Breaking: NY State to Lift Moratorium on Fracking

So says a banner at the NYT that was posted via its twitter feed an noon today. As of now there has been no confirmation from the NY DEP.

@nytimesThe New York Times

NYT NEWS ALERT: New York State to Lift Moratorium on Hydraulic Fracturing

1 hour ago via The New York TimesFavorite Undo Retweet Reply

Politics on the Hudson has more:

In a one-line crawl on the top of its website and a blast from its official Twitter account, The New York Times is reporting that the state will lift its moratorium on hydraulic fracturing for natural gas.

But Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office quickly moved to knock the report down, with a spokesman Josh Vlasto calling it “baseless speculation and premature” in an e-mail.

The one-sentence was added as a “Breaking News” item on the top of its website at noon: “New York State to Lift Moratorium on Hydraulic Fracturing”

As of 12:40 p.m., it remains there. A full story hasn’t been added yet.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation is up against a July 1 deadline for a second draft of its Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement—a massive document that will guide the permitting process for hydrofracking in the Marcellus Shale.

By executive order, the process is set to remain on hold in New York until a final version of the document—not the upcoming draft—is set in stone, so a lift of the moratorium would be a major surprise, to say the least.

The upcoming draft is set to be followed by at least a 30 day comment period, as directed by a separate executive order from former Gov. David Paterson, and extended under Cuomo. Shortly before the NYT alert moved, a DEC spokesperson said there “will be ample time for public comment and it will not begin until sometime after the document is made available to the public.”

I will continue to add more as events warrant and my time allows.

Update:

Cuomo Will Seek to Lift Ban on Hydraulic Fracturing

The Cuomo administration is expected to lift what has been, in effect, a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, a controversial technology used to extract natural gas from shale, people briefed on the administration’s discussions said.

Administration officials are discussing maintaining a ban on the process inside New York City’s sprawling upstate watershed, as well as a watershed used by the city of Syracuse, according to people briefed on the plan. But by allowing the process in other parts of the state, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo would open up New York to one of the fastest-growing — critics would say reckless — areas of the energy industry.

When the decision will be made public is less certain. On Friday, the State Department of Environmental Conservation is due to release a long-awaited study of the process, widely known as hydrofracking. But it was unclear if the Cuomo administration would use the occasion to announce its broader policy plans related to the issue as well. The report will likely include recommendations, and then there will be a period for public comments before a final determination can be made.

Hydrofracking has spurred intense protests from environmental activists, who say it threatens the cleanliness of ground water. The process involves injecting large volumes of water, mixed with sand and chemicals, deep into the ground to break up rock formations and release natural gas. It is legal in a number of other states, including Pennsylvania.

A primary concern among environmental groups has been the leftover waste water that can be contaminated with toxins buried underground, including naturally occurring radioactive elements or carcinogens like benzene.

Drilling for natural gas has been promoted as a way to reduce dependence on imported energy, even as it burns more cleanly than coal.

Josh Vlasto, a spokesman for the governor, said it was “baseless speculation and premature” to say the state’s current moratorium on hydrofracking would be lifted.

Ian Urbina unavailable for comment!