Wayne, NY Votes to Ban Fracking for One Year

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The Town of Wayne, in Steuben County, NY is the latest New York municipality to enact a legally questionable ban on horizontal hydraulic fracturing:

The Town of Wayne officially enacted a moratorium on natural gas drilling Tuesday night, becoming the first municipality in Steuben County to pass a temporary ban on the process known as hydrofracturing.

Wayne Town Supervisor Steve Butchko said the Town Board unanimously passed a one-year moratorium on drilling – commonly known as fracking. No opposition to the ban was raised during a public hearing before the vote, Butchko said.

“This was not so much pro-fracking or anti-fracking,” Butchko said. “Our primary purpose is to review our land use agreement and make sure we’re protected.”

Butchko said Wayne’s location is unique in the county, since it is located between Keuka and Waneta lakes. The lakes are fed by two separate sources, with Keuka Lake’s source the St. Lawrence Seaway and Waneta Lake in the Susquehanna River Basin.

The two lakes and other geological differences in the town mean drafting new land use regulations is essential, Butchko said.*

*Bath (NY) Bath Courier (Feb 19, 2012) – Wayne bans fracking

3 Comments

  1. It’s not “legally questionable” any longer. Wayne, and soon, Bath and Hammondsport and Pulteney and … Just wait and see. Dozens of towns across NYS are all going to do it.