For Immediate Release
October 24, 2012
Contact:
Kelly Trout, 240-396-2022, kelly@chesapeakeclimate.org
Diana Dascalu-Joffe, 240-396-1984, diana@chesapeakeclimate.org
Maryland Senators unveil support for a state fracking moratorium as groups take legal action to close EPA loophole
Legislators say no drilling should happen in Maryland until communities know the risks
Two noted Maryland Senators announced their support for a state statutory moratorium on fracking today, just minutes after 17 groups nationwide filed a groundbreaking legal petition demanding that the EPA, for the first time, require reporting of toxic chemicals used in the controversial gas drilling process.
Maryland State Senators Brian Frosh (D-16) and Jamie Raskin (D-20) are joining with State Delegate Heather Mizeur (D-20) to pass tough new protections on fracking in the General Assembly in 2013 — protections they said are needed in light of glaring gaps in federal oversight and industry disclosure that the petition to the EPA underscores.
“Fracking has many pitfalls, and we’ve seen the dire consequences in other states. When done wrong, it has the potential to inflict serious harm on our natural resources, and on the health of people living in the surrounding area,” said State Sen. Brian Frosh (D-16). “The EPA certainly needs to take strong action to prevent such harm, but the State of Maryland also needs to act. We can prevent the damage already occurring in our sister states. Fracking cannot be conducted in our State until we are sure it will not poison our water supplies, pollute our air, or endanger the people who already live on the land where companies want to drill.”
Two groups from Maryland — CitizenShale in Western Maryland and the Chesapeake Climate Action Network — joined 15 other national, regional and local groups on the legal action, which would close a loophole exempting the oil and gas industry from reporting to the federal Toxics Release Inventory. The surge of fracking has led to a dramatic rise in the industry’s use and release of toxic chemicals over the past decade. The petition seeks to make information about these toxins available for the first time to citizens, communities, and lawmakers, and to hold the fracking industry to the same reporting standards as nearly every other energy industry.
“It’s clearly time for the EPA to close this loophole and hold the oil and gas industry to the same standards of transparency and disclosure as other industries that produce chemical toxins,” said State Sen. Jamie Raskin (D-20). “In Maryland, experience shows that strong environmental laws go hand-in-hand with economic prosperity and public health and safety. We should face right now the disturbing prospect of fracking in our state without understanding the consequences of fracking. We should ensure a full investigation of the public health and environmental safety risks before proceeding any further down this road.”
The state moratorium bill, to be introduced by Del. Mizeur in the House of Delegates and Sen. Raskin and others in the state Senate, would prevent fracking from occurring in Maryland until the state completes the series of 14 studies laid out in Governor O’Malley’s 2011 executive order on fracking. To date, lobbying by the oil and gas industry has blocked bills to fund these risk studies and stymied progress.
“For the past two years, I have fought non-stop to protect Marylanders from the potential harms of fracking,” said State Del. Heather Mizeur (D-20). “One of the most dangerous parts of the fracking process is the use and release of toxic chemicals, and the petition filed today shows just how little information we have on the full scope of the threat. It’s clearer than ever that we need a statutory moratorium that says: no fracking in Maryland until rigorous scientific studies are complete. Maryland must hit the pause button to protect our land, water, air and rural communities.”
While fracking has not yet been done in Maryland, it has drawn the intense interest of gas companies, and Maryland communities remain without any statutory protections to prevent drilling from moving forward. More than 20 public health, faith and environmental groups from across Maryland have already signed a resolution calling for a statutory moratorium on fracking. Earlier this year, polling showed that 71 percent of Marylanders want fracking risk studies done before any drilling is permitted.
Data on the oil and gas industry (including fracking) points to a large toxic footprint. EPA has estimated that the industry emits 127,000 tons of hazardous air pollutants every year, including benzene, xylenes, and hydrogen sulfide — more than any other Toxics Release Inventory industry except electric utilities. EPA investigations in Pavillion, Wyoming, and Dimock, Pennsylvania found TRI-listed toxic chemicals and methane present in groundwater and drinking water wells near natural gas development.
“The oil and gas industry has a track record of skirting rules and scrutiny at the expense of the health and safety of communities, and the petition we’re filing with the EPA today puts that in full focus,” said Diana Dascalu-Joffe, Senior General Counsel, Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “People and emergency responders in Western Maryland can’t yet access even basic information on the toxins they could face because of fracking, and this fact further underscores the need for a statutory moratorium now.”
At the federal level, the Toxics Release Inventory was enacted in 1986 and requires each industrial facility to report annually on its releases of over 650 TRI-listed toxic chemicals to the air, land, water, landfills, treatment plants, and other sites. The reports published in the Inventory are available online, providing basic but essential information about the environmental “footprint” of facilities. Electric utilities, coal mining, and metal mining have all reported to the TRI for nearly fifteen years.
The groups petitioning the EPA to add the oil and gas industry to the Toxics Release Inventory are: Environmental Integrity Project, Natural Resources Defense Council, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, CitizenShale, Clean Air Council, Clean Water Action, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Earthworks, Elected Officials to Protect New York, Environmental Advocates of New York, Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper, OMB Watch, PennEnvironment, Powder River Basin Resource Council, San Juan Citizens Council, Sierra Club, and Texas Campaign for the Environment.
More information on and a copy of the EPA petition is available at: http://www.environmentalintegrity.org/news_reports/10_24_2012.php.
Download recording of the telephone briefing for Maryland jo
urnalists held on October 24. (Right-click and select “save as” to download the audio file).
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