NYC urges ban on shale gas drilling in watershed

NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York City urged New York state on Wednesday to ban natural gas drilling in its watershed, adding unprecedented support to critics who consider the chemicals used to mine for shale gas as poisonous to drinking water.

The biggest city in the United States joined environmentalists and small-town neighbors of drilling operations in trying to hinder the exploitation of one of the most promising sources of U.S. energy — the Marcellus Shale formation.

“The risks are simply not worth it,” the city’s acting Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner, Steven Lawitts, said in a statement.

“Based on the latest science and available technology, as well as the data and limited analysis presented by the state, high-volume hydrofracking and horizontal drilling pose unacceptable threats to the unfiltered fresh water supply of nine million New Yorkers,” Lawitts said.

Reuters