The New York State Assembly has finally approved a moratorium on fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, in the state. Such a moratorium was already approved by the state Senate over the summer.
Late Monday night, the Assembly voted 93-43 to approve the measure, which bans fracking until May 15, 2011. According to a report on WBNG, the bill wasn’t on the Assembly’s agenda Monday in a special session called by Governor David Paterson, but after that meeting wrapped up, the Assembly opened a regular session to vote on it.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has had gas drilling permit approvals on hold since 2008 while it conducts an environmental review of fracking, but that could be lifted at any time. In New York, fracking has been particularly controversial. The state’s natural gas-rich Marcellus shale region includes the entire Catskills watershed that provides New York City with all of its drinking water.
Now it will be up to Governor Patterson to sign the moratorium into law, which he appears to favor.
“Even with the tremendous revenues that will come in at this time we’re not going to risk public safety or water quality, which will be the next emerging global problem after the energy shortage,” he told WAMC-FM radio last week. “At this point, I would say that the hydrofracking opponents have raised enough of an argument to thwart us going forward at this time.”
