Let’s look before we leap when it comes to Marcellus shale gas

To the Editor:
The Cumberland Times-News Sun Feb 27, 2011, 08:00 AM EST

Have you ever seen an orange stream in Allegany or Garrett County? Have you ever stood beside one? Did you ever drink the water? Have you ever gone fishing in one of these streams?

For most Allegany-Garrett County residents, the answers to these questions are “yes,” “yes,” “no,” “no” respectively. Our orange, acidified, lifeless waterways are an ever-present reminder of the long-term impacts of uninformed resource extraction.

Acid-mine drainage is caused by runoff from coal mines depleted and abandoned oftentimes more than one-hundred years ago.

Yet, we still live with the negative impacts today and our state has spent millions of dollars trying unsuccessfully to remediate the problem.

Next quiz questions: “How long ago did the Marcellus shale deposit form beneath the land of our counties?” Answer: “Millions of years ago.” “How long will the supply fuel our nation?” Answer: “15-20 years.”

“How will the price of natural gas change over the next 50 years?” Answer: “It will likely increase.”

“What are the negative impacts of gas fracking and how long will we live with those negative impacts upon our drinking water, streams, farms, and landscape?” Answer: “Nobody really knows yet.”

So, what are we to conclude? The lessons of acid-mine drainage tell us that if we can “look before we leap” then we should. Pennsylvania has moved quickly on gas fracking over recent years and there are many wells being actively pumped.

We can learn much from our nearby predecessor who has already “leaped.”

Scientists are closely analyzing the impacts of these wells and others around our region. The EPA will be publishing a report on this topic in 2012.

I suggest that we “look” at what happens from a safe distance of 50-plus miles and then decide after five years or more how we in Maryland should proceed.

The supply and demand economics of Marcellus shale tell us that it has been there for millions of years, that it will not disappear, and that the price for the resource will continue to rise.

While I know that our economy could use a boost now, I am confident that the extraction of natural gas from the shale will provide a similar or better financial return 5 to 10 years from now.

The good news about resource extraction today, compared to the coal-mining days of 100 years ago, is that we have the benefits of data gathering methods, environmental analysis and other scientific tools that were unheard of at that time. We should use these tools.

As one who is concerned about the well-being of local friends and family, I am excited about the potential for local cleaner-burning natural gas. Yet, I think we should only proceed after we have taken the most careful measures to protect our citizens for the long-term.

I don’t think we should “leap” just yet. I support a moratorium on gas fracking and encourage our citizens, council members, commissioners, representatives, senators, and governor to do the same.

Tom Kozikowski

Frostburg

AP Environmental Science Teacher

Mountain Ridge High School

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