Hydrofracking demonstrators out for Governor’s visit

BROOME COUNTY, N.Y. -- With the governor in town, people on both sides of the ongoing hydrofracking debate were out to make sure their voices were heard.

Pro- and anti- fracking demonstrators greeted Governor Andrew Cuomo during his tour. Both sides say it was important for the governor to see firsthand how the community feels about the issue.

"Obviously we were out on a cold day, it was short notice, we had over 50 people that made it. Most of them were older people, some were with crutches, some were shivering, but we were all willing to stand there to make sure the governor knew it was important to our community and we hope that he recognizes that," said Bob Poloncic of the Vestal Gas Coalition.

"We want him to see the citizen concerns of the lives and the children and the families that he's going to be basically managing. We believe it would be irresponsible of him to allow fracking to go forward until all of the critical concerns raised about the SGEIS have been fully resolved," said Walter Hang of Toxics Targeting.

Last week, the DEC filed for an extension of the decision making process for hydrofracking. They also released new proposed regulations, which could change depending on the results of an ongoing health assessment.