Citizens To Challenge State’s Proposals At Public Hearings This Week
More Information: David Holtz, 313-300-4454
LANSING—As state environmental regulators hold two days of
public hearings this week on new rules to regulate natural gas fracking, Sierra
Club today said the proposals fall far short of what’s needed and will put
Michigan’s waterways at continued risk unless the state halts the controversial
practice.
“The proposed rules won’t make fracking safe in Michigan,”
said Nancy Shiffler, chair of the Michigan Chapter’s Beyond Natural Gas
Committee. “The closer you look the
more you see that the state is taking an industry-friendly, hands-off approach
toward regulating the use of dangerous chemicals and protecting our
waters. These weak rules just reinforce
the need to turn away from fracking and fossils fuels and toward safe,
renewable energy sources.”
Shiffler acknowledged that the state Legislature is unlikely
to adopt a moratorium on fracking, so Sierra Club will be proposing ways to
strengthen the proposed rules when the state Department of Environmental
Quality holds public hearings Tuesday, July 15, in Gaylord and Wednesday, July 16, in
Lansing.
Among the rule changes the club is proposing are:
·
Stronger protections for rivers, streams and
groundwater from large-scale water withdrawals related to high-volume
fracking. For example, the state’s proposed
rues fail to take into account the impact of withdrawals on wetlands, lakes and
headwaters. Access to groundwater
— the primary source of drinking water for 44 percent of Michigan residents and
nearly all irrigated farms — is becoming a critical issue in several areas of
the state.
·
The regulations being proposed do not take into
account the cumulative impacts of water withdrawals. Water used in fracking is permanently removed
from the watershed yet the state has no conservation plan in place and is not
proposing that water withdrawals be evaluated over any extended period of time
to measure the effects on local waterways and groundwaters.
·
Water testing requirements, although improved
under the proposed rules, need to be stronger.
They still fall far short of what is needed to protect rivers, streams
and groundwaters.
·
Full public disclosure is needed of all
chemicals used in fracking prior to drilling. This would not be required under
the proposed rules, creating potential problems for first responders in case of
an accident and leaving the public in the dark about risks related to chemicals
used in fracking.
Rebecca
Estelle-Skeels lives in Kalkaska County and plans to attend the hearing in
Gaylord.
“I live next door to a huge fracking site and know
first-hand how they operate,” said Skeels, who chairs the Sierra Club’s Clearwater Committee. “The state’s proposed rules like using swiss
cheese for a roof. They are full of
holes and when your safety of your drinking water is at stake that’s just not
good enough.”
Sue Kelly, who
lives in Brighton, plans on attending the hearing in Lansing. She and her neighbors have been fighting to
keep fracking out of their community.
“It’s not safe,” said Kelly, “and nothing they propose will
make it so. But they didn’t really even
try. It’s pretty clear that the gas
industry is in charge in Lansing.”
