MONTICELLO – The Sullivan County Legislature went on record, Thursday, prohibiting hydrofracking on property owned by the county. 

That move comes on the same day the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it will conduct a comprehensive research study to investigate the potential adverse impact that hydraulic fracturing may have on water quality and public health.

The practice of forcing liquid chemicals into shale formations under large amounts of pressure could contaminate water supplies, according to critics of the process to harvest natural gas.

In Sullivan and Delaware counties, there is interest among private landowners to sell the rights to the natural gas deposits in the underground Marcellus shale deposits.

Sullivan lawmakers also voted to memorialize Congress to amend federal laws to protect the environment and the public from risks associated with hydrofracking.