NEW YORK, N.Y. /eNewsChannels/ — U.S. Senate Candidate Gail Goode (D-NY) yesterday supported a six-month ban on hydraulic drilling for natural gas near upstate watersheds that supply drinking water to the New York metropolitan region.
“We must have a much clearer sense of the potential impact of this process, known as hydraulic fracturing, on our watershed,” Goode said, following a community town hall meeting Tuesday at the Borough of Manhattan Community College.
“I support creating jobs, but in this case, we must consider the greater good of protecting the region’s drinking water,” said Goode, who will face off against Kirsten Gillibrand in the Sept. 14 Democratic Primary. “As we’ve seen with the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, it is just not enough for industry to assure the public that a process is safe.”
Hydraulic fracturing is used to release natural gas deposits by shooting a high-pressure mixture of water, sand and chemicals into shale deposits thousands of feet below ground. The mixture fractures the shale and allows gas that is trapped in the formations to flow.
Earlier this month, the New York State Senate passed a bill that suspends hydraulic fracturing for the extraction of natural gas or oil until May 15, 2011, and suspends the issuance of new permits for such drilling, to provide time to study the issue. If the legislation becomes law, it would temporarily prevent drilling in the Marcellus Shale formation, which stretches from the Catskills region westward across New York into Ohio, and south into Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia and Virginia.
Goode noted that the Senate legislation acknowledges the “robust debate involving the interplay between job creation and protection of the environment,” but said the potential risks in this case are too great until more is known.
“The federal government should be working hand-in-hand with state officials to create jobs, and I do not believe my opponent has done nearly enough to help the people of New York,” Goode said. “We should be focusing on rebuilding infrastructure and bringing new technologies to New York, rather than drilling processes that could potentially contaminate our drinking water.”
More information: www.gailgoode.com .
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Story References: People For Gail Goode, New York Democratic Primary, senate race, elections, politics, hydraulic drilling for natural gas, water safety, watersheds that supply drinking water to the New York metropolitan region, Marcellus Shale formation drilling, community town hall meeting, Hydraulic fracturing.
