Senator Webb and the Senate Democratic Majority Passed Legislation Banning CO2 Fracking

(Binghamton, N.Y.) Today, the Senate Democratic Majority passed Senator Webb’s legislation, S.8357/A8866, that would prohibit “fracking” with carbon dioxide. Traditional hydrofracking is the use of high-pressure water and chemicals to fracture geologic formations to extract natural gas and oil resources. The process is widely known to cause a variety of adverse environmental and health consequences. With the oil and gas industry now proposing to circumvent the state’s existing fracking ban, it is imperative that we act now to close the carbon dioxide loophole and reaffirm the importance of our environmental protection laws. 

Currently, our State’s fracking ban only prevents hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking), which uses a mixture of water and harmful chemicals to extract gas and oil. We need to expand and strengthen our fracking ban to now include the use of carbon dioxide (CO2) for fracking. All forms of fracking, regardless of the type of high-pressure fluid used, pose many of the same threats and risks to our water, health and climate, and the failure to close this loophole would create new environmental and health risks from the dangerously large amounts of high-pressure CO2 that would be necessary for this experimental form of fracking. 

Senator Lea Webb said, "We know that fracking proposes significant health and environmental problems that threaten our communities. Over a decade ago, our State historically led the nation and protected public health and the environment by banning high volume hydraulic fracking. And now, an out-of-state company wants to lease land from my constituents in Broome County to inject carbon dioxide into the shale. We must take action to combat the use of CO2 to prevent any erosion of the progress our state has made in preventing fracking. That is why I have introduced this piece of legislation with my colleagues Assemblymember Kelles, Assemblywoman Lupardo and Senator Krueger to strengthen our fracking laws by banning the use of CO2 before it causes damage to our health and environment.” 

The bill was passed last week by the New York State Assembly prior to passing in the Senate and will now head to the Governor’s desk. 

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