{"id":103572,"date":"2019-06-04T14:28:36","date_gmt":"2019-06-04T18:28:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=103572"},"modified":"2019-06-04T10:23:18","modified_gmt":"2019-06-04T14:23:18","slug":"may-proud-to-announce-closing-of-hazardous-waste-loophole","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=103572","title":{"rendered":"May proud to announce closing of hazardous waste loophole"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Senator Rachel May<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Senator May (D-Onondaga, Madison, Oneida) is proud to\nannounce the passage of S.3392, the uniform treatment of waste from the\nexploration, development, extraction, or production of crude oil or natural\ngas. This bill closes a hazardous waste loophole that has existed for oil and\ngas extraction for more than a decade.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

New York state banned extraction of natural gas by fracking\nin 2015, yet waste from this process is currently shipped here from\nPennsylvania and is treated as non-hazardous. Wastewater from fracking can\ncontain carcinogenic compounds and naturally occurring radioactive materials.\nThe regulatory loophole that allowed waste from fracking and crude oil\nprocessing to be treated as standard industrial waste means it enters local\nsewage treatment facilities, sometimes with radiation levels hundreds of times\nthe safe limit, it then flows directly back into our waterways — the source of\ndrinking water for thousands of New Yorkers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regardless of its source, all waste that meets the\ndefinition of hazardous should be disposed of properly. New York state has an\nobligation to keep our waterways and drinking water supplies safe. The oil and\ngas industry should not be allowed to circumvent the waste disposal rules and\nstandards that every other waste generator is held to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNew York has demonstrated just precaution from the negative\nenvironmental impacts associated with fracking and has banned the practice from\nour borders, yet New York regulators have allowed some of the worst byproducts\nof that process to enter the state\u2019s waste treatment facilities with little\nscrutiny,\u201d said Roger Downs, Conservation Director of the Sierra Club Atlantic\nChapter. \u201cWe applaud Senator May and the Senate Majority Conference for\nbreaking years of gridlock and passing common sense legislation that will no\nlonger allow gas drillers exemptions from the laws governing the safe treatment\nand disposal of hazardous waste.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDespite New York\u2019s ban on fracking, New York continues to\naccept dangerous fracking waste from Pennsylvania to this day. Hazardous waste\nshould be handled as hazardous waste \u2013 no exceptions,\u201d said Liz Moran,\nEnvironmental Policy Director for NYPIRG. \u201cWe thank Senator May for her\nleadership on this issue and urge swift passage in the Assembly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor too long we have allowed the hazardous waste loophole\nto jeopardize our environment and health,\u201d said Hanna Ring, CNY Program\nCoordinator for Citizens Campaign for the Environment. \u201cWhile fracking was\nbanned in NYS back in 2015, we remain at risk to fracking waste that is being\nsent to municipal landfills and local sewage treatment plants. The only way to\nensure the public and environment are protected is by closing the hazardous\nwaste loophole once and for all. CCE applauds Senator May for her leadership\nand dedication to protecting New Yorkers and to the Senate for passing this\ncritical legislation. Now we need the Assembly to do the same.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe passage of legislation that closes New York\u2019s gaping\nhazardous waste loophole for fracking waste is welcome news and has been many\nyears in the making,\u201d said Maureen Cunningham, Senior Director for Clean Water\nat Environmental Advocates of New York. \u201cIt is vital to ensure that the\ndangerous waste produced by fracking is classified and managed as hazardous\nwaste in the State of New York, minimizing the devastating effect it has on our\nenvironment and our waterways. The Senate majority should be lauded for\nrecognizing that fact and acting to protect the health of all New Yorkers, and\nwe hope the Assembly follows suit.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Closing the hazardous waste loophole for fracking\nwaste is a huge victory for protecting clean water and protecting communities,\u201d\nsaid Jeremy Cherson, Legislative Advocacy Manager for Riverkeeper. \u201cRiverkeeper\nthanks Senator May and the Senate majority for making the passage of this bill\na priority. We encourage the Assembly to pass this legislation as soon as\npossible.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt gives me great pride to sponsor this legislation and to\nsee it pass in the Senate for the first time,\u201d said May. \u201cI want to thank\nleadership in the Senate for bringing this bill to the floor and the advocates\nwho have worked tirelessly all these years to ensure we close such a dangerous\nloophole.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Senator May (D-Onondaga, Madison, Oneida) is proud to announce the passage of S.3392, the uniform treatment of waste from the exploration, development, extraction, or production of crude oil or natural gas. This bill closes a hazardous waste loophole that has existed for oil and gas extraction for more than a decade.   New York state […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":97264,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","category-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=103572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103572\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/97264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=103572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=103572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=103572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}