Environmental Group Sues New York Department of Health to Obtain Hydraulic Fracturing Review Documents
An environmental advocacy group reportedly filed a lawsuit against the New York Department of Health on September 13, 2013, seeking to force the release of documents related to the agency’s public health review of hydraulic fracturing. The Seneca Lake Pure Waters Association filed the action after the Department of Health rejected the group’s earlier request to obtain the documents under the State Freedom of Information Law. Groups on both sides of the debate on whether the state’s hydraulic fracturing moratorium should be lifted have criticized the lack of transparency in the Department of Health’s public health review. Currently the State has no timetable for completion of the public health review.