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Dear Friend, Since I told you about the Department of Environmental Conservation's (DEC) alarming new proposal to allow drilling for natural gas in the heart of NYC's water supply, a growing chorus is raising concerns about this risky plan. Here's why we can't stop now... Before last week's Assembly hearing, over 1,000 of you sent letters to state leaders saying we cannot allow gas drilling to put our water supply at risk. Over the weekend, The New York Times weighed in with a strong editorial about the plan for drilling in the watershed, writing that "accidental leaks could threaten public health and require a filtration system the city can ill afford." The potential consequences for both our water quality and water rates are too serious to ignore. First of all, the proposed high-volume hydraulic fracturing ("fracking" for short) drilling process carries the risk of accidents involving chemicals like arsenic, benzene and other toxic chemicals in the region that supplies 90% of our drinking water supply. What's more, this risky drilling could potentially cost us billions if pollution from fracking forces us to begin filtering our water supply. Today, New York is one of only five major cities in the United States with water clean enough to avoid the need for a costly filtration plant for much of our water supply. The Campaign for New York's Future supports the PlaNYC goal of ensuring the long-term sustainability of New York City's water, maintaining our water quality and avoiding the need for costly filtration. But if fracking introduces dangerous contaminants into our water supply, New York could be forced to build a filtration plant that would cost $10 billion to build and $100 million a year to operate. We can't afford to ignore such huge public health, environmental and fiscal risks. Thank you for doing your part to make sure our state leaders safeguard our water supply! Sincerely, Michael O'Loughlin |
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