State Rep. Hagan calls again for hearings on fracking

YOUNGSTOWN — State Rep. Robert F. Hagan of Youngstown, D-60th, said today he plans to send a second open letter to Ohio House Speaker William Batchelder asking for hearings about fracking.

Fracking, the process in which water, chemicals and sand are blasted into rocks thousands of feet below the ground to unlock natural gas and oil, has come under fire because of its potential environmental concerns.

Hagan on Dec. 1 sent a letter to Batchelder — who has collected more than $70,000 in campaign contributions from oil and gas drillers the past decade — but said Batchelder has not responded.

Hagan has said he wants a moratorium on all drilling, including injection wells, wants House leaders to consider “a cautious and thoughtful approach for the extraction of these natural resources.”