Riverkeeper: DEC's Fracking Ban is Watershed Moment

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Monday officially instated the ban on high-volume hydraulic fracturing that Gov. Cuomo’s administration announced in December, and environmental groups are celebrating.

The DEC based its decision on what it called ”unavoidable adverse environmental impacts and uncertainty regarding the science surrounding high-volume hydraulic fracturing and its potential impacts to public health and the environment,” saying that even a stringent regulatory program could not guarantee these impacts would be adequately mitigated.

Watchdog group Riverkeeper, after assessing the findings statement, issued this statement from Kate Hudson, its Director of Cross Watershed Initiatives:

This day will go down as one of the most important in New York’s history, when we witnessed our state government confirm that protecting the health and safety of all New Yorkers was the highest priority and would not be compromised for the interests of the oil and gas industry.

We thank Governor Cuomo and the Departments of Health and Environmental Conservation for fulfilling the Governor’s promise to follow the science in order to make the right decision on fracking. The ban is firmly rooted in the scientific research gathered since 2009 – the vast majority of which identifies the threats that fracking poses to public health and the environment. The DEC’s Final SGEIS offers the most thorough scientific review to date of the potential impacts from high-volume hydraulic fracturing and should be used as a model for other jurisdictions contemplating the development of shale and other low-permeability gas reservoirs. We commend the DEC’s strong commitment to science in protecting New York’s communities and natural resources.

“The Findings Statement formalizes what the scientific evidence and the majority of citizens have made inescapably clear: fracking should and will have no place in the great state of New York.

Ossining-based Riverkeeper is a member-supported organization dedicated to the Hudson River and its tributaries and the drinking water supply of 9 million New York City and Hudson Valley residents.