Dutchess County Discusses Banning Hydrofracking Brine

Dutchess County legislators began the discussion into the possibility of banning the use of hydrofracking brine, the by-product of the drilling process to harvest natural gas from underground shale formations, on county roads.

The resolution, which was discussed at the Government Services Committee of the county legislature on Thursday, was sponsored by Legislator Joel Tyner.

“It’s just s simple common sense no-brainer,” Tyner said. “Before they passed this law in Ulster County they were not using fracking brine; they just decided it was a really important issue and I’m hoping that we decide the same thing here in Dutchess County – Poughkeepsie, Hyde Park, Red Hook, Rhinebeck, do have frackable Utica shale.”

The Dutchess County proposal is a carbon copy of Ulster County’s, which was adopted just weeks ago. Opponents of using the brine to treat roads in the winter say the liquid is laden with hundreds of toxic chemicals.