I am sending this letter out as a mother, as a small farmer, as a Garrett County property owner and tax payer, and as a member of a community that I care deeply about.
I do not think we, as a county or state, have an accurate idea of what could happen here if industrial gas drilling in the Marcellus shale becomes a reality. Our governor and his advisors have decided that this practice — known, broadly, as fracking — is a good idea for our state ("'Fracking' panel seeks comment on drilling safeguards," Dec. 2). By that, he must think it's good idea for Western Maryland because there is no Marcellus shale layer in Maryland east of western Allegany County.
After attending the final meeting of the Governor's Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission, I left with the awful feeling that the citizens of Garrett County may end up as guinea pigs trying out the proposed "best management practices" for fracking in Maryland. We are seen as the "baseline" in a health study on a host of fracking's known adverse effects on humans. We could perhaps have the noble opportunity of being part of a "symptom cluster." We were warned that we should be prepared that "bad things are going to happen."
If you have no idea what those bad things might be, or what cluster of symptoms you or your family might experience, I urge you to take some time and do some research. The sheer amount of scientific research on fracking's impacts to public health alone should be enough to make a person to sit up and take note.
Fracking in Western Maryland is not a done deal. We still have time to decide what is really the best plan for the entire county. This is a decision that will effect so many people, and so much of our daily lives. Welcoming this extraction industry will change the face of our small towns, farms and wildlands. It holds great potential to adversely affect our personal health, the viability of our land and water, and our long-term economic goals.
I urge you not to accept this decision made downstate by the governor to make drastic changes in our communities. Please, talk to your neighbors, become informed, and think about what your vision of the future looks like. Like it or not, we are all in this together.
Katharine Dubansky