An email from the McHenry County Environmental Defenders:
Member Action Alert
Please call your legislators about fracking in Illinois today!
Today the Illinois House Executive Committee is expected to consider SB1715, which contains measures to regulate high-volume horizontal fracturing, or “fracking” for gas in Illinois.
The Environmental Defenders and the Illinois Environmental Council, of which we are a part, oppose fracking in Illinois. Fracking poses grave dangers to our communities, land, air, and water; and contributes to the continued destabilization of our climate.
The safest and smartest way to protect ourselves would be to immediately enact a moratorium to allow for thorough study of the risks of fracking and to learn from the experiences in other states and major health studies currently underway.
Sadly, fracking is legal in our state today, and evidence suggests that in fact it is already occurring, putting our citizens and environment at grave risk.
With dangerous fracking likely already underway in Illinois, it is urgent that the act General Assembly before adjourning the Spring session.
So please call your legislators at their Springfield offices (numbers listed below) to make the following points:
- Even though the two bills that would have placed a 2 year moratorium on fracking are dead, we still ask that they institute such a moratorium.
- If a moratorium is simply not possible, we ask that they support SB1715, which contains strong regulations for controlling fracking.
- Point out how imperative it is that they act before they leave Springfield for the summer. Otherwise fracking companies may simply move in and begin fracking in our state under our current pre-World War II era oil and gas regulations.
Legislators for McHenry County:
- Representative Mike Tryon: (217) 782-0432
- Representative Jack Franks: (217) 782 -1717
- Representative Barb Wheeler: (217) 782 – 1664
- Senator Pam Althoff: (217) 782 – 8000
- Sen. Karen McConnaughay (217)-782-1977
(if you do not live in McHenry County, please go to www.ilga.gov to find your legislators)
Please call today!
Thank you for helping to protect our communities and environment in Illinois.
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I note that the Defenders have left out three legislators who represent parts of McHenry County:
- Senator Dan Duffy
- Representative Dave McSweeney
- Representative Tim Schmitz
It is also my understanding that McHenry County’s well water supply is not threatened by fracking. I have heard of no gas or oil reserves under our ground.
No evidence fracking affects ground water. This is another emotional anti-capitalist mantra.
I don’t understand the anti’s.
The best thing we can do for the evironment is replace coal fire plants with clean burning natural gas.
The policies they advocate for are actually WORSE for the environment.
Ah, yes, another strident plea from the small subsection of the population who are upset that anything at all has ever been built in McHenry County (excluding the land they inherited from their parents, natch).
The coal/oil/natural gas fracking industry in Illinois is pretty much south of Interstate 64 which runs through St. Louis, past Mt. Vernon, past just north of Evansville.
I guess there’s always the potential for exceptions.
For example in the mid to late 1800’s there was a substantial coal mining industry in Will, Grundy, and Kankakee Counties.
Obviously no reasonable person wants contaminated groundwater.
My understanding is the vertical pipe carrying the fracking solution extends far below the the groundwater supply before turning horizontal.
Where the fracking solution passes the groundwater supply, the pipe is reinforced.
The amount of reinforcement could be regulated by state law.
Installation inspections could be regulated by state law.
Once installed, I wonder if it’s possible to detect the thickness of a vertical pipe tens or hundreds of
feet underground.
Pipes, just as anything man made, can fail, as we’ve seen with oil pipelines.
Plus maybe the fissures from the horizontal pipe could extend vertical to the groundwater supply.
The variety and toxicity/dilution of chemicals could be subject to state law.
Maybe there’s an easy to read report somewhere to discusses the proposed fracking legislation in the Illinois state house.
How is one supposed to intelligently advocate for or against fracking if one doesn’t have a reasonable amount of detail of the proposed legislation?
@Mark: Hydraulic fracturing has been around since 1947 and has never, ever been linked to groundwater contamination by any serious study.
If your call for caution is based upon the movie Gasland, you should do a little bit of reading about that “documentary.”
Every damning result in Gasland was fabricated by the film’s producers.