Anti-fracking groups continue to call for a moratorium in Illinois. Several groups opposed to high volume hydraulic fracturing voiced their concerns about the process Friday outside the Thompson Center in Chicago.
They claim there must be more studies on the process, which is a method of gathering oil and natural gas by fracturing rocks beneath the earth's surface. Dave Kraft, director of the Nuclear Energy Information Service, says hydraulic fracturing releases radon in the air and radium in water used in the fracking process. Kraft says the bill under consideration in Springfield does not address the handling of radioactive waste water.
The bill that would regulate hydraulic fracturing is stalled in the House. The bill's sponsor, Rep. John Bradley of Marion, introduced an amendment this week that would require energy companies to hire a state-licensed water-well driller. International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 spokesman Ed Maher says that is meant to ensure that drinking-water aquifers aren't contaminated during hydraulic fracturing, or ``fracking.'' The fracking process uses high-pressure mixtures of water, sand or gravel and chemicals to crack rock formations and release oil and natural gas. Illinois Petroleum Council Executive Director Jim Watson says companies worry about safely bringing another person onto the job site.
Bradley says the bill has ``a lot of pieces,'' and he wants to ensure it's done right.
During a panel discussion at the SIU School of Law on Thursday, Illinois Oil and Gas Association Executive Vice President Brad Richards said Illinois is at the leading edge of fracking regulation in the country. Richards says the plan on the table would be the strictest in the country including a $13,500 per well licensing fee that would help offset the cost of the state to enforce the proposed fracking regulations. He says oil and gas companies have already invested more than $200,000,000 in leasing about a half million acres of land in 17-counties in southern Illinois.
Local environmental groups say they are concerned about the impact fracking will have on local clean water supplies. A single hi-volume horizontal fracturing well uses about 10,000,000 gallons of water. Barb McKasson with the Sierra Club Shawnee Group of Southern Illinois says each well could be fractured up to 18-times resulting in the use of as much as 180-million gallons of fresh water per well. By comparison, McKasson says the City of Carbondale uses about 4-million gallons of water a day. McKasson says her group is concerned about the negative impact fracking would have on the local water supply. She says energy companies are not interested in using water from either the Mississippi or Ohio Rivers because it is too dirty and would have to be filtered before used in the fracturing process. McKasson says because of the chemical mixed with the water, fracking fluid can not be taken to water treatment plants and must be sequestered underground.
