ALBANY – Opponents of hydrofracking to mine natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations are thrilled that the State Senate has approved an 11 month moratorium on drilling.

Supporters were disappointed with the vote, saying the Senate let down New Yorkers.

One of the groups involved in the drive for the moratorium, Catskill Mountainkeeper, wants to keep the heat on the issue. Program Director Wes Gillingham there are a number of reasons for the delay.

“It only makes logical sense; we need to answer some of the fundamental questions about gas drilling that are still hanging out there over our heads,” he said.

Ulster County Legislator Susan Zimet, who has been in the forefront of the moratorium effort, notes that the Assembly must still pass the bill and then it must be signed into law by Governor Paterson. She plans to continue to lobby the Assembly to explain why she believes a moratorium on drilling is needed.

“Why New York needs to take this slow and really understand it so we don’t find ourselves like people in Pennsylvania and all across the country have found themselves with water that you can put a match to when it comes out of their faucet and it basically explodes into flames,” she said.

The Independent Oil & Gas Association of New York, meanwhile, expressed “extreme disappointment” at the Senate’s passage of the bill.

“Reason, science, logic and economic opportunity has lost out to a calculated campaign of misinformation and ignorance,” said association Executive Director Brad Gill. “On the very same night the legislature passed a budget that includes $1.6 billion in new taxes, fees and assessments, the Senate turned its back on an industry that would have safely explored for natural gas and provided a large part of the solution to New York’s economic despair.”