(New York, NY) More than a hundred concerned Long Island residents will converge on a political fundraiser Monday where Gov. Cuomo is scheduled to appear to remind the governor and his supporters of steadfast and growing opposition to the possibility of fracking in New York State. The protesters will also call on Cuomo to veto a plan to build a dangerous and unnecessary liquefied natural gas terminal just off Long Island’s South Shore.
What: Anti-Fracking Protest at Gov. Cuomo Fundraiser Appearance
When: Monday, March 31, 5:45 pm
Where: Crest Hollow Country Club, 8325 Jericho Turnpike, Woodbury, NY
Photo Op: 100+ animated protesters with signs and banners, marching and chanting.
“Governor Cuomo needs to see that opposition to fracking is widespread and will continue growing as New Yorkers learn more and more about the many dangers gas development brings to communities large and small,” said Alex Beauchamp, regional director at Food & Water Watch, a consumer rights group. “We need him to protect our state, and we’ll follow him everywhere he goes – especially as his reelection campaign heats up – until he bans fracking once and for all.”
Background: As fracking and natural gas operations have expanded in other states, they have increasingly been accompanied by serious disasters and emergencies. Just weeks ago in Pennsylvania, a natural gas well exploded, killing a worker, shaking homes, sparking a fire that burned for four days, and emitting gas into the atmosphere. In July in West Virginia, a fracking explosion injured at least five people and led to state and federal investigations.
Infrastructure for fracking operations and the transport of natural gas has also led to similar disasters. The explosion of a natural gas pipeline in Oklahoma led to the evacuation of a town, the closure of roads and flames rising from a drilling rig.
Scientists have increasingly associated fracking operations with causing earthquakes – a major uptick in earthquakes in Oklahoma more and more implicates fracking. Just recently, the Youngstown-area of Ohio experienced 11 earthquakes in one week – the state shut down drilling operations as a result of the first four earthquakes.
