ALBANY, N.Y. (March 9, 2013)--A health study that leading environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. cited as pivotal in helping persuade New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to hold off on plans for a limited fracking pilot program is likely years away from reaching any conclusions about whether the shale gas-drilling technology is safe.

Andy Deubler, an executive vice president at Geisinger Health System in Pennsylvania, said the study is still in early planning stages and has only a fraction of its necessary funding.

He said it's just one piece of a larger body of independent research just getting under way and seeking funding.

Preliminary results are expected within a year.

Leaders of an anti-fracking coalition in New York say Cuomo should wait for results of the Geisinger study and also want a more extensive, New York-specific review.