At noon today, about 50 anti-gas-driling protesters hauled signs to the lawn in front of the Region 3 office of the New York Deparment of Environmental Conservation to call for a fracking moratorium. One of the speakers was New Paltz Central School District Board of Education member Daniel Torres, pictured below. Torres compared gas drilling in the watershed to the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico, saying: "We don't need another Gulf Coast. Not in New Paltz. Not in Ulster County. Not in New York."
"Not in New Paltz": Daniel Torres protests fracking in New Paltz today.
The protest was organized by Frack Action, a New Paltz-based activist group that supports a bill currently pending before the New York State Legislature that would ban gas drilling in the state until the federal Environmental Protection Agency completes a study of hydro-fracking.
The group said that coordinated protests were also held in New York City, Avon, Schenectady, Syracuse, and Buffalo. Julia Walsh, the director of the Frack Action campaign, said in a prepared statement:
"We're here today because the DEC is posed to start handing our permits at the end of the year for companies to begin this risky new procedure in rural counties located all over New York State. We're asking for more time to study the effets of fracking on our drinking water, on public health, and the environment."
Bear crossing: A passing bear trap overshadows protestors at the Region 3 DEC office today.
