Cuomo Letter Final

Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo Governor of New York State The Capitol Albany, New York 12224 June 27, 2012 Dear Governor Cuomo, We are New York State scientists and medical professionals writing to express our alarm at your remarks during a June 22nd radio broadcast in which you signal an imminent end to the review process of high-volume hydraulic fracturing and allege that “facts and logic and science and information” are not currently informing the ongoing conversation about fracking. To the contrary, we, the undersigned members of the scientific and medical communities, have continuously provided facts, logic, science, and information about fracking throughout the four-year review process. We have shared our research findings, summarized evidence, submitted hundreds of comments, and provided oral and written testimony. The problem is not a lack of scientific discourse. The problem is that the voice of science is not being heard. Where facts, logic, science, and information are missing is within the revised draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (sGEIS) itself. This planning document suffers from arbitrary, biased, unscientific analysis and multiple data gaps. We concur with the findings of the recent report issued by Physicians, Scientists, and Engineers for Healthy Energy and Environmental Working Group, which identifies the ten most serious deficiencies in this draft plan.* Namely, • • • • • • • • •

No empirical scientific data on drilling and fracking risks Drilling allowed too close to sensitive water supplies No plan for disposing of millions of gallons of toxic wastewater Radioactive pollution from drilling underestimated Outdated studies to estimate greenhouse gas emissions from shale gas operations No assessment of the impact of shale gas development on New Yorkers’ health Little basic data on the location of underground water supplies, faults and flood plains No review of siting plans and risks of potentially explosive natural gas pipelines No provisions to protect sensitive areas from vertical drilling and lower-volume hydraulic fracturing • Too few inspectors to enforce scientifically rigorous regulations

*

http://static.ewg.org/pdf/Top-Ten-NY-Drilling-Problems.pdf

We insist that the above ten scientific deficiencies be comprehensively addressed and resolved before any final sGEIS is released. We further insist that the resolution of these deficiencies determine the decision to permit or prohibit hydraulic fracturing in New York State. Otherwise, we will be forced to conclude the frenzied, heedless, selfinterested emotions of a gold rush—and not “facts and logic and science and information”—are the guiding factors in the final determination on fracking. In bringing to your attention once more the serious scientific flaws in New York’s drilling plan, we also restate our opposition to shale gas fracturing demonstration projects in Broome, Tioga, Chemung, Chenango, and Steuben counties or any other areas of New York. Communities are not laboratories, and the human beings who live there— including children, pregnant women, and elderly adults—are not experimental subjects. If the gross scientific inadequacies of the revised draft sGEIS document are not resolved, then no final draft can be released and no decision can be made. We ask that you listen to science. Scientists and medical professionals are available at any time to answer your questions and provide input. Sincerely, Larysa Dyrszka, MD, Bethel, New York Sandra Steingraber, PhD Distinguished Scholar in Residence Department of Environmental Studies Ithaca College Each signatory of this letter has significant professional experience in health care, engineering, environmental science, and/or public health research. We write to you as individuals and our professional affiliations are listed for your information only. You should not infer any endorsement of our viewpoint by our affiliated institutions. Additional signatories: • • • • • • • • Charles B Howarth, MD, Bassett Healthcare Network, Fly Creek, NY Russell A. Charif, PhD, Research Team Leader, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY Michelle Bamberger, DVM, Veterinarian/Researcher, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY Perry Sheffield, MD, Pediatrician, New York, NY George Grills, PhD, Director of Operations of Core Facilities in the Life Sciences and Director of Advanced Technology Assessment, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY Chris Callinan, Environmental Scientist / Watershed Technician, Rock Tavern, NY Jordan Lewart, DMD, Dentist, Orangeburg, NY Stephen S. Schneider, MD, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon, Deposit, NY

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Maya Shetreat-Klein, MD, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY Robert A. Schulman, MD, Callicoon Center, NY Michael O'Brien, MD, Clinical Instructor of Medicine, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY Adam Law, MD, IthacaMed, Ithaca, NY Dan DeZarn, MFA, Associate Professor, SUNY Geneseo, Geneseo, NY Laura Stenzler, MS, Lab Manager, Evolutionary Biology Program, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY Sandra G. Podulka, MS, Biologist, Brooktondale, NY Jennifer Waldron, MS, NP, McDonough, NY Paul Bermanzohn, MD, Rosendale, NY Anthony R. Ingraffea, PhD, Dwight C. Baum Professor of Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY Nicholas A. Kaldis, PhD, Associate Professor, Binghamton University, Vestal, NY Marilyn Gaddis Ross, PhD, Professor, SUNY Binghamton, Binghamton, NY Siobhan Hart, PhD, Assistant Professor, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY Cynthia Connine, PhD, Professor of Psychology, Binghamton University, Endicott, NY Peter Knuepfer, PhD, Associate Professor of Geology, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY Charles Geisler, PhD, Professor, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY Richard A. Young, PhD, Distinguished Service Professor Geology, SUNY Geneseo, Geneseo, NY Barbara D. Lynch, PhD, Visiting Associate Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology, Caroline, NY Ruth M Van Dyke, PhD, Associate Professor, Binghamton University, Vestal, NY Peter Davies, PhD, Professor, Cornell University, Dryden, NY J.B. Heiser, PhD, Senior Lecturer, Retired, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY Amy Sheldon, PhD, Assistant Professor, SUNY Geneseo, Geneseo, NY Douglas A. Robinson, Jr., PhD, Assistant Professor of Biology, Mount Saint Mary College, Newburgh, NY Warren Davis, PhD, Laboratory Director, East Concord, NY Andrea Worthington, PhD, Professor of Biology, Siena College, Loudonville, NY Ellen Henry, PhD, Research Assistant Professor, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY John E. Titus, PhD, Associate Professor, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY Thomas R. Kulp, PhD, Assistant Professor, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY Allison Wilson, PhD, Bioscience Resource Project, Ithaca, NY John Booker, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY Haribal Meena, PhD, Ithaca, NY Carole Dennis, ScD, Associate Professor, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY

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Diane Long, Associate Professor, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY David Gould, MD, MBA, Livingston Manor, NY Teresa R. Miller, MD, Aurora, NY Ken Spaeth, MD, MPH, Environmental Health Specialist, Hastings on Hudson, NY Kathleen Nolan, MD, MSL, Director for the High Peaks, Catskill Mountainkeeper, Woodstock, NY Lisa Levine, MSN, RN, FNP, Nurse Practitioner, Great Neck, NY Al Appleton, JD, Cooper Union Sustainability Advisor, New York, NY Rhonda Peterson, MD, Almond, NY Toby G. Rossman, PhD, Professor of Environmental Medicine, NYU-Langone School of Medicine, Tuxedo, NY James C. Macmillan, MD, Ithaca, NY Mary Menapace, RN, Upstate Medical University, Syracuse NY Barbour S Warren, PhD, Trumansburg, NY Mayor Kevin Millar, CRNA, MSN, Owego, NY Rick Stahlhut MD, MPH, University of Rochester Medical, Rochester, NY Sarah Buckley, RN, BSN, CCRN, Wales, NY Julie Huntsman, DVM, Council, Town of Otsego, NY John Costello, MD, Ithaca, NY Gerri Wiley, Public Health Nurse, Owego, NY Jacque Millar, MSN, NP-C, SUNY Upstate Medical, Binghamton, NY Dr. CK Durbak, Mountainside, NY Ellen M. McHugh, MD, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Horseheads, NY Anne B. Clark, PhD, Associate Professor, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY Michelle McNamara, RN, School Nurse, Ithaca, NY Amy Freeth, MD, Bassett Healthcare Network/Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, Cooperstown, NY Gianfranco Frittelli, MD, FACS, FAAP, Skaneateles, NY Dr. Lance D. Hoffman, Environmental Engineering, Shandaken, NY Meriamne Singer, MD, New York, NY Lila Kalinich, MD, Professor, Columbia University, New York, NY Susan Allen-Gil, PhD, Full Professor, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY Arlene Bregman, DrPH, Educator, New York, NY Kelly Branigan, RN, Middlefield, NY Anthony F. DeVincentis III, MD, SUNY Upstate, Syracuse, NY Randall H. McGuire, PhD, Distinguished Professor, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY Peter Schwartz, MD, Ithaca, NY Ellen Z. Harrison, Director, Cornell Waste Management Institute, Retired, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY Heather Fiumera, PhD, Professor, Binghamton University, Vestal, NY Luke Keller, PhD, Ithaca College, Freeville/Dryden, NY Robert E. Oswald, PhD, Professor of Molecular Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

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Daria B. Crittenden, MD, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY Donna Flayhan, PhD, Director, The Lower Manhattan Public Health Project, State University of New York at New Paltz, Kingston, NY Mary Obrien, MD, Columbia University, New York, NY Holly McGregor Anderson, BS, NM, RN, Executive Director, Breast Cancer Coalition of Rochester, Rochester, NY Chris Reiber, PhD, MPH, Associate Professor, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY Victor Elinoff, MD, Binghamton, NY Jeffrey D. Snedeker, MD, Cayuga Medical Center at Ithaca, Ithaca, NY Tawn R. Feeney, Senior Speech-Language Pathologist, Rochester Hearing and Speech Center, Rochester, NY Mary Herbst, RN, MS, Grand Island, NY Coby Schultz, RN, BSN, Rochester General Hospital, Springwater, NY Andrew Gold, DDS, White Lake, NY Nancy Donnan Coleman, RN, BSN, Livonia, NY Gayle Mosher, MD, St. James Mercy Hospital, Hornell, NY Dennis C. Scheck, PhD, Professor Emeritus, San Diego State University, Spencer, NY Richard K. Miller, PhD, Professor of Obstetrics/Gynecology, of Environmental Medicine and of Pathology, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Pittsford, NY Howard Silcoff, MD, Dryden, NY Judy Bussone, RN, BSN, Dewitt, NY James T. Dalton, MD, Director of Medical Education/Designated Institutional Official, Bassett Medical Center, Cooperstown, NY Sandra J. Eleczko, DDS, Livonia, NY Joyce Duck, Nurse Practitioner, Syracuse, NY Claire Howard, Nurse Practitioner, Syracuse, NY Nina Pesante, MD, SUNY Health Sciences Center at Syracuse, Vestal, NY Kevin Maguire, MD, FACS, CWS, Dr., Bassett Healthcare System, Cooperstown, NY David Schwalb, MD, Youngsville, NY Richard Weiskopf, MD, Syracuse, NY Elizabeth Salon, Family Nurse Practitioner, Tioga County Public Health Dept., Owego, NY Rafferty Margaret, DNP, RN, MPH, New York, NY Mary Eileen Callan, Family Nurse Practitioner, Webster, NY Gay Hosmer, MPH, MCH, Ogdensburg, NY Mark Goldgeier, MD, CCD, Rochester, NY Mary Nichols, LPN, Sidney Center, NY Kim Baker, MSN, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Community Health, Albany, NY Daniel Miller, MD, New Rochelle, NY Kristine Noonan, Registered Nurse, Buffalo, NY Antoinette Kuzminski, MD, Bassett Healthcare Network, Cooperstown, NY Bill Podulka, PhD, Physicist, Caroline, NY

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Cynthia Burger, Executive Director, Medical Societies of the Counties of Broome, Otsego and Tompkins, Binghamton, NY Donna Florkiewicz, RN, Ellis Hospital, Schenectady, NY Michael Branigan, CRNA, MS, Cooperstown, NY David Wirtz, MD, MPH, SUNY, Ithaca, NY John S Davis, MD, Bassett Healthcare Network, Cooperstown, NY David O. Carpenter, MD, Director and Professor, University at Albany, Rensselaer, NY Brent White, MD, General Surgeon, Cooperstown, NY Alfred Peterson, Dr, Binghamton, NY Samantha K. Davenport, MD, Chief of Pathology, Bassett Healthcare Network, Cooperstown, NY Anne Gadomski, MD, MPH, Research Scientist and Pediatrician, Bassett Medical Center, Cooperstown, NY Stephanie Oceguera, MD, Bassett Healthcare, Cooperstown, NY Paul Klawitter, MD, PhD, Manlius, NY Lisa Rucker, MD, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY Philip Goodman, MD, Binghamton, NY Eric Dietrich, PhD, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY Christine Ambrosone, PhD, Chair, Dept. of Cancer Prevention and Control, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY David Fanion, MD, Cooperstown, NY Emily DeSantis, DO, Bassett Healthcare, Cooperstown, NY Laura Neiman, PsyD, New York, NY Matthew Spencer, MD, Otsego, NY Susan Fiore, MD, Bassett Healthcare, Walton, NY Andrew D. Coates, MD, Albany Medical College, Delmar, NY Richard A. Bennett, MD, PhD, Physician (and former toxicologist (MIT), Bassett Healthcare Network, Cooperstown, NY E. Louis Priem, MD, Intensivist, Bassett Medical Center, Cooperstown, NY Niksa Vlasic, MD, Arnot Ogden Medical Center, Elmira, NY Leslie Bank, MD, Binghamton, NY Patricia Gambitta, PhD, Psychologist, Bassett Medical Center, Cooperstown, NY Florence S. Lee, MD, Endwell, NY Beth Olearczyk, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine, Columbia University, Cooperstown, NY Catherine Dickinson, Medical Student, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Vestal, NY Joseph Mannino, MD, Trumansburg, NY Bonnie Spanier, PhD, U. at Albany, SUNY, Albany, NY David T. Griger, DO, Bassett Health Center, Cooperstown, NY Lynn Darkow, RN, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY Raquel Rosen, MD, Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, Columbia University, Cooperstown, NY Sharon Ziegler, MD, Family Medicine Associates of Ithaca, Ithaca, NY John Schwartz, PhD, Physics, retired, Ithaca College, Richford, New York

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David Duggan, MD, Interim Dean, College of Medicine, SUNY Upstate, Syracuse, NY Ann Wexler, MSW, Ithaca, NY Peter Clark, MD, Groton, NY Stephanie Westerman, DVM, Medaille College, Buffalo, NY James W Walker, MD, Bassett Healthcare Network, Oneonta, NY Cora Lee Foster, MD, Ithaca, NY Edward Bischof, MD, Bassett Healthcare, Cooperstown Arnold Matlin, MD, Physician, Linwood, NY Ann Mathias, RN, Buffalo, NY Cornelia Farnum, Dr., Cornell University, Brooktondale, NY Nancy B. Stewart, MD, Ithaca, NY Ellie Kraft-Sanders, Nurse Practitioner, Ithaca, NY Margaret Mitchell, MD, SUNY at Buffalo, Amherst, NY David Fanion, MD, Middlefield, NY Karen M. Landt, MS, NP, MS, Nurse Practitioner, Clinton Crossings Dermatology, Rochester, NY Paul A. Dura, MD, Rheumatologist/Internist, Upstate Medical, Binghamton Clinical Campus, Binghamton, NY Marne O'Shae, MD, Clinical Director, Ithaca NY Humaira Hassan, MD, Internal Medicine, Ithaca, NY Steven Berk, MD, Scarsdale, NY Eric Lessinger, MD, Family Physician, Cayuga Med Center, Trumansburg, NY Chad Haller, MD, Queens, NY Alice Grow, RN, Newfield, NY JR Latham, Dr., Ithaca, NY Barbara F. Usher, PhD, Ithaca, NY Christina La Barre, MS, FNP, MS, FNP, Bassett Healthcare, Cooperstown, NY Janice Pegels, MD, Binghamton/Chenango, NY Diane Dougherty, RN, Brooktondale, NY Vicki E. Cohn, DDS, Ellis Hospital, Schenectady, NY Rebekah Bowser, RN, BSN, Phoenixville, NY Emoke Karonis, Clinical RN 3, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY Mary Jo Provenzano, RN, Callan Harris Physical Therapy, Rochester, NY Judith Maidenbaum, PhD, New York, NY Eric London, MD, psychiatrist, Autism Science Foundation, Bethel, NY Esther Herkowitz, LMHC, Newfield, NY Vicki Meyers-Wallen, Associate Professor, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY Kenneth Jaffe, MD, Physician & Farmer, Slope Farms, Meredith, NY Karen Matteson, RN, Tonawanda, NY Andrew Rauscher MD, Richfield Springs, NY Marcelo A Barreiro, MD, MSc, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY Amr A Shady, MD, United Medical Associates, Johnson City, NY Elmer E. Ewing, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Cornell College of Ag. & Life Sciences, Ithaca, NY

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Deborah Jacobi-Rodriguez, PNP, Tonawanda, NY Bruce Cavaretta, EMT-P/CIC, Bloomfield, NY Susanne Callan-Harris, Physical Therapist, University Health Services URMC, Rochester, NY Jose Torrado, MD, Ithaca, NY David Bernard, MD, Bassett Healthcare, Cooperstown, NY Martin C Mahoney, MD, Amherst, NY Kathleen Sterling, Assistant Professor, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY William Richtsmeier, MD, PhD, Chief of Otolaryngology, Bassett Health Network, Cooperstown, NY Elizabeth Boham, MD, Valatie, NY Luis Oceguera, MD, Bassett Medical Center, Cooperstown, NY Amanda Gulla, PhD, Lehman College/CUNY, Bronx, NY Kitty Vetter, RN and Sullivan County Legislator, Livingston Manor, NY Andrew Kanter Assistant Professor of Clinical Biomedical Informatics and Clinical Epidemiology, Earth Institute/Columbia University, New York, NY