New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection called on state officials Wednesday to ban natural gas drilling in the Catskills watershed, saying it would pose too great a risk to the city’s upstate drinking water system.

The DEP took that position in response to the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s draft regulations on gas drilling in New York’s portion of the Marcellus Shale region, which includes parts of the Catskills where reservoirs supply drinking water for 9 million people.

via The Associated Press: NYC says Catskill gas drilling risks are too great.