Maryland County First in State to Ban Fracking

Lawmakers in Prince George’s County voted unanimously on Tuesday to ban hydraulic fracking, becoming the first local jurisdiction in Maryland to prohibit the extraction of natural gas within its borders since the state’s moratorium on the practice went into effect.

 
Council member Mary A. Lehman (D-Laurel) sponsored the legislation that would amend the zoning ordinance to forbid natural-gas drilling across the county and particularly in the rural southern Prince George’s communities sitting on top of the Taylorsville Basin.
 
The basin — which runs through southern Maryland under the Potomac River and into Virginia — is a potentially untapped natural-gas reserve, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. But it spans an ecologically sensitive area that residents and activists have long fought to protect from excessive development, industry and power plants.