Ill. Senate OKs regulations on fracking
Associated Press
ST. LOUIS
The Illinois Senate unanimously signed off on a measure Thursday that would regulate debated technology used to reach previously inaccessible natural-gas reserves deep underground, a method that worries some environmentalists because of possible pollution from mixtures of water, sand and chemicals.
The Senate’s 54-0 passage of the bill addressing hydraulic fracturing — commonly called fracking — comes amid reports that energy companies are in a torrid push to explore possible drilling sites in southern Illinois, long known for its rich below-ground coal and oil reserves.
Now headed to the state House, Senate Bill 3280 would allow the state’s Department of Natural Resources to regulate hydraulic fracturing that cracks open fissures in southern Illinois’ roughly 4,500-foot-deep New Albany Shale and other formations to get to trapped oil and natural gas. The legislation also would require energy companies to disclose the chemical makeup of the fracturing fluids and to test the integrity of the concrete and steel well casings meant to protect groundwater during drilling.
In hydraulic fracturing, which has been around for decades, millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals are pumped into wells to break up underground rock formations and create escape routes for the oil and gas. In recent years, the industry has learned to combine the practice with the ability to drill horizontally into beds of shale, layers of fine-grained rock that in some cases have trapped ancient organic matter that has cooked into oil and gas.
By doing so, drillers have unlocked natural-gas deposits across the East, South and Midwest that are large enough to supply the U.S. for decades. Natural-gas prices have dipped to decade-low levels, reducing customer bills and prompting manufacturers who depend on the fuel to expand operations in the U.S.
Yet environmental groups and other critics believe the chemicals have polluted drinking-water supplies. The industry says there’s no proof of that.
It’s unclear how productive any drilling would be in southern Illinois’ New Albany Shale region, but the clear interest in prospecting that land drove state Sen. Michael Frerichs, an east-central Illinois Democrat, to introduce the regulatory measure that advanced Thursday.
Frerichs said the legislation seeks to ensure transparency and accountability in how companies ultimately deploy in Illinois the technology already used elsewhere, “not to shut down the emerging industry.”