New York Congressional members push for gas drilling disclosure
Posted by CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE at 2:21 PMNine members of the New York congressional delegation are among House Democrats urging federal officials to require natural gas drillers to disclose the chemicals they use under a technique called hydraulic fracturing.
An estimated 90 percent of the drilling leases Interior has issued over the last 10 years have been for hydraulic fracturing wells, in which drillers pump chemicals, sand and water into the ground to break open rock formations and release natural gas trapped in fissures.
New York is a prime candidate for hydraulic fracturing because it's home to the Marcellus Shale, a vast geological formation that stretches from Western New York and the Southern Tier into Pennsylvania, West Virginia, eastern Ohio, part of Maryland and the western edge of Virginia.
New York has a moratorium on new drilling leases as it reviews the potential environmental impact of widespread hydrofracking in areas adjacent to the Finger Lakes, the Chesapeake watershed and the New York City reservoir system.
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