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Illinois’ green groups split on fracking legislation

By   /   March 12, 2013  /   14 Comments

By Benjamin Yount | Illinois Watchdog

SPRINGFIELD  — Hydraulic fracturing — fracking as it is known— may, one day, crack apart southern Illinois’ shale deposits. But fracking already has split Illinois’ environmental groups.

On Tuesday, a gaggle of lesser known environmental groups crowded the Illinois Capitol to shout their opposition to legislation that would regulate fracking in the state. The group also shouted down Illinois environmental advocates who support the plan.

HOW DARE YOU: Ruby takes on other green groups over fracking.

HOW DARE YOU: Ruby takes on other green groups over fracking.

“Shame on you!” shouted Susie Ruby, an activist with Illinois People’s Action. “How dare you cooperate with the destroyers of our planet!”

Ruby was scolding Illinois’ well-known environmental groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Sierra Club and the Illinois Environmental Council for cooperating with fracking supporters and the oil and natural gas industries. As Ruby shouted, members of the crowd echoed “sell out” or “follow the money.”

Jen Walling, executive director of the Illinois Environmental Council, said that kind of talk hurts.

“I can’t say those criticisms don’t sting,” Walling said after the statehouse protest. “But I can say those criticisms are not true.”

Walling said mainstream environmental groups see the fracking legislation as the best way to make sure environmental regulations are in place when fracking comes to Illinois.

“We look at the situation and we see the political reality,” Waling said. “We are backing a plan that will protect the environment the most.”

WE WIN: Walling says established green groups know how to get laws passed.

WE WIN: Walling says established green groups know how to get laws passed.

Rich Whitney, a southern Illinois environmental activist and former Green Party candidate for governor, said the “upper level” environmental groups made a deal for “half a loaf, but will only get crumbs.”

Whitney wanted a moratorium on fracking, if not a total ban.

Walling said fracking already has a clear path in Illinois, so it is a matter of when, not if, work will begin.

She said the split between environmental groups is between the established “environmental coalition” and the “activists and occupy groups.”

But if Illinois’ environmental groups cannot agree on the state’s fracking legislation, how can voters know what to think?

“You have to look at who is saying what,” said state Rep. Jay Hoffman, D-Belleville. “I see the potential for the number of jobs that will come to our region. We have an obligation to create jobs.”

Southern Illinois’ unemployment is anywhere between 7 percent and 11 percent, according to state Rep. Brandon Phelps, Harrisburg. December numbers from the Illinois Department of Employment Security, the most recent data available, lists unemployment in southern Illinois between 8.3 percent and 9.3 percent. The state’s unemployment rate in January was 9 percent.

“I got a lot of coal mines that shut down in my district,” Phelps said of his far southern Illinois region. “Fracking could be the boom we have been waiting for.”

Both Phelps and Hoffman say the environmentalists they have spoken with back the proposed legislation.

“The environmentalists elect their leaders,” Phelps said. “If there was something wrong with this, wouldn’t they be against it?”

The proposed fracking regulations have been introduced in the Illinois House, but have yet to get a legislative hearing.

 Contact BenjaminYount at Ben@ILWatchdog.org

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Ben Yount

  • http://twitter.com/ILPeoplesAction IL People’s Action

    The “activists and occupy” organized grassroots protecting our environment also did a direct action on the IL Petroleum Council earlier in the day. The Illinois People’s Action (www.illinoispeoplesaction.org) group occupied their office and challenged former legislator now lobbyist Jim Watson on their support of dirty profits over clean water.

  • http://www.facebook.com/kathy.cummings.712 Kathy Cummings

    All fracking activity is criminal activity and should be banned. Regulatory agencies have shown us over the years they represent corporate interests. Corporations are in the business of making their shareholders’ profits. It’s a sad chain of activities that are crimes against humanity and the planet. If this is not clear yet, please see Richard Grossman’s 28 minute YouTube explaining the criminality of all fracking activities. http://youtu.be/h6UK_7rmy7I

  • Kaleena

    Our state government is becoming an oligarchy. “The environmentalists elect their leaders. If there was something wrong with this, wouldn’t they be against it?”. No, and that’s the problem. That’s the problem in most government. We are who the government is supposed to work for and instead we get the “we know what’s best for you” brush. This unfortunate misunderstanding is what has brought the governments of state and federal where they are today. Money in politics = actions like the above. Oh, and stupidity.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Arianna-Norris-Landry/100000436604479 Arianna Norris-Landry

    Shame on you Mr. Hoffman! We spoke directly to you and showed you the error of “job creation” in the bill. Besides, if, as you implied, jobs would be created in Belleville and its’ environs, where would these fracking wells be placed? Next door to you? Perhaps near a school? A playground? Constituents of yours drove up to the capitol and spoke directly to you about their concerns. Maybe you should listen to the real people and not the lobbyists, no matter which side they are on.

  • http://www.facebook.com/modupe.odusanya.5 Modupe Odusanya

    Who are the ‘we’ you are referring to? I have taken the efforts to research the environmental impact of fracking provided by states regulators, federal regulators and academics and in my opinion, the safety of fracking if properly done has been established. What is required is adequate legislation to ensure that the industry does fracking within the bounds of safety. This is what the illinois legislature is on the way to achieve. Fracking has been done in illinois for about 60 years without a single environmental incident. We should not miss out of the greater environmental benefits of lower carbon emission when gas from fracking replaces coal in our power plants. We should also not forget the potential benefits of preserving the lives of our youth if they are no longer required to go and protect the oil supply route from the middle east because of North American energy independence made possible because of the fracking technology.

  • http://www.facebook.com/kathy.cummings.712 Kathy Cummings

    There is no safety when it comes to fracking. Horizontal fracking has polluted many wells and water ways. Regulatory agencies cannot
    prevent accidents. It makes sense to ban fracking before accidents can happen.

  • PJ

    Fracking has been done since the 1940′s without a single documented case that it polluted water or caused any other environmental damage. All you tree-hugging liberal whack jobs that are so fired up against fossil fuels might first want to consider–before you say “get Illinois off oil (which you are saying),”–then consider your hypocrisy as you take your yuppy little nature excursions and use sandals, backpacks, sleeping bags, tents, rafts, guitar strings (anyone for a little Kumbaya?) and thousands of more items, all of which oil is used to make. And oh, yeah, get a real job.

  • Don

    Your right and most of these nuts just blow smoke most has never had to support them selves and are after one thing and that is to break this Country. As said its been done for 50 years or better and most these nuts have been around for 50 years sucking money from working people. As reported by the nut that is in the White Houses EPA, their is no after effects of it or as Liberal as they are it would have been stopped. These nuts usually lazy Liberal females that haven’t worked a day in there life are not smart enough to realize that the money that comes from real energy goes to community’s, workers and the price of energy that working people have to pay to support there family’s. Plain and simple follow other people from broke Illinois to North Dakota where even at Mc Dees they are making 30 dollars a hour, unemployment rate is below 3% and the average salary is 80 Thousand a year.

  • http://www.facebook.com/billhuston William Huston

    No. HVHHF is a new and evolving technology. They’ve only been doing multi-stage, slick water, high volume horizontal hydrofracturing from multi-well pads for ~7 years NOT 70.

    1991 First Horizontal Well in the Barnett

    1996 Slockwater fracturing fluids invented

    2003 Multi-stage slickwater fracturing of horizontal wells

    2007 use of multi-well pads and cluster drilling.

    Here’s Dr. Ingraffea, who helped develop the process:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DK3fODCZ3w#t=22m5s

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Glen-Etzkorn/1696430583 Glen Etzkorn

    Your ideas seem uncouth, taking us as fools. Too much info exists for a restudy of your position. Get yourself a gieger counter check out the public dumps the evil frackers have been caught transporting illegal radiation. Where is the cost benefit of this suppose cheap supply if they no longer can dump the other poisons and radiation as residual materials on public and private.roads NASA has photographic proof scientifically showing methane releases from this new, not 60 year, something else fracking methods. While it’s a nice thought of protecting our children from the oligarchy wars when the water runs out in a generation the bet runs the other way wasting the lives of another generation because we have not thought out the latest gold rush scam. One of the many newer reports of the evil afoot. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/08/us-usa-epa-fracking-idUSTRE7B71TL20111208

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Glen-Etzkorn/1696430583 Glen Etzkorn
  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Glen-Etzkorn/1696430583 Glen Etzkorn

    what a trollish remark.

  • http://www.facebook.com/billhuston William Huston

    The gas industry boosters say the same thing about NY. “Been going on for 70 years and no cases of contamination…”

    Only it is not true. There have been MANY cases of contamination. Here is the proof with links to news articles, one was published in the NY Times back in 1986.

    http://williamahuston.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-truth-about-dangers-of-vertical.html

  • Mike Hayes

    On page 75 (of the “Fracking bill.pdf”), there is a provision in Section I-80: Water Quality Monitoring, part (b), prohibiting any requirement for installation of a ground water monitoring well:

    “… Installation of a groundwater monitoring well is not required to satisfy the sampling requirements of this Section…”.

    So, apparently there is no circumstance in which a permittee could be required to construct a groundwater monitoring well, between a part of a fracking operation and a source of a water supply (including a public water supply), to allow detection of chemicals from the fracking operation, prior to entry to the source of the water supply, itself.

    I would think that the alternate course, of establishing criteria of some sort regarding circumstances in which requiring a permittee to construct a groundwater monitoring well would be allowed, and perhaps that might be based on a consideration of how many residences are served by a water supply (or water supplies) that could be in the path of a groundwater source, which groundwater source lies within some horizontal distance of a horizontal section of a “fracking well”.

    Instead, the decision point apparently would occur based on whether water sampling of the water supply itself reveals that contamination is already occurring!

    My guess is that the Safe Drinking Water Act would not have allowed that to occur, if it were applicable, which would be the case if fracking had not been exempted by the Energy Supply Act of 2005, under what is referred to as the “Halliburton loophole”.

    Also, according to Section I-80 (c), the company would not be required to begin collecting and analyzing samples until 6 months after the fracking operation has ceased operation, and so unless the owner/management of the public/private water supply would itself conduct/contract for water quality sampling/analysis prior to that time, the occurrence of contamination (by comparison with background data gathered prior to the beginning of fracking), would not be known until that point in time.

    PS: I can’t figure out how to add the “Fracking bill.pdf” file