Hundreds Attend Hydro-Fracking Hearing Upstate
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The controversial gas drilling technique known as hydro-fracking came to head Monday in upstate New York.
Hundreds of people gathered in Binghamton for one of the final public hearings on the issue, organized by the Environmental Protection Agency.
The EPA will then consider the comments in a study into whether the process will impact drinking water.
The drilling technique aims to tap into the mineral rich Marcellus Shale underneath the Catskills-Delaware watershed system, which provides drinking water to millions of people here in New York City.
Environmental advocates who spoke with NY1 say they are pleased with how the EPA is dealing with the study.
"So far, I think EPA has taken the right approach. They've said publicly that they want to look at the entire life cycle of the drilling process so it's not just about he fracturing of the wells, it's about the road building, the wastewater treatment, the water withdrawals and everything in between and we think that's the right approach," said Riverkeeper Program Director Craig Michaels.
The current study was ordered by Congress after the agency’s 2004 study that declared the technology was widely criticized as being flawed.
It's expected to be completed by 2012.