ALBANY – The State Department of Environmental Conservation has extended by one month the comment period on the draft supplemental generic environmental impact statement governing potential natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale formation.

The public may now submit comments until December 31 instead of the previous deadline of November 30.

That’s good news to Congressman Maurice Hinchey. “We have been requesting a longer time for the opportunity for people to make comments and to see more clearly what the circumstances are.” That will be a “positive change.”

US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand had also urged an extended timeframe. “While this proposal holds tremendous economic opportunity for New York, our quest for new sources of energy and growth cannot come at the expense of clean air and safe drinking water for New Yorkers,” she said.