In 2012, the Maryland General Assembly failed to pass a common-sense fracking moratorium that would give Marylanders the protections we need from this dangerous and risky gas drilling practice.

Until our elected officials get to work to protect us, our safety is in the hands of state agencies, which have only a year and some pocket change remaining to complete the long list of scientific risk studies called for in Governor O’Malley’s 2011 Executive Order on fracking. That order laid out a process for determining if fracking would pose unacceptable risks to Marylanders and established a 15-person advisory commission to oversee the review in conjuction with state agencies.

I’ve put together a timeline of how Governor O’Malley’s executive order has been carried out to date. Given the stakes — that this executive order is currently all that stands between Maryland communities and dangerous fracking — you’ll see that the process is falling far short.

Without any funding and a severe lack of resources, the commission is already a year behind. And they only have until August of 2014 to complete studies on as many as 16 different impact areas. 

June 6, 2011: Governor O’Malley signs Executive Order 01.01.2011.11. The purpose of the order is stated as follows: “The Marcellus Shale Safe Drilling Initiative will assist State policy makers and regulators in determining whether and how gas production from the Marcellus shale in Maryland can be accomplished without unacceptable risks of adverse impacts to public health, safety, the environment, and natural resources.” (emphasis mine.)

Aug 2011-Dec. 2011: The commission meets monthly, lacking the funding they need to initiate the studies in the Order. 

Dec. 2011: State agencies release a report recommending several legislative options including, a severance tax to raise money to do the rest of the studies in the Order. (It didn’t pass.) 

Jan. 2012-Jan. 2013: The commission, still lacking funding to do the studies in the Order meets monthly and discusses the issue. A bill that would have forced the gas industry to fund the risk studies passes the House of Delegates but dies in the Senate due to fierce opposition from industry lobbyists.

January 2013: Governor O’Malley sets aside $1.5 million in his state budget to begin funding the fracking risk studies. This funding is more like a downpayment, slated to fund public health and economic studies, as well as to conduct baseline water and air quality testing. Far more is needed to fully fund the suite of risk studies the governor ordered.

February 2013: State agencies commission a report from Dr. Keith Eshelman of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. The report is an in-depth literature review of “best management practices” used in other states. The report finds that:

“It is inevitable that there will be negative impacts from Marcellus Shale Gas Drilling in western Maryland (and perhaps beyond the state’s borders) and that a significant portion of these “costs” will be borne by local communities.”

April-May 2013: Dr. Eshelman’s report is presented to the commission. State agencies create their own report making recommendations for “best management practices.” Commissioners give feedback on the state report. 

June 2013: State agencies plan to release the management report for public comment. (Stay tuned: we’ll be asking you to take action and submit comments!)

State agencies set the scope of work for a public health study and a net economic impact study. 

This is where the timeline stops. The state has no publicly available plan (or budget) to complete all the risk studies — not simply literature reviews — called for in the Order, including studies that will assess the full severity of the impacts that fracking could have on our drinking water and on climate change. 

Governor O’Malley needs to step in and give the state the time and money needed to complete thorough risk studies before it’s too late to protect Marylanders. 

What can you do? Sign our petition, calling on Governor O’Malley to stand up for Maryland communities and get all the facts on fracking!