Vice Chairman of the Rockland County Legislature Alden H. Wolfe has joined with elected officials across New York State in urging Governor Andrew Cuomo to continue the de facto moratorium on hydraulic fracturing and to postpone permitting of drilling until such time studies are performed that assess the impact fracturing will have on the public health, economy and environment of communities where fracturing may occur.
Wolfe, who is the Chairman of the Legislature’s Environmental Committee and an outspoken opponent of hydraulic fracturing, said there are many questions that need to be answered before a decision is made about hydraulic fracturing.
“We need to have evaluations of both the positive and negative impacts that fracturing will have on communities in New York State. Analyses performed to date have failed to adequately assess the complete picture. With the stakes being so high, a decision should only be made after careful consideration of public health,
socioeconomic and cumulative impacts.”
Wolfe added, “I am pleased to join with other New York elected officials to lobby the Governor to keep the moratorium in place pending these analyses. I believe, as they do, that once we head down this road, the potential harm will be irreversible. We need to be aware of those factors before, not after the damage is done.”
