Family Life

02.28.13 | Sarah Harnisch

Landowners fed up with delays to high-volume hydrofracking in New york are forging ahead with their lawsuit against the state. The Joint Landowners Coalition of New York announced on Wednesday that it is seeking plaintiffs for its eventual suit, which will argue that delays to permitting for fracking over the past 4 1/2 years have deprived landowners of economically-viable uses of their land. Wednesday marked another missed deadline in the state’s ongoing review of high-volume hydrofracking. Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joseph Martens more time is needed to complete a health impact analysis. coalition attorney Scott Kurkoski said “At this point, we feel as though we’ve been backed into a corner. The state is not moving. Ohio’s been able to do it in eight months, Illinois created legislation in 14 months, but after 4 1/2 years New York can’t get it together." Drilling opponents say the state should have all the time it needs to study the impacts of drilling.