Fracking proposed for George Washington Nat. Forest

Post cave-related articles published in the mainstream media here. Please observe copyrights, posting only short excerpts with link to full article.

Moderator: Moderators

Fracking proposed for George Washington Nat. Forest

Postby peter febb » Sep 8, 2013 7:03 am

User avatar
peter febb
Prolific Poster
 
Posts: 124
Joined: Sep 5, 2005 7:29 am
Location: the colonies
Name: Peter Febbroriello
NSS #: 20246
Primary Grotto Affiliation: CCG
  

Re: Fracking proposed for George Washington Nat. Forest

Postby Bumbalawski » Sep 8, 2013 9:42 am

We have been trying to "install" language into upcoming legislation in Maryland concerning caves and fracking. We are getting this done but I do not feel it is adequate. Old mine fields (underground) have been included in the "no drill zones". Proposed maps of the areas of "no drill" have recently released. No drilling within 1000 feet of in any karst areas. Wetlands are not to be drilled. If you take all the maps of "no drill areas" and overlay them, there is very little acceptable drilling areas left. I believe WV has karst setback rules for fracking but I am unsure of what the setback is. Also the setback rules of karst areas do not allow for actual known cave passage in most cases. WV is well documented for cave surveys. As for Virginia, I do not know what rules are in place concerning fracking. Has any cave groups been active in this particular fracking issue?

Donnie Carns

Beans Cove Pa
User avatar
Bumbalawski
Prolific Poster
 
Posts: 124
Joined: Apr 21, 2010 7:05 pm
Location: Bedford County Pa.
Name: Don Carns Jr.
NSS #: 54725
Primary Grotto Affiliation: Western Maryland Grotto
  

Re: Fracking proposed for George Washington Nat. Forest

Postby PYoungbaer » Sep 8, 2013 9:37 pm

How about some context here: the USFS won't allow a few cavers into the National Forest's caves, but will consider threatening groundwater that potentially serves millions? That same groundwater, if contaminated, could threaten the same caves and bats they're trying to protect. But I expect it's not the Threatened, Endangered, and Sensitive Species biologists who will be making the decision here, as they do for caves/bats, but a different part of the bureaucracy. Any chance they might talk to each other? I'm holding my breath......
PYoungbaer
NSS Hall Of Fame Poster
 
Posts: 1365
Joined: Apr 30, 2008 4:04 pm
Location: Plainfield, VT
NSS #: 16161 CM FE
Primary Grotto Affiliation: Vermont Cavers Association
  


Return to Caves, Caving In The News Forum

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users

cron