Albany

Most New Yorkers support the state's ongoing moratorium on natural gas hydrofracking, with people worried about potential damage to air and water widely outnumbering those who see added jobs and taxes as an economic boost, according to a poll released Monday by a prominent environmental group.

Support for the moratorium, which will remain in place unless and until the state completes its six-year review of a potential environmental plan that could allow hydrofracking, was favored by a 79 to 17 percent margin, according to the poll done for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Opposition to ever opening up the state to hydrofracking ran 56 to 35 percent, nearly the identical findings for those who were not confident that the technique — which injects a high-pressure blend of water, chemicals and sand into underground gas-bearing rock — could be done safely.

Most people also told pollsters that economic benefits from fracking would be short-lived — some 60 percent said jobs would likely be temporary, compared to 26 percent who saw permanent economic benefit.

Said Kate Sinding, director of the NRDC Community Defense Project, "People here know that fracking is a snake oil cure for economic woes, one that comes with steep costs — in the form of water pollution, air contamination, health issues and destroyed communities."

The poll included 802 voters from across the state, about 60 percent of whom came from New York City or its suburbs. Media markets covering the Capital Region, Binghamton, Elmira and Buffalo accounted for a quarter of those in the poll. Half of those in the poll were Democrats, while a quarter were Republicans and the balance not enrolled in either party.

The poll also found that residents upstate continue to oppose fracking, with 54 percent of urban and rural upstate respondents opposing it, compared to 40 and 38 percent supporting it, respectively. In counties with gas available to be hydrofracked — Allegany, Broome, Tioga, Steuben, Chemung, Orange, Ulster and Dutchess — 48 percent oppose fracking while 44 percent support it.

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