Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg (D-Nassau County) announced the Assembly has passed legislation that implements a moratorium on high-volume hydraulic fracturing in New York State until May 15, 2015 (A.5424-A). The legislation would also require a SUNY school of public health to provide a comprehensive health impact assessment to be completed and made public no later than April 15, 2015.
“We must decide if the benefits are greater than the risks involved,” Assemblyman Weisenberg said. “Until we have all the facts, we cannot move forward with hydrofracking.”
Hydrofracking is a process used to extract natural gas by injecting a mixture of chemicals and highly pressurized water into underground rock formations. There is concern that hydrofracking could contaminate clean drinking water supplies and cause damage to the surrounding environment.
This issue is of particular importance to Long Island, where five sewage treatment plants – four located within Nassau County – have been deemed capable to handle large volumes of hydrofracking wastewater.
The 2011 list made available following the State Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) Revised Draft of the Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact state (SGEIS) on hydrofracking designated Nassau County’s Inwood, Bay Park, Glen Cove and Cedar Creek sewage treatment plants as capable of treating high-volume hydrofracking wastewater.
“Nassau County will not be a dumping ground for hydrofracking waste,” said Assemblyman Weisenberg. “Our county’s sewage treatment plants have already demonstrated deficiencies in their ability to process existing demands. Given this situation, it would be catastrophic to add any new sources.”
As a result of flooding caused by Hurricane Sandy, 41 of 57 sewage pumping stations in Nassau were damaged. Four of five wastewater treatment plants also sustained damage, along with areas of the sanitary collection system.i Particularly, the Bay Park sewage treatment plant experienced a nine-foot storm surge and a subsequent fire, causing the entire plant to go offline. As a result, sewage backed up onto streets and into homes and spread throughout the Western Bays.
In the past, Assemblyman Weisenberg secured almost $1 million dollars in state grants to fund pollution studies of the Western Bays.
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