CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE

New York’s proposed regulations for hydraulic fracturing would have sufficiently curbed many of the environmental impacts experienced in Pennsylvania, according to a study by the University at Buffalo.

The report received immediate criticism from environmental and anti-hydrofracking groups, with one accusing its authors of “drawing rosy conclusions based on limited information.”

The study focused on 2,988 violations filed by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection from January 2008 through August 2011, covering close to 4,000 gas wells. Of those, 25 violations were considered “major,” which include events like blowouts at gas wells, land spills and water contamination.

New York’s proposed permitting guidelines for high-volume hydrofracking would have helped avoid or mitigate the major violations, according to the report.

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