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December 24, 2009

New York City Calls for Ban on Gas Drilling in Upstate Watershed
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Here in New York City, environmental officials are demanding that the
state of New York reverse its decision to allow natural gas drilling
upstate in the Marcellus Shale watershed. The city is concerned that
toxic chemicals used in the drilling process could leak into the city’s
drinking water supply, causing unknown health risks. Steven Lawitts, the
acting commissioner of the city’s Department of Environmental
Protection, said, “hydrofracking and horizontal drilling pose
unacceptable threats to the unfiltered fresh water supply of nine
million New Yorkers.”



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