Maryland may put the brakes on fracking
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Sitting atop one of the largest gas reserves in the world, Maryland is one of several Chesapeake Bay region states that stand to profit handsomely from natural gas drilling.
But the process of drilling for the "clean fuel" is now embattled, as the Maryland General Assembly recently sought to do what no other state in the region had done. Before a single well has been drilled, it moved to ban the practice, boldly stepping into the center of a heated conflict.
In a vote that reflects growing national concern over the practice known as hydraulic fracturing, state lawmakers in the House on Wednesday passed a bill that would essentially place a moratorium on drilling until the Maryland Department of the Environment completes a two-year study to determine whether it endangers drinking water and public health, as some environmentalists claim.
"We're not going to be like other states that drilled first and asked questions later," said Maryland Delegate Heather Mizeur, a Democrat, who drafted and sponsored the legislation. "We understand that second chances are expensive, so we should slow down and take the time to do this right the first time."
The gas has been entombed for about 380 million years in a thick layer of rock called the Marcellus Shale, which covers 95,000 square miles from Ohio to Virginia. The gas drilling industry employs a method called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, using blasts of water mixed with chemicals to fracture the shale and release gas.
It's a difficult and expensive way to get at the hydrocarbons, but the Marcellus Shale formation is now thought to hold as much as 500 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Drilling could potentially bring in billions of dollars in tax revenue and jobs, along with lease payments and gas royalties from companies to property owners.
First Published March 29, 2011 12:00 am
