ALBANY — Republican gubernatorial candidate Marc Molinaro said Wednesday he supports allowing large-scale hydraulic fracturing in New York as part of a "closely monitored" test program in the Southern Tier.
Molinaro, the Dutchess County executive, criticized the 2014 decision by Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration to ban the controversial technique used to extract natural gas from underground shale formations, such as the gas-rich Marcellus Shale that spans the Southern Tier.
But Molinaro said the state should start small with fracking by allowing a controlled pilot program after comprehensively mapping the state's water sources.
"I do believe that a closely monitored, DEC-watched pilot in the Southern Tier is appropriate," Molinaro told reporters at the state Capitol. "Again, closely watched and monitored as was suggested before the ban went into place."
Fracking involves the use of water and chemicals blasted deep underground in an effort to free up natural gas in highly compact rock formations underground.
Technological advancements in the mid-2000s allowed the technique to be used horizontally and on a larger scale, which opened up previously unreachable formations like the Marcellus Shale.
Cuomo's administration spent the governor's first term in office weighing whether to allow large-scale fracking in New York, with environmentalists warning of the potential for damage to the air, land and water while landowners and gas companies pointed to the economic and energy benefits.
Ultimately, Cuomo's administration implemented a statewide ban in late 2014, saying the potential for negative environmental and health impacts was too great.
The governor embraced the ban, vowing in 2015 that he "would never" overturn it.
Molinaro, meanwhile, voted for a temporary moratorium on fracking in 2010 and 2011 while he was a member of the state Assembly.
On Wednesday, Molinaro said the moratoriums were meant to give state and local lawmakers time to create laws to oversee the fracking process.
He faulted Cuomo for not giving local governments more of a say in the fracking decision, accusing him of circumventing local control.
"I voted several times to continue a moratorium because the idea behind a moratorium in the state of New York is to provide local policymakers and state policymakers the opportunity to create legislation to protect against certain impacts," he said.
