No HVHF Wells or Laterals Allowed in State Parks 52.3 and 190.

8 (ag) The prohibition of any surface activity related to gas drilling on any state lands should remain in the regulations. Also, no subsurface drilling should be allowed beneath any state lands, including state parks and other state lands not administered by the DEC. There is no peer-reviewed, non-industry-funded data showing that drilling under land will NOT contaminate the water there, and there is a great deal of data demonstrating subsurface movement of contaminants into groundwater in areas near drilling [Osborn 2011, Thyne 2008, US EPA 2011]. Seismic testing also should be prohibited from all state lands. Furthermore, although Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) policy states that no drilling will be allowed in state parks [see http://www.dec.ny.gov/energy/1528.html and http://nysparks.com/in side-ouragency/documents/PolicyOnTheDevelopmentOfOilAndGasResources.p df ], this is not put into the regulations and could be changed at any time without public notice. OPRHP may have administrative authority over the state parks and other non-DEC administered lands, but the DEC has regulatory authority over HVHF; therefore, it should support the OPRHP written policy by, in these regulations, prohibiting HVHF on or below state parks and all other state lands that the DEC does not administer. Nowhere, in any regulation, is HVHF on or below these other state lands prohibited. The 178 state parks and 38 historic preservation areas of New York State are invaluable gems enjoyed by huge numbers of state residents. In addition, the state-owned lakes, golf courses, camp sites, nature centers, and trails are enjoyed by people throughout the state and the nation. HVHF would permanently diminish or destroy these places of immeasurable natural, scenic, historic, and recreational value. It is critical to prohibit HVHF below these lands as well as above, because if subsurface drilling is allowed, drillers will place their rigs right on the property edge of the State Parks so the lateral lines can penetrate as far in as possible. Imagine gas rigs bordering the entire perimeter of our state parks and historic sites. Many of these lands are only a few hundred acres in size or less, so except for the large ones, the adverse

impacts will be felt by people, wildlife, and historic sites throughout the state. In case the DEC disagrees that it has the ability to prohibit HVHF in non-DEC-administered lands, I remind the DEC that it is under no obligation to proceed with HVHF in New York before all of our publiclyowned state lands are fully protected. In that case, DEC could (and should) request that the legislature amend state law to make sure that on ALL publicly-owned lands (not just those defined as state lands in 52.2 (2)) there is a prohibition on HVHF activities both above and below the ground. Sandy Podulka sgp4@cornell.edu

References: Osborn, Stephen G., Avner Vengosh, Nathaniel R. Warner, and Robert B . Jackson. 2011. Methane Contamination of Drinking Water Accompanying Gas-Well Drilling and Hydraulic Fracturing. PNAS 108 (20): 8172-8176. http://www.pnas.org/content/108/20/8172.full.pdf+html Thyne, G. December 20, 2008. Review of Phase II Hydrogeologic Study. (Report prepared for Garfield County, Colorado.) http://s3.amazonaws.com/propublica/assets/methane/thyne _review.pdf U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. December 2011. Draft. Investigation of Ground Water Contamination near Pavillion, Wyoming.http://www.epa.gov/region8/superfund/wy/pavillion/