ALBANY — Go forth and frack!
Supporters of natural-gas drilling say a year-old draft state Health Department report that’s been kept under wraps — but that was leaked this week — proves what they’ve said all along: that properly regulated fracking in upstate New York would be safe.
Gov. Cuomo’s administration and environmentalists called the report incomplete and outdated.
But the gas industry and landowners say Cuomo should give the green light to the controversial practice of capturing trapped and clean-burning natural gas by fracturing shale with a high-pressure chemical, water and sand mix.
“New York can create more than 25,000 jobs, save family farms, keep families together and lift entire communities by moving forward with safe natural-gas development,” said New York State Petroleum Council Executive Director Karen Moreau.
Brad Gill, executive director of the Independent Oil & Gas Association of New York, said, “We just certainly hope that the obstacles will stop being thrown in the way and the industry can begin drilling here.”
With Cuomo trying to shutter the Indian Point nuclear-power plant, Joint Landowners Coalition of New York rep Scott Kurkoski said fracking is the solution.
“We have to find a replacement source, and the answer is right under our feet,” he said. “It’s clean energy and will reduce greenhouse gases. And our regulations will certainly be more strict than we’ve seen around the country.”
Kurkoski, whose group includes 70,000 members with more than 800,000 acres pledged for natural-gas development, noted that a proposed one-year fracking moratorium in the rural, gas-rich upstate town of Chenango was voted down this week.
The state, which has had its own moratorium on high-volume hydraulic fracturing in place since 2008, is awaiting a report by outside experts due next month on fracking’s potential impact on public health.
The leaked report was prepared for the state Department of Environmental Conservation, where spokeswoman Emily DeSantis said the document “does not reflect final DEC policy.”
“No conclusions should be drawn from this partial, outdated summary,” she said.
Anti-frackers said the report shouldn’t be taken seriously.
“What was in this draft was not based on any science, was not based on any analysis,” said Katherine Nadeau, water and natural-resources program director for Environmental Advocates of New York.