DEC says NO Fracking

It's true. New York is officially banning hydrofracking from the state.

This afternoon the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation released its official Findings Statement concluding the seven-year environmental impact study on high-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing.

In remarks to the press, DEC Commissioner Joe Martens said, "After years of exhaustive research and examination of the science and facts, prohibiting high-volume hydraulic fracturing is the only reasonable alternative.” Fracking, he said, "poses significant adverse impacts to land, air, water, natural resources and potential significant public health impacts that cannot be adequately mitigated."

Significant adverse impacts to land, air, water, natural resources and potential significant public health impacts that cannot be adequately mitigated.

The finding, says Martens, is "consistent with DEC’s mission to conserve, improve and protect our state’s natural resources, and to enhance the health, safety and welfare of the people of the state." 

There are no "feasible or prudent alternatives" that adequately avoid or minimize adverse environmental impacts, he notes. Likewise, there are no "feasible or prudent alternatives" that address risks to public health from fracking.

DEC based the Findings Statement on the huge amount of research included in the Final Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (FSGEIS) that they released last month. That 2,000-page document included responses to public comments and the state Department of Health’s Public Health Review, which concluded that, given the uncertainty regarding potential health impacts from high volume hydro-fracking, that technology should not move forward in the state.

The 44-page Findings Statement details widespread potential impacts from fracking including impacts to water and air resources, ecosystems and wildlife, community character and public health.You can read it online at the DEC's website.