Two months after the Snyder Farm Group in Barton announced it is applying for a permit from the state to frack using an alternative method with gelled propane instead of water, an anti-fracking activist is calling on the governor to put a halt to that plan.
Walter Hang from the Environmental Database Company Toxics Targeting says the Department of Environmental Conservation recognizes what he calls the dangers of the method, but it is not included in the state's ban on fracking. That ban only prohibits high-volume hydraulic fracking using more than 300,000 gallons of water.
"We believe that there is a flaw in the definition of high-volume hydraulic fracking. That's why we're calling on the Governor one way or another to rectify this problem and to make sure gel propane is prohibited," said Hang.
Hang calls propane highly flammable and explosive. Proponents of the process call it a more environmentally friendly way to frack. The Cuomo Administration announced it's ban on high-volume hydrofracking last December.