Public Employee Press

HEALTH AND SAFETY NEWS
Union supports campaign to ban fracking in New York

DC 37 has joined the fight against fracking.

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking as it is commonly called, pollutes water supplies as it injects huge amounts of water and chemicals underground at high pressure to extract natural gas from rock formations.

Energy companies are offering big bucks to cash-starved homeowners and farmers for the right to drill on their property, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo must soon make the momentous decision of whether to allow hydrofracking in New York State.

On June 6, DC 37's Executive Board voted unanimously to oppose fracking.

James Tucciarelli, the president of Sewage Treatment Workers and Senior STWs Local 1320, introduced the motion to fight the practice.

"This is an issue that our members and the public really need to be educated about," Tucciarelli said. "While the energy companies claim hydrofracking is harmless, it will be totally disastrous for our water system. Fracking disturbs the natural filtration system. Once our water system is polluted, it will be useless to us," he said.

DC 37 Political Action Director Wanda Williams introduced the topic for the board's consideration, citing fracking's many dangerous impacts on public health and the environment.

The state Dept. of Environmental Conservation is currently completing a massive environmental review of fracking. Environmentalists say there are indications that the governor favors opening the state's southern counties to drilling immediately - and the rest over time. This decision could put the southern region at risk for toxic water and air contamination and methane emissions; soon similar pollution could plague the whole state.

Fracking opponents, now including DC 37, are pressing Gov. Cuomo to ban the practice everywhere in New York State.

"Gasland," the award-winning documentary film about fracking, is available in the DC 37 library, and many websites provide information.