Water Rangers Applaud Senate Minority for Effort to Fund Study of Fracking's Health Impacts in NYS Budget

ALBANY, NY (03/28/2012)(readMedia)-- In response to a budget amendment introduced by the State Senate Minority, the New York Water Rangers and Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter released the following statement:

"The Water Rangers and Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter applaud the State Senate Democratic Conference for insisting that New York's leaders study the science of fracking before giving industrial gas drilling a green light.

By calling for an independent, comprehensive health impacts assessment of fracking, the Senate Minority is heeding the call of experts--the Medical Society of New York, the Academy of Family Physicians, Nurses Association, American Academy of Pediatrics District II, and hundreds of individual physicians and scientists, among others--who see the failure to order such a study as a glaring omission in the state's fracking plans.

An independent and comprehensive study of fracking's health impacts must be completed before a science-driven decision can be made about whether or not gas drilling is permitted in New York."

The New York Water Rangers campaign is supported by a network of organizations working to protect the rights and health of New Yorkers and one of our most precious environmental resources-water-from the dangers of irresponsible, poorly regulated and under-inspected natural gas exploration and development. The campaign is supported by Catskill Mountainkeeper, Citizens Campaign for the Environment, Earthjustice, EARTHWORKS Oil & Gas Accountability Project, Environmental Advocates of New York, Environment New York, Fleased, Natural Resources Defense Council, Otsego 2000, and Riverkeeper. Visit www.CleanWaterNotDirtyDrilling.org to learn more.