Will NY put a 1-year Moratorium on Fracking?

Yesterday a bill that would put a one-year moratorium on new natural gas drilling permits in New York received the backing of key lawmakers in the State Senate and Assembly. The bill would suspend - until June 1, 2011- hydraulic fracturing for the extraction of natural gas. The process, which locals refer to as "fracking" has been the source of much controversy between pro-drilling landowners and those landowners who would like to see the state adopt more environmental protections.

The chairmen of the Environmental Conservation committees, Sen. Antoine Thompson, D-Buffalo, and Assemblyman Robert Sweeney, D-Babylon, Suffolk County,  are sponsoring the bill.  The measure passed the Senate Environmental Conservation committee on Monday, but it was unclear if or when it would be brought to a vote of the full Legislature.

According to press reports, Thompson said NY needs more time to draft regulations and other laws that will be needed to ensure any drilling is done safely.  "If it's going to be done, it has to be done in a responsible way," Thompson said.

This isn't the only legislation to deal with drilling in the Marcellus Shale formation. Earlier this month, the Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee passed a measure that would enact a moratorium for 120 days after a federal environmental-impact study on the practice is finalized. 

No one should be surprised that the industry opposes such measures.  Brad Gill, executive director of  Independent Oil & Gas Industry- NY (IOGA) told the press that  "What New York needs now is leadership toward a new energy economy for our state, rather than another bill rife with inaccuracies and false assumption." 

Having listened to Brad Gill's spiel at numerous presentations I'm not sure it's the proposed legislation that is "rife with inaccuracies and false assumptions." After all, he continues to insist that hydrofracking - a process that is fairly new - has been "done safely in NY for more than 50 years."

Read news article here.