New report highlights negative impacts of fracking
By MATTHEW DONDIEGO
A recent report conducted by a New York-based environmental group highlights a slew of consequences hydraulic fracturing could potentially have on the state, including depleting water sources and increasing costs to small communities.
The report, conducted by Environment New York, defines the impacts of fracking as "all of the activities needed to bring a shale gas or oil well into production using high-volume hydraulic fracturing, to operate that well, and to deliver the gas or oil produced from that well to market."
According to the group, damage from hydraulic fracturing — an extraction process that blasts high volumes of water, sand and chemicals into rock formations to release natural gas deposits — "is widespread and occurs on a scale unimagined just a few years ago."
"Gov. [Andrew] Cuomo needs to show the rest of the nation that New York isn't going to add to the tragic environmental tally fracking is racking up. He needs to do better than that for our communities," said Eric Weltman, senior organizer with Food & Water Watch. "Fracking in America means so much more than blasting water and chemicals into the ground. Each year, it means hundreds of billions of gallons of toxic waste, half a million tons of air pollution, and acre upon acre of destroyed forest and farmland."
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http://www.legislativegazette.com/Articles-Top-Stories-c-2013-10-15-85448.113122-New-report-highlights-negative-impacts-of-fracking.html