An opportunity to comment publicly on the NYS DEC's draft SGEIS on the Oil, Gas and Solution Mining Regulatory Program (http://www.dec.ny.gov/energy/47554.html)
Saturday, January 7, 2012
1:00-5:00 pm
Okun Theater in Farrell Hall, SUNY Delhi
Local and regional community organizations have joined together to sponsor a public hearing at which citizens will have an opportunity to comment publicly on the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation's draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement for horizontal drilling with high-volume hydraulic fracturing gas drilling (HD/HVHF). The meeting will take place Saturday, January 7, 2012 from 1-5 pm at the Okun Theatre in Farrell Hall on the SUNY campus in Delhi, NY.
Until January 11, 2011, the DEC is accepting public comments by mail and via their website on the draft SGEIS.
The purpose of the hearing in Delhi is to facilitate participation by local residents in the comment process. While the DEC scheduled 4 public hearings in other parts of the state, there were none scheduled in Delaware County or its neighboring Chenango, Otsego, and Schoharie counties or others to the east of Delaware County. Because many areas have not been well-served by the official hearings scheduled by DEC there have been several regional hearings held by community organizations; DEC has agreed to accept properly recorded testimony made at these public meetings.
Both oral and written testimony may be submitted. Comments about any aspect of the drilling process and its impacts as well as suggestions for the DEC are acceptable; when possible, comments should address deficiencies in the draft SGEIS. For those with questions about appropriate topics and wording, there will be volunteer advisers available at the hearing.
Those wishing to make oral comments must register on a sign-in sheet that will be available at the hearing. As with the official DEC hearings, oral presentations will be limited to three minutes. These comments will be recorded and later transcribed into written form for submission to DEC. For those who do not wish to speak, forms will also be provided for written comments. People are welcome to come with comments already prepared on paper which will be attached to the proper forms.
Groups sponsoring this event are AndesWorks!, Catskills Citizens for Safe Energy, CDOG/unnaturalgas.org, Citizens Energy & Economics Council of Delaware County, Davenport Concerned Citizens, Delaware Action Group, Franklin Local, Sanford-Oquaga Area Concerned Citizens & Friends of Sustainable Sidney. These community organizations have all been formed in the last few years by local citizens to promote the economic, environmental and social well being of Delaware County and its surrounding areas. Delaware-Otsego Audubon Society is also a sponsoring organization.
Donations toward the costs of this event are gratefully received and may be made at THIS LINK - please write "SGEIS hearing Delhi" in the memo area.
For more information, including a map of the SUNY Delhi campus and a link to help writing comments, please visit http://ceec-delaware.org
