Scientists tell governor: Municipal systems can't filter most frack chemicals

Fifty-nine scientists, including four from the National Academy of Sciences, have warned Gov. Andrew Cuomo that municipal drinking water systems are unable to protect against chemicals used in fracking for natural gas.

In a letter to Cuomo on September 16, the scientists wrote:

"We the undersigned scientists write to you regarding the ability of municipal drinking water filtration systems to adequately remove contaminants of the sort found in return fluids from hydraulic fracturing, should they somehow enter the water system. The state has proposed that hydraulic fracturing not be allowed in the watersheds of the New York City and Syracuse water systems (where no filtration occurs), but be allowed in watersheds where drinking water is filtered before use. The presumption appears to be that municipal water filtration plants provide protection from potential contaminants. The best available scientific information does not support this presumption.

" Most municipal water filtration systems are designed to remove potentially dangerous microorganisms from water, which they do efficiently. The typical filtration system would also remove some hazardous substances. However, there simply is not an adequate knowledge base to conclude that filtering would remove all, or even most, of the hazardous substances found in flow-back fluids from hydraulic fracturing. Potential contaminants of concern known to be in some flow-back fluids include benzene and other volatile aromatic hydrocarbons, surfactants and organic biocides, barium and other toxic metals, and soluble radioactive compounds containing thorium, radium, and uranium. Municipal filtration systems were not designed with such hazards in mind.

" We urge the state to reconsider its position that existing water filtration systems provide adequate protection against the risk
of hydraulic fracturing, should materials from flow-back fluids migrate to lakes, reservoirs, or groundwaters used for municipal water supplies."

One of the 59 scientists, Robert Howarth, a distinguished professor of ecology at Cornell University and founding editor of a journal, Biogeochemistry, told the Albany Times-Union that it would be "extremely expensive" to add filters capable of capturing fracking chemicals and that he knows of no municipal system that does so.

"If the risk from shale gas is too high for the watersheds of New York City, then it is too high for any of the watersheds in the state," Howarth, said.

Find the complete letter here.