Allowing the controversial natural-gas extraction process known as hydraulic fracturing would be “premature at a minimum,” Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, said in a statement.

The speaker added the state should wait for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to release its own study on the issue before the process is used in New York.

Silver was responding to reports today that a long-anticipated draft report from the Department of Environmental Conservation will recomend that the process commonly known as hydrofracking be allowed, but not in the New York City and Syracuse watersheds.

Silver said in the statement that,

“We would strongly oppose lifting the moratorium. There are simply too many unknowns to risk inflicting long-term, potentially catastrophic damage to New York’s environment and water supply.”

“Any action to lift the moratorium is premature and at a minimum, New York should wait until the EPA completes its own study on hydraulic fracturing before even considering whether the state should permit this type of drilling activity.”

If the reports are true and hydrofracking does indeed move forward, this would be the first major split the Democratic-controlled Assembly has had with Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Environmentalists oppose the extraction process because it uses a mixture of potentially dangerous chemicals and water to extract the gas. However, business groups argue that drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale region of the Southern Tier could help the economically troubled area create jobs.

The Assembly and the then-Democratic-controlled Senate approved a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing last year, but it was veoted by Gov. David Paterson.

Share|