ALBANY — A federal lawsuit filed by a father and son who own more than 160 acres of property in Delaware County is seeking to overturn New York’s ban on the extraction of natural gas through fracking.
The litigation, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Albany in April, is unfolding as Republican gubernatorial candidate and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman has said he would support overturning the state’s fracking prohibitions. The lawsuit’s defendants include Gov. Kathy Hochul, state Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Amanda Lefton and state Attorney General Letitia James.
Last week, several New York-based environmental groups that had advocated for the hydraulic fracking ban filed a joint motion seeking to intervene in the case.
There have been various prohibitions on fracking enacted in the past 18 years. The technology uses high pressure to inject water, sand and chemicals into bedrock to release trapped natural gas or oil. In 2008, the state Department of Environmental Conservation placed a de facto moratorium on high-volume hydraulic fracturing to study its environmental impacts…