This morning, the Atlantic Chapter of the Sierra Club held a press event at City Hall in NYC, in which they called on Governor Paterson to withdraw the draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (dSGEIS) on a gas drilling technique called hydraulic fracturing combined with horizontal drilling being prepared by the state Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC). About 100 people were in attendance, along with a nice gaggle of media folks.

The DEC issued the dSGEIS last fall and opened things up for public comment – and public comment was overwhelming – and overwhelmingly negative!

There are many reasons for the negative public reaction to this horrible document. The dSGEIS refuses to address the cumulative aspects of thousands of wells pumping tens of billions of gallons of water combined with toxic chemicals into the ground. It ignores the problems hydraulic fracturing has caused elsewhere, pretending that there are no problems except where there is an accident. It fails even to recommend strict controls necessary to protect the health of the people living near the drilling sites, or the water that those people, and anyone living downstream, use to drink, cook and wash.

I could go on forever, but you get the point.

In addition to the 100 or so attendees, there were elected officials from all levels of government, including three members of Congress (Reps. Michael Arcuri, Eric Massa and Jerrold Nadler), at least two state Assembly members (Deborah Glick & Brian Kavanagh), and several New York City Council members (I talked with Environmental Protection committee chair James Gennaro, Speaker Christine Quinn and newcomer Margaret Chin). Assembly member James Brennan (who will reintroduce a very good bill) sent a representative, as did Assembly member Richard Gottfried and state Senators Eric Schneiderman and José Serrano. Statements from some of these elected officials (more may be added as I get them) after the jump:

Rep. Eric Massa: “I'm not willing to sacrifice the long-term safety of our drinking water for a short-term energy supply. I don't think anyone wants to drink a glass of benzene or radium and that's what we are potentially facing if the drilling of the Marcellus Shale proceeds as planned. Hydrofracking is a serious threat to the security and safety of all New Yorkers and I will continue taking a leadership role in opposing it without the necessary safeguards to protect our water supply.”

Rep. Michael Arcuri: “While natural gas may arguably be New York State’s second greatest natural resource, there is little doubt that water is our greatest natural resource. It is critical to realize that today we live on a planet that suffers from deforestation and water shortages and we need to protect our water at all cost. Some drilling companies have promised New York State jobs, an improved economy and a large windfall from natural gas drilling; as yet we have seen none. It is time for New York State to stand together with states up and down the eastern seaboard and advocate to keep our water clean and safe for the sustainability of future generations.”

Council Member James Gennaro: “For the last eighteen months, the New York City Council has taken the lead in sounding the alarm on the risks of hydraulic fracturing to New York City’s Drinking Water Supply Watershed and water supplies throughout the State and the nation. The Council’s warning has been heeded by the Bloomberg Administration and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, both of which most admirably dedicated significant scientific and technical resources to substantiate conclusively the deleterious and irreversible consequences of “fracking” to our water supply, and the gross deficiencies of the State’s dSGEIS to assess and quantify those consequences. So, the scientific verdict is in on fracking and the dSGEIS, and we come together today to proclaim it with one voice to the Paterson Administration, and call upon Gov. Paterson to withdraw the dSGEIS and start this process anew with a new perspective – one that prioritizes the preservation of drinking water quality over the production of natural gas.”

State Senator Eric Schneiderman: "The greatest responsibility of the state is to protect its citizens’ health, safety and welfare. … I join the many groups and individuals assembled here today in calling for … further study of the potential impacts on our state's natural resources of a drilling technique that uses chemical additives to break up shale below the earth to release natural gas trapped inside. Anything less would create risks too great for our environment and too dangerous for the millions of people of this state who rely on these reservoirs for their drinking water."