Buffalo denounces fracking as EPA releases draft

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - City leaders in Buffalo have voted to ban the natural gas extraction technique called hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking."

Tuesday's vote by the Buffalo Common Council was largely symbolic because no fracking projects have been proposed there and the Legislature has already banned the practice statewide through May 15, pending further study.

The vote came the same day the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency submitted a draft plan to study fracking's effects on groundwater.

Foes of fracking hope the Buffalo vote will inspire similar ones elsewhere in New York and in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. Those are the other states atop the gas-rich Marcellus Shale formation.

Fracking opponents say the horizontal drilling process is harmful to the environment.