Monday, September 19, 2016

Maryland Punts on Fracking Regs, Again

Maryland officials say state will miss deadline to set fracking rules, as push for a permanent ban begins
State environmental regulators say they will not adopt rules to govern gas drilling in Western Maryland by Oct. 1, missing a legal deadline one year out from the expiration of the statewide ban on the controversial practice known as fracking.

While officials said regulations are still expected some time this fall, the delay means details of how the state would manage risks to groundwater and public health remain unclear as debate intensifies over whether and how safely hydraulic fracturing might occur in Maryland.

The gas-extraction technique, which involves injecting fluids into rock at high pressure, has been found to contaminate nearby water sources.
That has has been disproven time after time; even the EPA admits that there are essentially no known cases of fracking contaminating drinking water aquifers despite many thousands of fracked well.  And yet it gets trotted out as an excuse to ban fracking at every possible opportunity. It's almost like they don't believe in science.
Advocates of fracking and opponents alike have been waiting for the specifics of the Hogan administration's plans as they anticipate heated debate in next year's General Assembly session.
Hogan should rush favorable regulations in as quickly as possible. and bring Maryland into the fracking revolution.

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