Southern Tier Landowners Plan Fracking Delay Lawsuit

Environmentalists opposed to hydraulic fracture drilling for natural gas in New York say a lawsuit being filed by a group of Southern Tier landowners over the delay in a decision about fracking is a publicity stunt.

The Joint Landowners Coalition of New York says its planned legal action against Governor Andrew Cuomo, the state, the New York Health Department and the Department of Environmental Conservation is real.

A lawyer for the JLCNY says the state is obligated to make a decision in a reasonable amount of time and it has not done that.  The landowners who have leased mineral rights say the five year delay has cost them money.

The threatened lawsuit has not yet been filed as the landowners coalition continues to raise money needed to pay the legal costs.