ALBANY — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is becoming Hamlet on the Shale.
On Tuesday, Mr. Cuomo’s administration again delayed making a decision on whether to allow hydraulic fracturing, a controversial drilling method used to extractnatural gas from rock formations like the Marcellus Shale, which extends from the Appalachian Mountains to New York.
Hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, has been under review by state regulators since before Mr. Cuomo took office in January 2011. But the governor has had difficulty deciding, vacillating between allowing gas drilling in the Southern Tier of New York — near the Pennsylvania border — and continuing to ban it. In a letter on Tuesday, the state’s health commissioner, Dr. Nirav R. Shah, said that a review by his agency of the potential effects on health from the drilling was continuing, and he recommended that the administration not move forward until it was completed.
Without the report, the state will not meet a deadline this month to issue a new environmental impact statement, and that will likely require it to start the regulatory process over and begin a new 45-day comment period.
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