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http://thedailyrecord.com/2013/07/21/report-fracking-a-win-win/

Report: Fracking a win-win

Posted: 3:00 pm Sun, July 21, 2013By Alexander Pyles Daily Record Business Writer

An environmental advocacy group is crying foul over a report commissioned bythe Maryland Department of Natural Resources that it says shows the state isreadying regulations to allow hydraulic fracturing. State officials say theresnothing to see here.

The 27-page report, written by a former top official in Pennsylvania who oversawhydraulic fracturing as secretary of the Department of Conservation and NaturalResources, touts the use of comprehensive gas development plans in Maryland.Such a plan would prevent companies from receiving a drilling permit until theydetailed how much land they would disturb.

Washington, D.C.-based Food & Water Watch interpreted the report as the startof policy formation in Maryland. But a DNR researcher said Friday that theorganization misinterpreted the white paper.

John H. Quigley, the former Pennsylvania official, has spent the past two yearsas a state consultant while a commission formed by Gov. Martin OMalley hasstudied the safety and best practices of the controversial natural gas drillingtechnique known by most as fracking.

Im not sure why there was a reaction from Food & Water Watch, said ChristineConn, unit director of DNRs Integrated Policy and Review Unit. It is an advisorypaper. It in no way should be interpreted as commissioning Mr. Quigley to draftregulations for us. We consider it a progressive piece of research.

Energy companies seeking to drill began leasing land from farmers in WesternMaryland at least as early as 2006. About a mile below much of Garrett Countyand part of Allegany County lies a gas-encased rock formation called MarcellusShale. The gas is extracted through a process that includes blasting a water andchemical mixture into the rock, fracturing it and allowing gas to seep out.

No company ever received permission to drill, and a 2011 executive order issuedby OMalley all but demanded no permit be issued until frackings safety wasstudied and regulations were drafted. His order created the Marcellus Shale SafeDrilling Initiative Advisory Commission, which has since studied fracking inconjunction with DNR and the Maryland Department of the Environment.OMalley had directed the commission to report its findings by August 2014.

Quigley is expected to present his report to the commission on Monday. In it, he

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concludes that Maryland has the opportunity to take a national leadershipposition in demonstrating how smart planning can achieve environmental andbusiness win-wins.

Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch, said Quigleys

report amounted to the start of regulation setting in Maryland.

The fracking commission released a report on best practices in May, which alsocalled for the submission of five-year plans before natural gas companies couldreceive a permit. Maryland would become the only state to demand such a plan.

That report is open to public comment through mid-August. Some in theenvironmental community have questioned in recent weeks how the commissioncould recommend best practices without first completing a safety study.

The commissioning of this report contradicts Gov. OMalleys public insistence

that he will not pursue fracking until it is declared safe, Hauter said. Hes saidthat Maryland wont turn into another Pennsylvania. But then why is he hiring theofficial that brought fracking there to smooth over the challenges to formingregulations to open Maryland to fracking?

Takirra Winfield, a spokeswoman for OMalley, called Food & Water Watchsaccusations bogus.

They completely ignored the MDE and DNR they never bothered to contactthem to get our side in it, Winfield said. Its inaccurate. No decision has beenmade on whether to allow fracking in Maryland.

She also said OMalley had no direct role in soliciting Quigleys opinion. Quigleytestified before the House of Delegates Environmental Matters Committee thisyear on the issue of drilling plans, officials said, and members of the committeeand the fracking commission requested he present a formal report.

Its not like this guy is on the governors quick dial list, Winfield said.

Conn, the DNR researcher, stressed that Quigleys report was intended to be acomplementary resource for the commission and state agencies as they considerwhether to issue drilling permits.

It provides additional information for the commission, the agencies and thepublic to better understand how a comprehensive drilling plan could be used topreserve the protection of our resources, should we go forth with hydraulicfracturing, Conn said. Weve indicated we would like to see this as a mandatoryrequirement before any company submits a permit. We would like to see theentirety of their operation and what they plan to do.

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Samantha Kappalman, a spokeswoman for MDE, said the report wascommissioned to make sure all the decisions are made based on actual facts.

Food & Water Watch seeks a ban on fracking, which it believes cannot be donesafely. The U.S. Department of Energy released a report on Friday that said no

chemicals from fracking contaminated drinking water at a western Pennsylvaniadrilling site that it studied for a year. Other studies have reached differentconclusions.

Some state lawmakers are also skeptical. Del. Heather R. Mizeur, a MontgomeryCounty Democrat who last week announced her candidacy for governor, hasbeen outspoken in questioning the safety of fracking. Last year, she introducedlegislation that would have imposed a legal moratorium on drilling permits.

Others went a step further. Del. A. Shane Robinson, also a Democrat fromMontgomery, sponsored legislation to ban fracking entirely. He said this month

that he intends to introduce similar legislation in 2014.