Landowners sue the state over fracking moratorium
By Richard Moody
A group of pro-fracking landowners in upstate New York filed a lawsuit against Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the Department of Health and the Department of Environmental Conservation for holding up a decision on allowing hydraulic fracturing in New York.
The Joint Landowners Coalition of New York is a 70,000 member group, based in Binghamton, that is pushing for an immediate decision on fracking in the state. The members are landowners from several counties across New York who have had contracts with drilling companies and have not been able to cash in on them since fracking was banned several years ago.
Hydrofracking is a controversial natural gas extraction process, by which natural gas is drilled from shale rock by shooting the rock with a combination of water, sand and chemicals. Though it is said to have caused an economic boom in states such as Pennsylvania, it is also criticized for causing health problems among residents living around drilling stations.
Cuomo has not made a decision on fracking which was banned from New York under Gov. David Paterson in order to launch a more comprehensive impact study on the effects fracking would have on the state. The moratorium on fracking has caused anxiousness on both sides of the issue: pro and con.
http://www.legislativegazette.com/Articles-Top-Stories-c-2014-02-24-86924.113122-Landowners-sue-the-state-over-fracking-moratorium.html
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