Why did Gov. Cuomo Decide to Ban Fracking in New York?

By Myron Arnowitt, Pennsylvania State Director - Follow the Pennsylvania Team on Twitter (@CleanH2OPA) Why did New York ban fracking? Maybe it was the hundreds of families impacted by the 240 cases of water contamination from gas drilling documented by the state of Pennsylvania. Maybe it was the millions of gallons of toxic wastewater from gas drilling that have been dumped in Pennsylvania rivers. Maybe it was the notices from water utilities sent to 300,000 residents in the Pittsburgh area to not use their drinking water due to fracking wastewater in their water supply. Maybe it was the 500 frack pits, open earthen impoundments of toxic wastewater, set up by the oil and gas industry around the state covering nearly 1,000 acres and capable of holding a billion gallons. Maybe it was the flammable water, exploding water wells, or even the gas well fire in southwest PA that took a week to put out. Maybe it was all of it, but clearly Gov. Cuomo looked over the border in Pennsylvania at how the gas industry has handled Marcellus Shale gas production and he wanted no part of it for New York. As a Pennsylvania resident, I certainly hope that the kind of deliberation that the State of New York took to examine the risks to both human health and environmental degradation from intensive gas production will finally come to Pennsylvania as well. Despite many thousands of wells drilled Pennsylvania has never undertaken a state-wide study of the impacts of fracking here. Money allocated for a study by the state Department of Health has gone unspent. Its time for the new leadership in Pennsylvania government to take a look over their borders and see how New York studied the issue. With possibly only 10% of wells projected for the Marcellus Shale already in the ground it is not too late for Pennsylvania to figure out how to stop the damage that has occurred in the state so far. In this case late could be far, far better than never.