The Catskill Chronicle

WASHINGTON, DC (March 2, 2011) – Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) today sent letters requesting hearings to assess potential concerns with hydraulic fracturing of natural gas before relevant House Committees. They issued the following joint statement about the letters:

“We hope that both Committees will hold hearings to determine whether our drinking water is safe.  If federal and state regulations have not kept pace with this growing industry, we need to know before it creates a public health concern. As Representatives from New York, we are especially concerned given that some of the wastewater from hydrofracking is being transported to public sewage plants in our state. By holding hearings, Congress, the industry, and the public would have a better understanding of wastewater treatment and what further Congressional action is needed.”

Over the past weekend, The New York Times published the article ‘Regulation Lax as Gas Wells’ Tainted Water Hits Rivers’ describing potential environmental and health concerns resulting from so-called “hydrofracking.” These concerns include the inadequacy of sewage treatment plants which might handle the millions of gallons of wastewater that arise from the hydrofracking process, including the plants’ inability to remove potentially higher levels of radioactivity than previously known to result from the drilling method. Potential contamination of widely used sources of drinking water could also result.

The text of the letters may be viewed here (T&I) and here (E&C) as PDFs.