Governor Paterson fired Grannis for a memo in which he discussed the weakening of the DEC programs due to budget and staff cuts, and warned that fewer polluted sites would be cleaned, and fewer regulators would be available to deal with the hydrofracking natural gas drilling boom in New York's Marcellus Shale region. Governor Paterson's Deputy Secretary for the Environment, Peter Iwanowicz, is taking over as acting commissioner of the DEC.