Portage, NY Attorney: Bans are a Form of Regulation

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For or against? That’s the question being played out at town board meetings across New York State. And the full question is, “For or against hydraulic fracturing?” As the state Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) gets closer to releasing new drilling regulations for horizontal drilling and fracking, towns are lining up to either ban it (illegal in MDN’s opinion, although the court is still weighing that issue), or to “support it,” which usually means a vote to let the DEC actually issue the new regs before passing judgment.

Somehow, if you vote to wait for the DEC, anti-drillers consider that support. Whatever. One of the latest townships to consider the issue is in western New York—the Town of Portage in Livingston County. The board seems to sense the local political winds are blowing in favor of a ban, but they aren’t acting quick enough for the local anti-drilling zealots who attend every board meeting and complain. What’s interesting about the latest board meeting is not that the board decided to wait, but the admission their attorney let slip in his comments:

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