YOUNGSVILLE – The Catskill Mountainkeeper organization came out against any hydrofracking in New York, Wednesday.  The group said while a revised environmental study conducted by the state DEC may appear at first glance to be a significant improvement over a previous state document, Mountainkeeper’s investigation into the text’s “fine print has identified massive deficiencies.”

Executive Director Ramsay Adams said those include the failure to present a mitigation plan for “the inevitable public health impacts associated with fracking, and a blatant disregard to adequate drinking water protections.”  He said the document also presents the industry with “a clear road map for fracking in the Catskill Park, the Delaware River Watershed, and throughout the Southern Tier of New York.”

Adams said there is no way the process can be accomplished carefully.

“The point is that they can’t do this safely and no matter what kinds of rules or regulations they put in place, it’s not safe. So, we have to ban it,” he said. “If things change, we’ll reevaluate our position, but at this point, there is no set of rules that can make this safe.”

Supporters of fracking, though, say it is a safe process and with the new safeguards proposed by the state, sensitive areas will be safeguarded.