New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's administration announced on Wednesday that it will ban hydraulic fracturing in the state, following a long-awaited health impact study.
The study was shared during a cabinet meeting by the state's acting health commissioner, Dr. Howard Zucker. "I cannot support high-volume hydraulic fracturing in the great state of New York," Zucker said.
"I have considered all of the data," Zucker said in a statement, "and find significant questions and risks to public health which as of yet are unanswered. I think it would be reckless to proceed in New York until more authoritative research is done. I asked myself, 'Would I let my family live in a community with fracking?' The answer is no. I therefore cannot recommend anyone else's family to live in such a community either."
The potential impacts of fracking on water, air, land resources, community and local services are significant. @NYSDEC
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) December 17, 2014
As much as existing studies have found health risks, there are many red flags & questions that still need to be answered. @HealthNYGov #HVHF
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) December 17, 2014
From an article at The New York Times:
As months and years passed, the governor repeatedly suggested that the Health Department’s report was near completion, but it did not surface until Wednesday. The delays angered environmentalists and oil companies alike. Advocates for fracking have argued that it could bring jobs to economically depressed areas atop the Marcellus Shale, a gigantic subterranean deposit of trapped gas that extends across much of New York State, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. But the governor has also faced strong opposition from groups worried about the effects of fracking on the state’s watersheds and aquifers, as well as on tourism and the quality of life in small upstate communities.
A binding order is forthcoming. From WAMC:
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens says he will issue a binding order to ban hydraulic fracturing in the state after the acting health commissioner said he could not recommend fracking.
Commissioner Martens said in a statement that his department has been examining the environmental impacts of fracking for the past six years. The review found "dozens of potential significant adverse impacts" of high-volume fracking, he said. The risks, he said, "substantially outweigh any potential economic benefits."