On Monday, March 27th, the Senate voted 35-10 to approve HB 1325, the bill to ban fracking. This comes after Governor Larry Hogan publicly endorsed the ban bill and the overwhelming passage of the bill in the house. The bill passed in the House with a bipartisan vote of 97-40.
See pictures and read about the great turnout at the anti-fracking rally on March 2 in Annapolis.
Leaders: Ruth Alice White is co-chair of The Maryland Chapter's "Beyond Gas" campaign (ruth.white[@]mdsierra.org).
We’re barreling toward a climate catastrophe, and there’s only one way to prevent it: transitioning to clean energy as quickly as possible. Fracking has no part of our clean energy future.
Sierra Club is working with the Don’t Frack Maryland coalition, which includes over 100 state and local organizations, businesses, and faith institutions to call for a permanent ban on fracking in the state.
Here are the comments the Maryland Sierra Club recently sent on the proposed Maryland fracking regulations, explaining why only a complete ban will protect the environment and public health of the people of Maryland.
What Can You Do?
To ban fracking in Maryland will require a movement! Here are a few ways you can help.
- Help us reach 5000 Petiition Signers! Sign our petition. Then share the petition with all of your friends on Share the Petition on Facebook.
- Consider volunteering. We would love to have your help.
- Contribute to the Maryland Sierra Club.
Why Now?
In 2015 the Maryland legislature passed a 2.5 year moratorium on fracking. But this will expire in October 2017, leaving Maryland completely open to fracking. Governor Larry Hogan has pledged to start fracking as soon as he can.
The race to protect our climate requires a rapid shift to clean, renewable energy. The science is increasingly clear that if we want to avoid warming our planet beyond 1.5* Celsius, as world leaders promised in Paris last year, the vast majority of fossil fuels will need to stay in the ground. Also, the evidence is piling up that fracking is dangerous--not just because it contributes directly to our warming climate, but because it also contaminates our water, causes earthquakes, and poses other immediate risks to our health.
Whether you live in Garrett County or southern Maryland, we are all vulnerable. Not just to climate disruption, but to the local impacts of fracking as well. While Maryland's most significant gas deposits lie under Garrett and Allegany Counties, 19 of Maryland’s 24 counties contain shale gas deposits. Air and water pollution, traffic, and impact from spills and leaks don’t obey county borders. The map below shows all the gas basins where fracking could take place.
You can check the current status of the anti-fracking ban in the Maryland legislature here.
Fracking Background
Hydraulic fracturing: often called "fracking," is a method of extracting gas (methane) from deep wells. Once a well is drilled, millions of gallons of water, sand, and chemicals are injected under high pressure into each well. The pressure fractures the shale and props open fissures that enable the gas to flow more freely out of the well.
For each "frack," 80-300 tons of chemicals may be used, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene. Where these chemicals go once they're in the wells, and the level of risk they pose to the environment and human health, is poorly understood. The type and amount of chemicals used varies among well sites, and the information is considered proprietary business information, so there is no requirement to discose it. Voluntary disclosure of this information is inadequate as a regulatory enforcement tool when our drinking water and ecosystems are threatened.
The hydraulic fracturing process is only one stage of this method of gas extraction. Other stages have their own risks and impacts: drilling, transportation of water and fluids, storage and treatment of contaminated waste water, and construction and operation of the associated gas infrastructure.
Click Here for Additional Fracking Resources
Reuters Chesapeake Land Grab.pdf