Fracking

The Environmental Protection Agency today proposed tightened restrictions on air pollution for natural gas extration in shale.

The move was cheered by some Democratic members of Congress who are sponsoring a bill aimed at providing tighter environmental safeguards for water and air when it comes to hydraulic fracturing.

“I applaud the EPA for making the right decision,” U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey said in a statement. “Air pollution that results from gas drilling should not be exempt from baseline standards designed to protect public health and the environment. Families in New York and throughout the country shouldn’t have to worry that their kids are breathing in toxic air polluted by a neighboring frack drilling operation. This is one step of many that must be taken to help curtail the risks associated with hydraulic fracturing.”

The move comes as New York is undergoing its review of possibly allowing high-volume hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus Shale formation of the Southern Tier. The process commonly known as hydrofracking involves blasting a mixture of chemicals and water underground in order to extract natural gas underneath.

Business groups and the gas-drilling industry claim it could be a boon for the economically troubled area, but environmentalists have sounded concerns over the process.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation issued its preliminary draft supplemental evaluation of its guidelines for possible high-volume fracking permitting in New York. DEC Commissioner Joe Martens has said no permits would be issued this year for high-volume fracking and the draft report goes to a 60-day public comment period later this summer.

For now, it’s unclear how the EPA guidelines will fit within the state’s effort.

“We are currently reviewing EPA’s proposal and will refrain from commenting until our review is complete,” said DEC spokeswoman Emily DeSantis.

Dozens of environmental groups in Albany today calling for a complete ban on hydraulic fracturing — including the controversial high-volume method.

The call comes after the Department of Environmental Conservation released its draft report offering guidelines for high-volume hydrofracking.

“They shouldn’t be drilling,” said Wes Gillingham of the group Catskill Mountainkeeper at a rally in The Well of the Legislative Office Building. “They shouldn’t be doing horizontal drilling, they shouldn’t be doing vertical drilling because it’s an unsafe place to drill and how we found that out is by drilling.”

The groups, one of the largest anti-hydrofracking protests at the Capitol in months, delivered a letter to Cuomo asking that he not allow any hydrofracking in New York.

From the letter:

“…The ban in New York City and Syracuse watersheds will not be fully protected by the DEC’s guidelines,” the groups wirte in the letter to Cuomo. “because water is not constrained by arbitrary boundaries and neither is contamination.”

The process involves blasting chemicals and water into rock in order to release natural gas underneath. Though environmentalists fear the impact it could have on local water tables, business groups say high-volume fracking could be a boon to the hard-hit upstate economy, especially in the Southern Tier region where hydrofracking is being eyed.

The DEC draft report, which goes to a 60-day public comment period later this summer, could potentially pave the way for end on the moratorium for high-volume hydrofracking. DEC Commissioner Joe Martens said last week permits would not be issued this year while the agency continues to review the environmental safeguards.