EPA POSTPONES SYRACUSE MEETING ON HYDRAULIC FRACTURING STUDY, NEW DATES COMING SOON (NY)
(NEW YORK, NY) After months of work organizing the New York Hydraulic
Fracturing public meetings, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency today announced that the
Syracuse meeting, originally scheduled for this Thursday, August
12th at the Oncenter Complex Convention Center, has been
cancelled. The Agency now intends to hold a new public meeting on
the study in upstate New York in September and will announce the
location as soon as it is confirmed.
EPA was forced to cancel this meeting following
a conversation this morning with the Onondaga County
Executive’s office, during which they expressed concerns
about the ability to complete preparations for the meeting on such
short notice. The last minute change to Syracuse was caused by
Binghamton University taking several actions to dissuade EPA from
holding the meetings at their campus including increasing the cost
from $6,000 to almost $40,000. The Agency also reached out to
Broome County officials in Binghamton to hold the meeting at the
Arena and they pulled out of negotiations with EPA. The Agency
searched a 40 mile radius from Corning to Ithaca to Cortland to
Oneonta but no options were available for Thursday. Onondaga County
officials did not feel they could arrange the necessary security
for the potential protests and rallies outside the meeting itself,
and EPA respects and understands their decision.
From the beginning, EPA has been committed to
ensuring that the public has an opportunity to express their
opinions on the study. There are serious concerns about whether the
process of hydraulic fracturing impacts drinking water, human
health and the environment. To address those concerns and
strengthen our clean energy future, EPA announced in March that it
will study the potential adverse impact that hydraulic fracturing
may have on drinking water and would be seeking input from people
across the country. EPA has held had three successful meetings in
Fort Worth, Texas, Denver, Colorado and Canonsburg, Pennsylvania,
where more than 1200 participants attended, and the Agency is
committed to holding a similar meeting in upstate New
York.