Dear Governor Cuomo / DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos, 

I am shocked to learn that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation no longer plans to hold 

public hearings on permits for the Dominion "New Market Project" and is giving the public only until August 5th 
to submit comments. Last year, the DEC project manager in charge of reviewing Dominion's application, Mr.
Chris Hogan, explicitly promised concerned parties that public hearings would be held. Reneging on that promisereflects badly on both the Governor's office and DEC. Moreover 30 days is entirely inadequate to comment on a 
project of this magnitude. I urge you to insist that DEC extend the public comment period on permits forthis project and require one or more PUBLIC HEARINGS AS PROMISED. 

If approved, Dominion's "New Market Project" will pump 112 MILLION cubic feet of additional FRACKEDGAS every day through an aging 50-year-old, 200-mile-long pipeline. Passing through the heart of New York,
this dangerous proposal would result in the construction of two compressor stations and the massive expansion ofa third, spewing hazardous pollutants like formaldehyde, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxides into the air. Thethree compressor stations alone would produce 200,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually. However,
when burned, all of the additional fracked gas transported in the pipeline would pump over 2 MILLION tons ofadditional carbon dioxide emissions into the air every year. Add lifecycle emissions of methane into the equation,
and the total greenhouse gas impact would more than double. 

What's more, DEC has not even required Dominion to install affordable, fuel saving Vapor Recovery technology-the 
very same technology installed in a hundred compressor stations in other states and Canada--to capture volatileorganic compounds and methane from polluting reciprocating compressors that the company wants to use.
Approval of Dominion's "New Market Project" would set New York far backwards in its fight against climatechange. 

In addition to this, a recent independent analysis suggests that Dominion submitted flawed and possibly fraudulentinformation on ambient noise. This could cause the noise from new or expanded compressor stations to exceedmaximum levels of change specified by DEC. This information, submitted to NY Attorney GeneralSchneiderman, must be investigated before the state considers permits for the project. 

Dominion's "New Market Project" would push more fracked gas through a 50-year old pipeline that is likely tohave suffered from corrosion, cracks, and old welding. However the state Public Service Commission, charged 
with ensuring pipeline safety, has provided no comment on this disaster in the making. The Federal EnergyRegulatory Commission granted approval of Dominion's project without even requiring an Environmental ImpactStatement to study these risks. If DEC rubber-stamps it too, the lives and property of New Yorkers could be ingrave danger. 

The DEC absolutely owes the people of New York a public hearing. This project which threatens health andsafety, increases our state's addiction to fossil fuels, and exacerbates climate change should be denied.