The eight-page draft summary concludes that “significant adverse impacts on human health are not expected from routine HVHF [high volume hydraulic fracturing] operations” if done within the DEC’s proposed regulatory framework.
A DEC spokeswoman dismissed the draft as outdated, not reflecting the DEC’s policy, and incomplete.
This draft was probably prepared for review and inclusion in an extensive environmental impact study of the shale gas industry which is to be released by the DEC in February 2013.
The DEC has stated that this final February 2013 version will include revisions based on public comments and a health review currently under way by the New York Health Department and three outside experts.
This article was prepared by Barclay R. Nicholson (bnicholson@fulbright.com or 713 651 3662) from Fulbright's Energy Practice.
