Doctors seek budget funding to perform health assessment on hydrofracking |
March 26, 2012
Members of the medical community are urging Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Senate to include funding for a health impact assessment on natural gas exploration, including hydraulic fracturing, in the 2012-2013 state budget.A letter addressed to Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Rockville Centre, and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, is signed by 26 medical organizations and professionals who say the Assembly included $100,000 for a comprehensive study on the impacts of gas drilling. They are concerned about the potential dangers that could result from hydraulic fracturing.
"Despite these attempts to communicate serious concerns that the medical community has made, the state completely omitted an assessment of potential health impacts in the [revised impact statement]," said Elie Ward, director of policy and advocacy for the American Academy of Pediatrics District II, New York State.
