As hydrofracking begins in Michigan, New York moves to ban the practice

The New York state Senate has passed a bill that would ban hydrofracking until next May.

Hydraulic fracturing or “hydrofracking“ is a drilling technique that fractures deep underground shale in order to release natural gas deposits.

This spring natural gas exploration companies purchased mineral rights for hundreds of thousands of acres in northern Michigan after a hydrofracking test well developed by the Encana corporation in Missaukee County yielded large amounts of natural gas.

ProPublica reports that the legislative effort to ban hydrofracking in New York comes as the state’s drilling regulatory agency concludes a two year long review of the impacts of the practice. That agency could begin issuing drilling permits as soon as next month.

The anti-fracturing measure — the first of its kind in the nation — initially arose out of concerns that New York could experience the same rash of water contamination, spills and air quality impacts that have affected Pennsylvania since it embraced widespread Marcellus Shale drilling two years ago.

Its passage was speeded by the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Thompson said. “We have to make sure we do our due diligence,” [State Senator Antoine Thompson] told ProPublica. “There have been clear examples just next door in Pennsylvania where the Department of Environmental Protection fell short. We have to make sure that whether there are concerns raised by landowners, the Farm Bureau, the Sierra Club or just a resident of New York that we try to address them legislatively and not just through the permitting process.”

The bill would prevent gas and oil drillers from using hydraulic fracturing in oil or gas wells until May 15, 2011.

New York’s hydrofracking ban must be approved by the state assembly and governor before it can become law.