Slowing Down Natural Gas Drilling in Western Maryland

The Situation
Western Maryland sits on top of the Marcellus Shale, an underground rock formation that spans from New York to Virginia - including most of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. New drilling technology makes extracting natural gas from the shale commercially viable for the first time.

But just as there's no such thing as a free lunch, there's no such thing as free energy, either. There are already thousands of wells in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, with plans for many more. And though drilling companies claim that their techniques are safe, there have been thousands of safety violations in just a few years - an average of more than three per day.

Here in Maryland, 90,000 acres of land has been leased and drilling firms have filed for permits to begin extracting gas. Were they to receive necessary approvals, it would take as little as two months to begin extracting natural gas.

The Problem
Drilling is a big and complex business - more than any one family or community can manage on their own. But our state agencies - the Department of the Environment and the Department of Natural Resources - are not ready to ensure that drilling for natural gas can be done safely here in Maryland. If so, they still need to develop regulations and enforcement capacity so that it will be done carefully. Our state must slow down, collaborate with drilling companies and get this right the first time.

The Solution
The Marcellus Shale Safe Drilling Act (HB 852/SB 634) filed by Heather, Delegate Marvin Holmes and Senator Brian Frosh will help the state slow down and ensure that drilling can be done safely and is done carefully. It would allow state agencies the time and resources they need to protect western Maryland's homes, farms, forests, streams and rivers, and it would create a path forward for drilling companies who have invested in the state.

The Petition
Ask the state and drilling companies to slow down and get this right the first time - sign the petition now!

Learn more about drilling for natural gas.
* The Daily Record: Gas drilling moratorium fails in General Assembly
* Washington Post: Sitting atop huge gas reserve, Maryland debates drilling practice known as fracking
* Associated Press via Washington Post: House OKs plan for 2-year study before allowing gas drilling in Marcellus Shale in western Md.
* Chesapeake Bay Journal: Other states look to Pennsylvania to learn from Marcellus Shale errors
* Associated Press via Washington Post: Measure to limit drilling in Marcellus Shale in western Maryland moves forward in House
* MarylandReporter.com: Five strikes, and you’re out: Beitzel fails on fracking
* Associated Press via Washington Post: House ready to debate natural gas drilling
* Carroll County Times: Drilling moratorium makes sense.
* Baltimore Sun: Two-year delay proposed in shale gas drilling
* Baltimore Sun editorial: Go slow on shale drilling
* Baltimore Sun: Declaring Marcellus law
* Capital News Service: Natural gas extraction debate heats up at State House
* WYPR's Environment in Focus: A Freeze on Hydraulic Fracturing? [MP3]
* Delegate Mizeur's Baltimore Sun op-ed: Water on fire? Time to put this on ice.
* CNN: 'Fracking' yields fuel, fear in Northeast
* New York Times: Dark Side of a Natural Gas Boom