New York State health commissioner Dr. Nirav Shah says he is not waiting for the finalization of pending studies on gas drilling to make his recommendation on whether the state should give its approval to hydraulic fracturing.
Shah says the final results could be years away and that state officials will instead speak to some of the researchers about their findings.
"The governor has been very clear to let the science lead, and we have been working with our experts very closely going back and forth," Shah says. "I anticipate that we will be done within the next few weeks. There is no real time table. We are learning more information as we go. We want to make sure that we cover all of the ground and not rush to a decision."
Shah says he has met in the past two weeks with researchers from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Geisinger Health in Pennsylvania, which is studying health records of individuals living near Pennsylvania gas wells from both before and after hydrofracking began.
