LANSING – Citizens and environmental groups have joined forces in an attempt to slow down the natural gas rush they say is underway in Michigan. Representatives of Clean Water Action, the Sierra Club and Progress Michigan want hydraulic fracturing methods used to extract gas from deep wells stopped until safety and health concerns are addressed and energy companies are required to disclose procedures.

Gas companies involved in “fracking,” the common term for injecting chemically treated water to remove gas trapped in shale rock formations as far as 10,000 feet below the ground, are woefully lacking in accountability, Susan Harley, Michigan policy director for Clean Water Action, said Tuesday at a press conference held on the sidewalk in front of the Capitol.

The groups called for a moratorium on new fracking and issued recommendations they hoped Governor Rick Snyder and the Legislature will consider before allowing gas exploration to proceed.

“We must close the loopholes that currently exist for the oil and gas industries,” Harley said. “We must fully protect communities from the reckless practices that have led to disastrous consequences elsewhere. There are some essential safety measures that we must put in place before we allow fracking to resume.

Those engaged in fracking have said it has a safe track record in Michigan. A leak at a fracking operation in Benzie County this year was the first one ever recorded. Supporters of the method say natural gas is a clean source of energy that should be maximized.

Clean-burning natural gas plays an important role in helping American become energy independent, Harley said, but not if drilling for it causes new problems, such as surface and groundwater pollution.

“We’re opposed to (fracking) moving forward without adequate safeguards in place and without updated regulations,” she said. “We understand there are reasons natural gas helps out with the environment and with the transition to clean energy, but we can’t rely on that if it’s not going to be done safely.”

Michigan is in the midst of a gas boom, said Rita Chapman of the Sierra Club Hydrofrack Team. As of April 5, Atlas Gas & Oil Co., Encana Oil and Gas USA, and Oil Niagaran have been issued permits to drill for gas in Missaukee, Cheboygan, Antrim and Kalkaska counties, and applications were pending in Antrim, Kalkaska and Cheboygan.

“Michigan is seen by oil and gas companies as the El Dorado of natural gas,” Chapman said. “Michigan’s largest gas and oil lease auction in history took place last year to the tune of about $178 million. Fracking is already going on in Michigan, and more fracking is on the horizon.”

Chapman cited a new Congressional report that lists 750 chemicals and compounds used in fracking, “including 29 chemicals that are either known or are possible carcinogens or are regulated by the federal government because of other risks to human health.”

Many of the chemicals used remain undisclosed because they are considered trade secrets. A Duke University study released earlier this month linked fracking operations in Pennsylvania and New York to methane contamination in nearby drinking-water wells.

But Brad Wurfel, spokesperson for the Department of Environmental Quality, said a moratorium would be unnecessary.

“Nationally, it’s a big issue. When you look at Michigan’s track record, I’m not sure how anyone can call it unsafe,” he said. “The DEQ is working on improvements on many fronts, but a fracking moratorium seems like solving a problem we don’t have.”

Wurfel said other states’ problems are associated with the way they handle permitting for the wastewater and how they require wells to be designed. “In Michigan, we’ve got really good standards for how the wells are designed and operated and how the wells are contained and exposed,” he said.

Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Texas are among the states considering fracking legislation. Several Michigan lawmakers have expressed interest in the fracking issue, but thus far “there has been no action as far as introduced legislation,” Harley said. “That’s why we’re calling for the delay.”

Cleanwater Action has had 11,000 persons write to Snyder calling for stronger protections for natural gas extraction, Harley said.

Wurfel said the administration has met with the environmental community about its concerns on fracking and on one particular area, the administration shares its concerns. Federal law prevents the disclosure of the make-up of fracking fluid unless there is a spill. More disclosure is needed, he said.

“We want to see that changed and we’re working on it,” he said.

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