Small Business

Some New York businesses 'devastated' by fracking ban: Report

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo greets fracking protesters outside his office in New York December 17, 2014.
Andrew Kelly | Reuters

While environmental groups are praising last week to ban fracking, some local business owners who were hoping for a drilling-related boom are disappointed, according to a report.

"I'm devastated," New York apple grower David Johnson told The Guardian.

Energy companies denied the chance to drill in New York can move rigs to other states. But business owners and landowners, who had hoped to reap royalties from gas production, do not have that option.

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, forces natural gas and crude oil out of shale buried deep below the earth by using highly pressurized and treated water.

Other states that sit on top of the massive Marcellus Shale—Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania—have been benefiting from one of the world's largest natural gas deposits. Most have seen a surge in job creation and tax receipts.

But environmental groups oppose the drilling. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Dec. 17 announced it would ban hydraulic fracturing in the state because of concerns over health risks.

Read More Inside North Dakota's latest fracking problem

But people like business owner Johnson, who runs a 30-acre pick-your-own apple farm on 400 acres in Binghamton, feel let down. Johnson said drilling would have helped to keep farms in business and create new jobs.

Read The Guardian's full article.