UMD SGA endorses coalition aiming to ban fracking in PG County

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is the process of drilling and injecting highly pressurized fluid into the ground to more easily uncover natural gas or petroleum. 

After passing the resolution, Student Sustainability Committee Director Maya Spaur said the Student Government Association will lobby the county once a bill is introduced next year. Until then, Spaur said the sustainability committee will petition on the campus to raise awareness about fracking. 

The University Senate’s Governmental Affairs Committee passed the bill on Oct. 22 by a vote of 5-0, with one abstention. 

“This bill is directly building off of what we worked on in the past,” Spaur said. “When leaks happen and they pollute the streams, that’s just not an acute event; it really spreads farther out.” 

READ MORE: Students lobby in Annapolis for bill to prevent fracking policy across Maryland

This past April, this state issued a two-year moratorium on fracking after a coalition of citizen groups led by the Chesapeake Climate Action Network spoke out against the practice.

In February, 25 university students lobbied the state legislators to approve the fracking moratorium, which the SGA endorsed.

“We know from everything we’ve learned about this really dangerous practice that there’s really no safe way of doing it, and we want to ensure that we would have at least a pause on it so we could keep fighting another day,” said Shilpa Joshi, this state’s campaign coordinator with the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “It was really a stopgap measure.” 

READ MORE: Hogan to take over Maryland fracking plan amid public concerns

There is still uncertainty regarding the economic and fiscal effects of banning fracking in the county, said Jake Kotler, SGA governmental affairs director. 

“The proponents on my committee agree with the bill on principle,” he said. But “we’re signing a letter without knowing the effects of signing the letter.” 

During the moratorium, which ends in October 2017, this state is conducting a comprehensive health study to uncover fracking’s public-health effects. 

Joshi said, excluding Western Maryland, Prince George’s County is the most vulnerable to fracking with gas-fired power plants and frackable plots of land located in and around the county near Brandywine and Taylorsville.

“It makes sense for us to get out in front of this issue rather than go down a path where we have the really destructive development of this industry,” she said. “We’ve seen in other places where fracking has been going on …  those areas become apocalyptic scenes where everyone evacuates.” 

READ MORE: STUDY: Maryland’s ethane levels rise due to fracking in surrounding states

Joshi and Spaur said chemicals given off from fracking can cause an increased risk of cancer and impairment of neurological and respiratory systems, outweighing the potential economic benefits brought to the county or state.

“How do you account for the rising medical costs? Those are really expensive,” Spaur said. “People don’t consider the costs to restoring wildlife, to cleaning up their streams and rivers. Those are massive multimillion-dollar projects.”