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Updated 12/05/2012 09:00 PM

Binghamton mayor wants new hearing on fracking moratorium

By: Web Staff

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BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -- It was one year ago this month that the Binghamton City Council passed its ban on hydrofracking. The moratorium stood in place until this October, when a judge ruled it was illegal, but now Mayor Matt Ryan is trying to get that decision reversed.

Ryan says Judge Ferris Lebous misinterpreted the proposed ban when he ruled it invalid. Lebous made his decision based on the fact that leaders did not refer to the County Planning Department for input and never submitted it to the city planning commission.

"He didn't say we couldn't do a ban or a moratorium, he just said he didn't think we did it properly. So we felt there were some procedural issues that we thought we were only arguing that day and that there are some merit issues that we need to re-argue," Mayor Ryan said.

The mayor and others opposed to fracking believe that without the ban, there won’t be enough time to study the impacts in their area. And unless the new hearing yields a different result, the legislation will have to go back through the appropriate processes and will need a supermajority in the city council in order to pass.