July 20, 2017

Commissioner Basil Seggos

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
625 Broadway
Albany, NY 12233-1011

Dear Commissioner Seggos:

As members of the State Legislature deeply committed to protecting our waterways,

environment, and public health, we urge the Department of Environmental Conservation
(DEC) to prohibit the disposal of gas and oil drilling waste in landfills and wastewater
treatment facilities, and for use as a de-icing agent on roadways, in addition to closing
the hazardous waste loophole, NYCRR part 371.1 (e)(2)(v). We encourage the DEC to
incorporate the principles of legislation sponsored by Senator Brad Hoylman and
Assemblyman David Buchwald (S.98-A/A.302-A) into upcoming final revised Part 360
solid waste regulations.

According to publicly available data from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania oil and
gas waste data system reviewed by our offices, more than 600,000 tons of fracking waste
have been transported and disposed of in New York. Data available through April of this
year (see attached) clearly shows that at least three New York State landfills continue to
accept fracking waste. This waste includes drill cuttings, other oil & gas wastes,
servicing fluids, unused fracturing fluid waste, and soil contaminated by oil & gas
related spills. According to Scott Perry, Deputy Secretary of the Office of Oil and Gas
Management at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, as reported
by PolitiFact New York, the most commonly spilled material is flowback water.

We are concerned that, despite New York States ban on high-volume hydraulic
fracturing (fracking), and the widespread evidence of the danger posed to public health
by fracking, gas and oil drilling waste from fracking sites is ending up in our
communities. In the Findings Statement in support of New York States ban, the DEC
stated:

The disposal of flowback water and production brine could cause a significant adverse impact if
the wastewater is not properly stored and treated prior to disposal. Residual fracturing chemicals
and/or naturally-occurring constituents from the rock formation could be present in production
brine and could result in treatment, sludge disposal, and receiving-water impacts. Salts and
dissolved solids may not be sufficiently treated by municipal biological treatment and/or other
treatment technologies which are not designed to remove pollutants of this nature.
Commissioner Seggos
July 20, 2017
Page 2

We are similarly concerned that the proposed Part 360 regulations do not adequately
address closing the hazardous waste loophole. DECs recent assessment of public
comments on the proposed rulemaking asserted that hazardous waste determinations
are outside the scope of this rulemaking, presumably because they are located in the 370
series of regulations. However, we find that this rulemaking did make changes to that
series, including some that go beyond technical alterations required by changes in Part
360. For example, small but significant changes appear to have been made to Part 374
regarding oil transfer facilities. We do not believe that closing the hazardous waste
loophole is outside the scope of this rulemaking; rather it is essential to the proper
regulation of solid waste management facilities in New York State.

We applaud Governor Cuomo for his promise to protect New Yorkers from the danger
of fracking, and urge you to fulfill that promise by ensuring protection from potentially
hazardous fracking waste.

Thank you for your service and consideration to this important matter.

Sincerely,

Brad Hoylman Liz Krueger

State Senator State Senator
27th District 28th District

State Senator Jamaal Bailey

Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr. State Senator
15th District 36th District

Neil D. Breslin Leroy Comrie

State Senator State Senator
44th District 14th District

Martin Malav Dilan Timothy M. Kennedy

State Senator State Senator
18th District 63rd District
Commissioner Seggos
July 20, 2017
Page 3

George Latimer Kevin Parker

State Senator State Senator
37th District 21st District

Gustavo Rivera Jos M. Serrano

State Senator State Senator
33rd District 29th District

Daniel Squadron
State Senator
26th District