HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) - Maryland environmental regulators on Monday opened a 30-day window for public comment on proposed fracking regulations that could be adopted by the end of this year, enabling the state to permit drilling next October unless the General Assembly intervenes.
Publication of the proposed rules in Monday’s edition of the Maryland Register was met by a demonstration in Baltimore calling for a permanent, statewide ban on hydraulic fracturing for natural gas and oil. It was the first in a series of events planned this week by anti-fracking activists seeking to draw attention to the proposed regulations.
Department of the Environment Secretary Ben Grumbles said in a statement that the rules would be the toughest in the nation governing the use of highly pressurized water and chemicals to fracture rock formations deep underground and release trapped gas.
“If hydraulic fracturing ever comes to western Maryland, these rigorous regulations will be in place beforehand to help ensure safe and responsible energy development,” he said.
The department could adopt the rules as early as Dec. 30, 15 days after the comment period ends.
A 2014 Towson University study commissioned by the state found that gas drilling could create as many as 3,600 jobs over 10 years in economically distressed Garrett and Allegany counties in far western Maryland, which overlies part of the gas-rich Marcellus shale.
But opponents say the risks to public health from air and water pollution are too great. State Delegate David Fraser-Hidalgo, D-Montgomery, cited a recent Johns Hopkins University study that suggested people with asthma who live near large fracking operations in Pennsylvania are 1.5 to four times more likely to have asthma attacks than those who live farther away.
“I’m frankly very, very concerned,” said Fraser-Hidalgo, D-Montgomery, leader of a legislative working group that reviewed scientific literature on the public health and environmental impacts of fracking.
Fraser-Hidalgo said the proposed regulations, governing things like well casings and setbacks from wellheads, would not protect public health.
“I don’t see how that is possible based on today’s drilling methods and technology,” he said.
Fraser-Hidalgo introduced a bill in the 2015 General Assembly that led to a fracking moratorium that ends next October.
Sen. Robert Zirkin, D-Baltimore County, has said he plans to introduce legislation in 2017 to ban fracking.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.