Join Fracking Fridays!

Gas drilling well in PA. Photo: Jay Simpson This Friday, March 23, call Governor Cuomo– (518) 474-8390 – and tell him you support an independent health impact assessment on fracking in New York. DEC chose not to do a health analysis for its fracking proposal, despite the growing body of evidence from across the country that people are getting sick from living near fracking operations.  To fill this gap, the NYS Assembly has proposed mandating and funding an independent health impact assessment on fracking in the NY State Budget for 2013. Please call the Governor at 518-474-8390 today and leave the following message: My name is ______ and I live in _____. I am concerned that no one has evaluated how fracking will affect the health of NYS residents, and strongly support the state mandating and funding an independent health impact assessment on fracking in the NY State Budget. Background: The NYS Assembly has included $100,000 in its budget resolution for a study by a school of public health within the state university system that would follow a model recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Prior to the study, the school would prepare a document outlining its plans and the public would have the opportunity to comment and suggest changes. The Assembly’s action was in response to numerous warnings from the medical community that this analysis is needed.  In October 2011, 250 physicians and medical professionals wrote a letter to Governor Cuomo calling for a comprehensive public health impact assessment.  In December 2011, Dr. Sandra Steingraber, Lois Gibbs and Fran Drescher echoed that call with nineteen NY-based cancer advocacy groups in a letter addressed to Governor Cuomo asking for the same assessment .  Most recently, Christopher Portier, the Director of the National Center for Environmental Health at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia stated, "More research is needed for us to understand public health impacts from natural gas drilling and new gas drilling technologies." Please call the Governor today!