New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) administration said Wednesday that it will block gas development by hydraulic fracturing, bringing to an end a six-year study process and kicking off what could be years of lawsuits from developers who want to tap rich Marcellus shale deposits.

At a cabinet meeting Wednesday morning, acting state Health Commissioner Howard Zucker released the results of a years-long study into the public health implications of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. Zucker said the benefits of tapping natural gas deposits in western New York did not outweigh the potential risk to public health.

“The overall weight of the evidence … demonstrates that there are significant uncertainties about the kinds of adverse health outcomes” associated with fracking, Zucker wrote in the Health Department report [pdf].

New York Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens, whose department has also undertaken a review of the impacts fracking would have on local communities, said 63 percent of the land available for fracking would not be eligible for high-volume fracking because of health risks, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reported.

Industry representatives reacted angrily to Wednesday’s decision, which was announced with little fanfare before the cabinet meeting began.

“This is an ill-advised decision that denies New Yorkers the opportunity to take advantage of the many environmental and economic benefits that natural gas offers,” said Paul Hartman, the Albany-based northeast director of America’s Natural Gas Alliance, the industry trade group. “The decision to prohibit hydraulic fracturing is based on data that does not justify the Cuomo administration’s conclusions.”

Read more