ALBANY — Deeming it “reckless to proceed,” NYS Acting Health Commissioner Howard Zucker on Wednesday urged Governor Andrew Cuomo not to move forward with fracking (hydraulic fracturing used in drilling for natural gas and oil).

And it is all but certain the state will ban it.

Though fracking has led to an economic boom in neighboring Pennsylvania and other states - increasing energy supplies and reducing consumer costs to unanticipated levels - its potential health effects on air, water and land have led to litigation, protests and deep safety concerns.

“I asked myself, ‘Would I let my family live in a community with fracking?'” remarked Zucker during a cabinet meeting with Cuomo Wednesday. “The answer is no. I therefore cannot recommend anyone else's family to live in such a community either.”

As a result, state officials said they could not recommend a five-year-old moratorium on fracking permits be lifted.

Indeed, NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Joe Martens intends to permanently ban it statewide early next year.

“DEC's own review identified dozens of potential significant adverse impacts of HVHF [high-volume hydraulic fracturing],” Martens said. “Further, with the exclusion of sensitive natural, cultural and historic resources and the increasing number of towns that have enacted bans and moratoria, the risks substantially outweigh any potential economic benefits of HVHF.

“Considering the research, public comments, relevant studies, Dr. Zucker's report and the enormous record DEC has amassed on this issue, I have directed my staff to complete the final SGEIS [Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement],” Martens added. “Once that is complete, I will prohibit high-volume hydraulic fracturing in New York State at this time.”

According to a state press release, the Department of Health (DOH) review ordered two years ago, and just now completed, found “significant uncertainties about: the adverse health outcomes that may be associated with HVHF; the likelihood of occurrence of adverse health outcomes; and the adequacy of mitigation measures to protect public health.

“DOH's report concludes that it will be years until science and research provide sufficient information to determine the level of risk HVHF poses to public health and whether those risks can be adequately mitigated. Given the red flags raised by current studies, absent conclusive studies that disprove health concerns, the report states the activity should not proceed in New York State.”

“The reasons they've cited are all BS,” argued a furious Bill Graby, a lifelong Callicoon farmer who with the late Noel van Swol organized the Sullivan-Delaware Property Owners Association in order to lease land to potential gas drillers.

“I'm really not surprised,” Graby added. “He [Cuomo] doesn't care. He's got his eyes set on the presidency. ... It's all a political game.”

Inge Grafe-Kieklak of Jeffersonville owns land in Delaware County and won a court case against a Town of Sidney fracking moratorium. After watching the web-streamed cabinet meeting Wednesday morning, she commented, “Everything that Dr. Zucker and Mr. Martens said was from the talking points of the antis. It was a political decision. It had nothing to do with science.

“I don't know if there is a recourse [to this decision]. [Pro-drilling] people are devastated. All these years we've tried to educate people, but it has not had any impact,” she added.

After noting that the “other side had a huge amount of money,” Kieklak stated, “This was about money, not science, not facts.”

As for Governor Cuomo - “He's despicable,” Kieklak pronounced.

“It's the betrayal of an upstate generation by a guy more interested in restoring his left-wing credentials for a Democratic run for President,” agreed Tom Shepstone, a Honesdale, Pa.-based planner who is one of the most visible advocates for drilling in the region.

“The general consensus is that fracking is dead here until Cuomo is gone,” added Graby, predicting that the exodus of economically-struggling people from New York will escalate as a result.

Indeed, drilling has been seen by some in the Southern Tier region as the only long-term antidote to a dismal fiscal outlook.

The just-released state report, however, argues that any benefits would be outweighed by the impacts.

Graby's neighbor, actor and noted anti-fracking advocate Mark Ruffalo, praised the decision and said it was based on facts, not feelings.

“In the end, Commissioner Joe Martens and Commissioner Zucker did exactly what everyone was hoping and what the Governor promised - that we would rely on science, not emotion, not greed, nor money,” Ruffalo told the Democrat. “That's what happened today. In a time when so few decisions are made based on the facts, this is beautiful and welcome news.

“... This is a great day for NYS and a wonderful day for the people who have worked so hard with their hearts, their minds and their guts to illuminate the truth about fracking. Thanks to all of them.”

But there's more work to be done, said Bruce Ferguson, a member of the Fremont Center-based advocacy nonprofit Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy.

“In the face of clear evidence that high-volume hydraulic fracturing presents unacceptable risks to the health and safety of New Yorkers, the Cuomo Administration finally made the right decision and barred shale gas extraction. Thanks are due to the governor, to Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens and to Acting Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker,” Ferguson prefaced.

“Still, the tens of thousands of activists who have been working tirelessly on this issue over the last seven years have every right to claim this victory as their own,” he continued. “While we celebrate this historic moment, we must also remember that New Yorkers are still threatened by the fracking industry - toxic frack waste is trucked in from out of state, ‘bomb trains' carry explosive fracked oil on our rail lines, and a host of infrastructure projects such as pipelines, compressor stations and gas storage facilities disrupt and endanger our communities. There is still a lot more work to be done!”