ITHACA -- As the end of the year approaches, and with it the end of the Department of Environmental Conservation's public comment period on regulations governing expanded natural gas drilling in New York State, some in the gas industry say they're open to more regulation -- and they're willing to pay for it.

The debate over horizontal fracturing in the Marcellus Shale has been fierce.

ITHACA -- Thousands of New Yorkers signed a petition asking Gov. David Paterson to scrap natural gas drilling regulations, and start from scratch.

Environmentalists, landowners -- even politicians -- are voicing concerns over the DEC's draft environmental impact statement on horizontal gas drilling.

Ithaca environmentalist Walter Hang found hundreds of spills not properly cleaned up after they were drilled using the traditional vertical method. He says if that could happen, horizontal drilling could also be problematic.