New York Senators Seek Fracking Delay to Await Key Study

A critical bloc in New York’s Senate is calling for up to a two-year delay in hydraulic fracturing for natural gas until an independent health review known as the Geisinger study is completed.

The Independent Democratic Conference, which shares control of the Senate with Republicans, says the Geisinger study and a federal water quality report must be completed before Gov. Andrew Cuomo settles the five-year-old controversy.

Powerful Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver says he plans an announcement Wednesday on the same topic. His chamber already calls for a two-year moratorium.

The Associated Press reported over the weekend that environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. discussed the Geisinger report in recent weeks with Cuomo, his former brother-in-law. Kennedy calls the Geisinger report “pivotal.”