It could be challenged in the courts, but the Syracuse Common Council has imposed a new ban on so-called hydrofracking in the City of Syracuse or on any land it controls. YNN's Bill Carey says the move comes as the industry argues that the drilling could bring good news on economic activity and jobs.

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The arguments are not new. Creation of jobs versus protection of the environment. The issue is hydrofracking. A system for extracting natural gas from shale formations deep underground.

Activists in New York are battling to block drilling here, claiming a threat to water supplies. The groups say they have traveled to Pennsylvania drilling sites for a closer look.

"No one ever came away from those trips wanting this to happen in their backyard or in their local area. And that has energized a movement to push for a ban on hydraulic fracturing in the state of New York," said Jack Ramsden of Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation.

While they have hit roadblocks in Albany, environmental groups have made progress in winning over local lawmakers. Legislators like the majority leader of the Syracuse Common Council, Kathleen Joy.

Joy said, "The risks are too great and the impact is too large."

Joy convinced her colleagues on the Syracuse common council to approve a ban on hydrofracking in the City of Syracuse.

The gas industry's argument is that only the state can regulate gas drilling in New York and it plans to file challenges against many of these bans being approved across the state. The industry says the dangers have been inflated.

"I think that it is misinformed. I think that if you look at the very careful study that has been completed or is being completed by the Department of Environmental Conservation, you will see that of the million wells that are in production, 14,000 in New York, they've all been hydrofracked and it's been done safely since the 1800s," said Adam Schultz of the Independent Oil and Gas Association.

Lawmakers in Syracuse admit the technology and safety may improve, but not enough to change their votes.

"Let the other communities, the other areas be the guinea pigs. We should not take chances with the City of Syracuse. With the environment here. With the people who live here," said Syracuse Common Councilor Jean Kesner.

The final vote in the council was unanimous.

Syracuse is the third major city in the state to approve a hydrofracking ban. Similar bans are in place in Buffalo and Albany.