Gov. Cuomo Administration Hints at Supporting Hydrofracking in Certain Municipalities

The Cuomo administration has hinted it may allow hydrofracking to move forward only in municipalities that express support for the procedure, and this week Gov. Andrew Cuomo explicitly said that "home rule" should be a factor in deciding where to allow it. But the technology is such that drilling for natural gas in some locations and not in others doesn't make sense, several lawmakers argued yesterday. "You may have a town that says no, but if the town next to it says yes ? well, it's horizontal hydrofracking we're talking about," State Sen. Tony Avella, an outspoken opponent of the controversial practice, said at a rally on the steps of City Hall. "The pipes are going to go a long distance underground and we'll have contaminated water seeping into the water supply of a town that never wanted it." State Sen. Liz Krueger said that polluted water from a single source could contaminate crops and livestock, which would in turn spread through the state. "If one county does it, it can contaminate other counties," she said. "We are all one when it comes to this issue and we are all interdependent, literally and figuratively."