CUMBERLAND, Md. (AP) — Outgoing Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley said Tuesday his administration will propose some of the nations’ toughest regulations next month governing the extraction of natural gas from the Marcellus shale rock formation underlying parts of far western Maryland through the drilling technique called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.
It remains to be seen whether Republican Gov.-elect Larry Hogan, who takes office Jan. 21, will heed the recommendations developed by a state commission. Hogan said he hadn’t seen the report but said he would try to move forward with drilling in an environmentally sensitive way.
“I said during the campaign that it’s been studied to death,” Hogan said. “I can assure that you that we’ll be moving pretty quickly on all these decisions as soon as I take over.”
O’Malley touted the proposals as groundbreaking safeguards. They include a first-in-the-nation requirement that permit applicants produce a five-year “comprehensive gas development plan” covering all their anticipated wells. Another proposed measure would prohibit well pads within 2,000 feet of private water wells to reduce the risk of methane contamination of drinking water.
“After three years of exhaustive study, we’ve compiled what many believe to be the gold standard for best management practices in the country,” O’Malley said in a statement. He said he aimed to balance economic opportunities with “the highest level of protection.”
Gas drilling could create as many as 3,600 jobs in Garrett and Allegany counties in the next decade, according to a Towson University study commissioned by the state.
The drilling technique, employed for years in neighboring West Virginia and Pennsylvania, forces pressurized water and chemicals underground to break up the rock and release the gas. Critics say the process and the disposal of tainted wastewater pose risks of water and air pollution, earthquakes and property devaluation.
State Sen. George Edwards, R-Garrett, said he expects the Hogan administration to responsibly weigh the proposed rules — “but they won’t take 3 1/2 years to do it.”
State Delegate Heather Mizeur, D-Montgomery, a fracking opponent, said the commission should recommend that the drilling permit fee be high enough to fund enforcement.
She said the new administration could undermine the rules “by just saying, ’Oh, we can do it with existing resources.’ And I don’t think anyone in the agencies would concur that this can be done with existing resources.”
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