The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) released on Tuesday a draft report describing best practices for drilling and production that should be required if horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing for natural gas is permitted in the Marcellus shale in Maryland. The draft report, which was prepared in consultation with an advisory commission, includes recommendations to protect public health and safety, natural resources, and the environment.
The draft report has been posted on MDE’s web site. The departments will present an overview of the draft report at a public informational meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, July 9, in the auditorium of Garrett College. A copy of the draft report will also be sent to the Ruth Enlow Library in Oakland and the Allegany County Library in Frostburg.
Comments on the draft report can be submitted by e-mail to Marcellus.Advisory@maryland.gov or by regular mail to: Brigid E. Kenney, Senior Policy Advisor, Maryland Department of the Environment, 1800 Washington Blvd., Baltimore, MD 21230.
Comments must be submitted by August 9, 2013. A final report will be released after all the comments have been considered. According to department spokespersons, when the report is final, the best practices will be incorporated into new, stringent regulations to apply to shale gas development if it is permitted in Maryland.
The report was required under Governor Martin O’Malley’s June 2011 executive order, which established the Marcellus Shale Safe Drilling Initiative to examine the facts and science to determine whether and how hydraulic fracturing can be done safely in Maryland. No decision has been made on whether such drilling will be permitted. The third and final report under the Initiative is due in August 2014.
The Marcellus shale is a black shale, or rock, formation that underlies New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, and western Maryland. In Maryland, the only anticipated areas of potential gas production in the Marcellus are in Garrett and western Allegany counties.
Largely forested and rural, the area offers scenic byways, premier trout streams, whitewater paddling, Deep Creek Lake, hunting, skiing, hiking, and camping. It includes unique ecological communities and natural areas that protect watersheds and water quality, provide homes to threatened and endangered species, and offer a near-wilderness experience.
“These areas are irreplaceable,” said DNR Secretary Joseph Gill. “We must do all that we can to protect them or we will lose them forever.”
To protect these areas and the rural character of the community, the departments propose, among other recommendations, to require comprehensive planning for shale gas development before any drilling permits are issued.
“Maryland would be the first state to require this type of planning,” advisory commission member Harry Weiss said. “If adopted, it could further protect communities and the environment from the landscape-level effects of shale gas development.”
MDE Secretary Robert M. Summers cautioned: “In this report, the departments propose stringent standards for all aspects of drilling and production, but there is more work to be done before a decision can be made about whether hydraulic fracturing should be allowed in Maryland.”
