Cross Posted from WaterDefense



Documents obtained by the Environmental Working Group show that officials at the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) secretly colluded with gas industry lobbyists to write fracking regulations.

DEC General Counsel Steven Russo, with full knowledge of DEC Commissioner Joe Martens, sent drafts of New York’s fracking legislation to industry lobbyists in order to solicit feedback on the rules at least six weeks before they were released to the public. This gave the industry ample opportunity to ensure that the regulations were watered down and industry-friendly.

New York’s proposed fracking regulations have been widely criticized for ignoring the overwhelming scientific evidence that fracking poses grave health risks to nearby communities. Now we know why: the industry the DEC is tasked with regulating helped write its own regulations.

Click here to call on Governor Cuomo to restore the public’s faith in the DEC by scrapping proposed regulations and beginning the environmental review process from square one.