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Environmentalist calls on governor to prevent fracking

Tracy Carluccio deputy director of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, recently wrote an opinion piece for the Albany Times Union calling on Gov. Andrew Cuomo not to allow hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” in New York.

Cuomo appears poised to approve fracking on a limited scale along the border with Pennsylvania, where the practice is allowed. Fracking involved injecting millions of gallons of chemically treated water underground in order to break up underground rock formations and release natural gas.

Carluccio writes: “The unvarnished truth is that the ruined health of residents and workers and the loss of a healthy environment from the inescapable and permanent air, water and foodshed pollution caused by fracking is turning whole states into sacrifice zones that will burden all of us with costs that the gas and oil industry can dodge but the public cannot.”

Fracking has proven controversial because of its potential environmental effects. In particular, environmental activists worry that chemicals from the treated water, such as the carcinogen benzene, may make their way into the drinking water supply.

New York supporters have argued that people across the border in Pennsylvania are reaping the financial rewards of fracking even as New York’s ban continues.

But Carluccio dismisses those awards as “bubble economics” that are not sustainable, and provide at best short-term, dangerous, and dirty jobs for a fraction of the work force, eliminating long-term employment with sustainable economies in the process.

She also writes that the Cumo’s decision could have wide-ranging implications, because it could allow fracking in an area where nearly 10 percent of America’s population gets their drinking water.

New York and the Delaware River Watershed are both under a fracking moratorium. Cuomo’s decision will affect New York. Cuomo is also a voting member of the Delaware River Basin Commission, the agency in charge of the Delaware River’s water, which could break the stalemate that has kept drilling at bay in the Delaware River portions of Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Delaware, Carluccio writes.

Lopez McHugh is investigating injuries related to natural gas extraction in the Marcellus Shale natural gas reserve. If you have significant injuries, contact a Lopez McHugh attorney for a free evaluation.

See the piece here:

https://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/Cuomo-s-chance-A-clean-future-for-N-Y-3811380.php