Family Life

03.06.13 | Sarah Harnisch

We've waited over four years for a decision on high volume hydrofracking in New York, and now, there's the possibility that the wait may be much longer. A critical group of New York senators are likely to pass a two-year hyrofracking moratorium today, the second time in two years the chamber has sought to delay drilling. They want to wait until preliminary results from an independant health review done by Geisinger Health out of Danville, Pennsylvania is completed. That study includes 40 researchers from 16 organizations that will look at the impact of 15-hundred drilling sites across Pennsylvania, to see how drilling would impact health in New York. Phase one alone could take three to five years. The Independant Democratic Conference says it just wants to wait for the first results of the study, which will likely be released in 24 months or so. Meanwhile, powerful Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver says he plans an announcement later today on the same topic. He also supports waiting for the Geisinger study. Drilling supporters say high volume hydrofracking has been done safely for decades in other states, and states like Illinois approved gas drilling in under 14 months, not five to seven years.