit your comments on New York’s fracking proposal. A great way to use the time between now and then is to host a comment writing party with your community, so you can share ideas and educate others who might not be familiar with NY’s proposal.

Here’s our how to:
(1) Invite friends, family, or community members to your home or a local gathering space to learn more about fracking and how to submit comments on New York’s fracking proposal. You can learn more about fracking by reviewing our presentation.

(2) Distribute some how-to’s at the party. Riverkeeper has published a comment guide, fact sheet on fracking and a list of the Top 10 Flaws with NY’s Fracking Proposal.

(3) Bring some paper, pens, envelopes and stamps for people to send their comments. Please mail your comments by Saturday, Jan. 7 to ensure their timely delivery by Jan. 11. If you are tech-savvy, you can also invite people to bring their laptops so that they can submit their comments online.

Why you should act now:
Albany could permit companies to frack in NY starting as early as 2012— and we now know the horror story that can result from fracking activities. Families in Dimock, PA have had their wells destroyed by fracking and have yet to have their water restored.

Have questions or plan on hosting a fracking comment party? Contact Riverkeeper Membership & Events Manager Dan Shapley at dshapley@riverkeeper.org. We’d love to post good stories about your efforts on the blog or just hear what you have planned.