FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Wednesday, March 22, 2016
Contact:
Josh Tulkin, (240) 764-5307, josh.tulkin@mdsierra.org
Maryland Senate Committee Approves Ban on Fracking
State Senate Committee Agrees Gives Favorable Report on Fracking Ban
Statement of Josh Tulkin, Director of the Maryland Sierra Club, on committee report on the Fracking Ban (HB 1325)
Annapolis, MD - Today the Senate Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee voted 8-3 to approve legislation that would ban fracking in Maryland, and sent the ban legislation to the full Senate for enactment. The committee’s 8-3 vote follows the leadership of the House of Delegates, which passed the bill on March 11 by an overwhelming 97-40 bipartisan majority.
The legislation, sponsored by Delegate David Fraser-Hidalgo and Senator Bobby Zirkin, prohibits the extraction of shale gas through the process of hydraulic fracturing or “fracking”.
Hydraulic fracturing injects hundreds of toxic chemicals into the ground, including known carcinogens, neurotoxins, and endocrine disruptors. Research overwhelmingly shows it to cause adverse health outcomes and other harms to human health & the environment. It is also associated with contamination of drinking water. For this reason, the Sierra Club and over 160 partner organizations in the Don’t Frack Maryland coalition concluded that a permanent ban on fracking is the only way to protect public health & the environment in Maryland.
The bill represents a significant step forward for Maryland in its efforts to support clean, renewable energy. We applaud this decision & encourage the full senate to pass the bill without amendment.