Setting the stage for New York to issue a formal ban on fracking within 10 days, the state Department of Environmental Conservation released this week a 2,000-page environmental review that underscores the “significant and adverse” climate and public health risks associated with the drilling technique.

In drafting the report, the department considered over 260,000 public comments in addition to scores of scientific and academic studies.

“This report appears to solidly back up the governor’s decision to ban fracking in New York.”
—Kate Sinding, Natural Resources Defense Council

This “exhaustive evaluation,” conducted over the course of seven years, found that “significant uncertainty remains regarding the level of risk to public health and the environment that would result from permitting high-volume hydraulic fracturing in New York, and regarding the degree of effectiveness of proposed mitigation measures,” according to an executive summary (pdf). “In fact, the uncertainty regarding the potential significant adverse environmental and public health impacts has been growing over time.”

The report cites such impacts ranging from degraded air quality to possible groundwater and surface water contamination to increased earthquake risks associated with fracking.

Furthermore, as Environment & Energy Publishing notes, the review “contemplates a detailed set of regulations that would be needed if shale development were allowed in the state. To protect waterways and other sensitive areas, the study estimates that 7.5 million of New York’s 12 million Marcellus acres would be placed off limits—greatly diminishing potential development and profits.”