New York can't pursue fracking review suit

New York State can't pursue a lawsuit seeking a full environmental review of hydraulic fracturing, a federal judge ruled in a case that might have held up natural gas development in the Delaware River Basin.

U.S. District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis granted a request by the Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies to throw out the case, finding that the development plans are in the early stages and the threat of harm is speculative.

"The court has no way of judging reliably how probable it is that the regulation will be enacted and thus no way of judging whether risk that natural gas development may create are more than conjecture," Garaufis said in his ruling.

The lawsuit, brought by New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman, pitted arguments for environmental conservation against those for a domestic energy source and new jobs.

The New York City Council and environmental groups have sided with the state, warning of breathing problems for city residents and risks to fish in the Chesapeake Bay.

Organizations representing companies including Exxon Mobil Corp. sided with the federal government, arguing that the lawsuit is based on "speculative fears."

Schneiderman sued the Delaware River Basin Commission, the EPA and other federal agencies in May 2011 to force a fuller assessment of the environmental impact that gas development could have on the state's water supply.

The river commission, created in 1961, is a compact among New York, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and the federal government. It is responsible for water quality in the Delaware River Basin, which supplies drinking water to the four states.