Ny Farmers Lament Lost Opportunity For Gas Riches

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — While environmental groups are doing a victory dance over New York's decision to ban fracking, farmers such as apple grower David Johnson are grieving for dashed hopes and dreams. "Frankly, my heart breaks for all those families in the Southern Tier who were denied the opportunity to develop their mineral resources," said Karen Moreau, executive director of the New York branch of the American Petroleum Institute. New Yorkers have watched other states that sit atop the Marcellus Shale - Ohio, West Virginia and neighboring Pennsylvania - ride the fracking boom and reap profits from one of the world's largest natural gas deposits. Some New York landowners signed lucrative leases with energy companies and received multi-million-dollar signing bonuses before the natural gas market and the state's regulatory climate soured. Johnson, who runs a 30-acre pick-your-own apple farm on his mostly wooded 400 acres in Binghamton, said drilling money would help keep struggling farms in business and create new jobs for the next generation. [...] Martens based part of his decision on the low price of gas and the fact that 63 percent of New York's share of the Marcellus region was off-limits to drilling because of local bans and prohibitions intended to protect water supplies and other features.