Summary: In New York state, the administration is about to finish its stance on “fracking” in parts of its Southern Tier, just north of the Pennsylvania border. As many of you are aware, fracking is the process of pushing water, sand, and other minerals deep into the ground in order to release and collect natural gas. With the area called Marcellus Shale that covers large parts of Pennsylvania and New York, companies have been falling over themselves in order to get a piece of the action.
The environmental effects of fracking are not clear-cut. The public is torn about it, and the state administration is being pulled by opposite sides of the debate.