Irene Delays Hydrofracking Report

By Zack Seward

Rochester, NY – A complete draft of the rules for hydrofracking for natural gas in New York State was supposed to be released to the public today. But as the WXXI Innovation Trail's Zack Seward reports, the Department of Environmental Conservation is delaying until next week.

A DEC spokeswoman says the report on fracking is being pushed back because of Tropical Storm Irene.

In an email to reporters, Emily DeSantis says, "DEC continues to be focused on hurricane response and recovery. Therefore, we will release the revised draft SGEIS next week."

SGEIS stands for Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement. It's more than 1,000 pages of rules and regulations that will guide the state's permitting process for hydrofracking in New York.

An incomplete version of the draft report was released in July.

The agency has said that the public will have a chance to weigh in on the rules once the complete draft is released.