The latest in a series of polls from New York's Siena College shows, once again, that state residents are torn on the issue of hydraulic fracturing.

A small plurality, 42 percent, of New York voters said they support allowing fracturing to move forward in the state. Thirty-six percent opposed such a move.

Those numbers are in line with previous polls, with support reaching its highest level of 42 percent this month and in October, up from 37 percent at the poll's start in May. Opposition has held steady at 36 percent for nearly all the poll's installments.

"This continues to be an issue where neither supporters nor opponents have made a strong enough case to rally a majority to their side," said Steven Greenberg, director of the Siena poll.

New York has put fracturing on hold for four years as state regulators study the oil and gas extraction technique's ecological and health impacts. A fierce battle has broken out around the issue, with industry representatives and landowner groups saying the process is safe and environmental advocates saying it can pollute air, contaminate groundwater and cause other problems.

"Fracking is inherently dangerous and beyond our capacity to safely regulate," Eric Weltman, director of Food & Water Watch, says in a video on his group's website. "In the final analysis, there are safer alternatives to natural gas, but there are no alternatives to water."

Members of the Joint Landowners Coalition of New York Inc. say the benefits of fracturing outweigh any potential risks. Last week, they decried a request by the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to extend by 90 days its study of whether fracturing should be allowed in gas-rich regions near the Pennsylvania border.

"We're hard-working men and women struggling to make ends meet and we want the opportunity to create a better life for our families," Rebecca Mitchell, resident of Windsor, N.Y., and mother of five, said in a recent statement. "Other states are already responsibly producing shale gas resources without endangering public health, compromising water resources, or harming the environment. It's time to end the delays so we can do the same."

Greenberg of Siena noted that opposition to fracturing is slightly stronger in upstate New York, which includes the region where the process would be used. Support is a touch stronger among downstate suburban and city voters, he said.

Yesterday's poll recorded the lowest-ever level of uncertainty since the series began. In May, 27 percent of New York voters said they had no opinion or not enough information on fracturing to take a stand on either side of the debate. For December, that number had dropped to 22 percent.

Sixty-three percent of respondents said they have heard or read at least some information about the pending DEC decision, while 37 percent said they have read nothing or not very much about the rulemaking.

The Siena poll is based on telephone calls made Nov. 26-29 to 822 registered voters in New York state. It has a 3.4-point margin of error.

Click here to read the poll.