The article, “Bill would ban fracking,” on Jan. 28, briefly describes the process of hydraulic fracturing as “chemicals, water and sand [being] pumped underground to break rock formations and free the gas.”
While this basic description is an adequate way to describe the process, it is important for readers to understand exactly what this means.
As we’ve seen in neighboring Pennsylvania, the effects of fracking are hazardous to the natural ecosystem and public health.
Bulldozers can clear acres of land for each well, and trucks make thousands of trips over local roads carrying tons of machinery, chemicals, water, and sand, damaging local roads and contributing significantly to local air pollution.
The fracking process also releases methane, a greenhouse gas that is 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming. Lastly, the process is devastating to our water resources because each well can produce millions of gallons of wastewater that is capable of contaminating local wells and drinking water, leading to health problems such as headaches, eye irritation, respiratory problems, and nausea.
A ban on fracking would tell the oil and gas industry that we will not stand for this type of damage to our environment and our people.
The potential costs to our communities, environment, and public health outweigh any benefits of producing natural gas on Maryland land, so we must come together to resolve that fracking is not in Maryland’s future.
Erika Burns
Environment Maryland organizer
Potomac
Letters
Ban on fracking would send message to oil, gas industry
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Stop buying licenses; let them find the money somewhere else
A few months ago, I received two cards from the National Rifle Association. These were dealing with a legislative alert.
They asked that I should contact Sen. George Edwards and Delegate Kevin Kelly concerning the anti-gun legislation. -
Strength of gun laws is not reflected in grisly statistics
According to the FBI’s uniform crime reports, California had the highest number of gun murders in 2011 with 1,220, which makes up 68 percent of all murders in the state that year and equates to 3.25 murders per 100,000 people.
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‘Forgotten warrior’ not forgotten
The Korean War is often called “The Forgotten War.” My generation remembers the Battle for LZ X-Ray at Ia Drang, The Tet Offensive, and Khe Sahn of the Vietnam War.
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Organization needed to help utilize the Potomac River
I am a committee remember on the Tamiami Trail Scenic Highway which stretches from Palmetto to Venice, Fla.
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Reducing meat consumption can help ease climate change
A review of 12,000 papers on climate change, in the May 15 issue of “Environmental Research Letters,” found that 97 percent of scientists attribute climate change to human activities.
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Maryland has stopped being “The Free State”
I am a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans and, last but not least, the National Rifle Association. I am a yearly member of the American Legion.
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Save the Bridge Program
Please do not close the Frostburg United Methodist Church Bridge Program. The community and many families need this program. Let me enlighten you about a few things.
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Town of Westernport needs a police force and a curfew
Since the consolidation of Bruce and Valley high schools the town of Westernport rapidly deteriorated from what was once a quite respectable community to a community in a decline in residents, and along with that came a collapse in local government due to lack of knowledge and bad decisions that set the town of Westernport back 60 years.
One bad decision was to give up their police force, and with no constant visual law enforcement it has created an open range for drug dealerss, addicts, thieves, drunks and speeding vehicles that choose to ignore our city laws and speed limits and have totally disregard for the safety of the citizens who are on the streets, especially the children who are like deer, you don’t see them until their in front of you. -
Financial gutting will damage school system
I am writing in response to the Allegany County Commissioners’ efforts to cut local education spending to the lowest possible level allowed under state law.
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Cemetery organization plans events to mark Memorial Day
This upcoming Memorial Day marks the 30th anniversary of the Cumberland Historic Cemetery Organization (CHCO).
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Stop buying licenses; let them find the money somewhere else
