Maryland Commission’s Deadline for Fracking Report Extended

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The Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission appointed by Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley to “study” natural gas drilling and produce a set of “best practices” for hydraulic fracturing needs more time. An initial draft report was due this August, but the good governor has extended the deadline to the end of the year instead. (yawn)

A panel studying the impact of natural gas drilling in western Maryland is getting more time to produce its second set of recommendations.

Chairman David Vanko said Tuesday that Gov. Martin O’Malley has given the Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission until Dec. 31 to produce a draft report on the best practices used elsewhere to extract gas by hydraulic fracturing. That would be followed by a public comment period, with the final report on best practices due Aug. 1, 2013.

That report would otherwise have been due this August.

Vanko says the panel wants to do a good job rather than a rush job.

He says there’s been no talk of delaying the group’s third report, about the impact of gas drilling. That report is due Aug. 1, 2014.*

As MDN has said before, the only state more dysfunctional when it comes to shale gas drilling than New York is Maryland.

Maryland provides us all with a pleasant Keystone Cops distraction from time to time. Thanks Maryland!

*WBOC Channel 16 (Jun 12, 2012) – Md. Gas-Drilling Panel’s Report Deadline Extended

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