The Governor of New York announced Wednesday during a year-end cabinet meeting the state will prohibit fracking for natural gas, citing unresolved health concerns and questionable economic benefits.

Environmental Commissioner Joe Martens said he recommended a ban, and Andrew Cuomo said he would defer to Martens and Acting Health Commissioner Howard Zucker in making the decision.

"I cannot support high volume hydraulic fracturing in the great state of New York," said Zucker.

Zucker and Martens concluded that shale development carried unacceptable risks that haven't been sufficiently studied.

Zucker said he had identified "significant public health risks" and "red flag" health issues that require long-term studies before fracking can be called safe. He said fracking is akin to secondhand smoke with the health risks not being fully understood and only after many years of scientific study, according to The Associated Press.

Martens noted the low price of natural gas, the high local cost of industry oversight and the large areas that would be off-limits to shale gas development because of setback requirements, water supply protections, and local prohibitions. He said those factors combine to make fracking less economically beneficial than had been anticipated.

The Department of Environmental Conservation will issue a final environmental impact statement early next year and after that issue an order prohibiting fracking.

The Marcellus Shale, a rock formation that lies under the southern tier of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, contains large natural gas deposits of interest to oil and gas companies. The method for releasing the deposits involves drilling vertically and then horizontally and blasting the rock apart to release the gas using chemically treated water at high pressure.

The fracking method has yielded tens of billions of dollars of profits for oil and gas companies, and reduced fuel imports turning the US into a supplier. However, the methods of extraction have led to national protests and complaints over air and water pollution, stepped up earthquakes, property devaluation, and health impacts.

Locally, the governor faced opposition from groups who worked tirelessly to lobby against fracking. They were worried about the effects of fracking on the state's watersheds and acquifers, as well as on tourism and the quality of life in small upstate communities. Dozens of towns had enacted bans against fracking within city limits, but those bans also had implications for waste disposals for fracking operations.

"On behalf of millions of New Yorkers, we would like to thank the Governor for his leadership and keeping his word in listening to the science and protecting the health and safety of New Yorkers over the special interests of the oil and gas industry," said Julia Walsh of Frack Action in a released statement.

The oil and gas industry reacting to the announcement said the Cuomo Administration acted irresponsibly and it threatened the state's economy.

"...Governor Cuomo shows that New York families, teachers, roads and good-paying jobs have lost out to political gamesmanship. This is the wrong direction for New York," API New York State Petroleum Council Executive Director Karen Moreau said in a statement.

"Robust regulations exist at the federal and state levels nationwide for natural gas development and environmental protection," she said. "A politically motivated and equally misinformed ban on a proven technology used for over 60 years -- throughout the country to great success -- is short-sighted and reckless, particularly when New York depends on safely produced natural gas just over the border in Pennsylvania."

New York has had a moratorium on shale gas development since the environmental review began in 2008.