Tagged: joe martens

Governor Cuomo’s environmental commissioner is rejecting calls by environmentalists for an independent health impact study on hydrofracking.

But Environmental Commissioner Joe Martens says the state’s health commissioner has agreed to conduct a review.

He issued a statement late today that reads in part:

Government is the public’s independent reviewer. To suggest private interests or academic experts bring more independence to the process than government is exactly wrong. Many experts in this field have an opinion - pro or con - which could influence the process. Nor could one ever be sure that there weren’t potential conflicts of interest with outside consultants if they were to actually direct the outcome.

The Department of Environmental Conservation's (DEC) hydrofracking advisory panel is supposed to meet with the agency every few weeks*, but their meeting scheduled for tomorrow has been postponed.

This is the third time one of the panel's meetings has been called off since mid-October.

The group was also supposed to issue preliminary recommendations by early November, but failed to do so.

The announcement comes on the same day that the DEC is officially closing the public comment period on its review of hydrofracking, known as the Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS).

That document will determine if and when New York moves forward to allow the controversial natural gas drilling technique.

*Update: An earlier version of this story reported that the agency meets biweekly - that is incorrect.

In our latest Innovation Trail report for New York NOW, we put your questions to the man in charge of the state's Department of Environmental Conversation - the agency that will determine if and when New York allows the controversial natural gas drilling technique known as hydrofracking:

Watch DEC's Martens on Hydrofracking on PBS. See more from New York NOW.