Representatives of the oil and natural gas industries scratched their heads this week when they read two proposed amendments to an Illinois drilling bill.
The amendments, drawn up by House Speaker
Michael Madigan's staff, would create the nation's most restrictive rules on hydraulic fracturing, a controversial mining technique known as fracking. It involves injecting water, sand and chemicals into rock to release natural gas.
Industry groups say Madigan's rules would be so cumbersome that companies would skip the state and not do business here. Madigan's changes added 101 pages of regulation, taxes and permitting requirements to what was a five-page bill that sailed out of the Senate.
Why the heavy hand? So far, no clear answers. Apparently, the speaker wanted to get their attention. The amendments haven't been filed yet, but they're on paper. Negotiations are ongoing.
The Legislature does need to pass a fracking bill, one that balances economic development with environmental protection. A dozen companies are poised to begin drilling into New Albany Shale, a rock formation that stretches across southeastern Illinois. No one knows how plentiful Illinois' supply of gas and oil might be, but dozens of companies are ready to find out: They're in the process of leasing land. So here's an opportunity to create jobs and revenue in Illinois with an industry that's not looking for big government handouts to set up shop and capture energy at home.
Madigan's drastic changes mystified just about everyone who helped negotiate the bill that passed the Senate without a dissenting vote. Perhaps most controversial, Madigan added a 12 percent tax on oil and natural gas collected. Industry groups say that would be the highest state tax in the country outside of Alaska and will make Illinois uncompetitive.
A bill that encourages investment and protects the environment will:
•Require natural gas companies to test the integrity of wells before they use them, store contaminated fluids in lined basins or tanks to protect drinking water, and disclose the names of the chemicals used to loosen up the rock. Companies argue that the recipe, the exact mix of those chemicals, is a trade secret. Illinois should require that the recipe be immediately disclosed in the event of an emergency.
•Include a clear plan for wastewater collection and disposal. Fracking creates hundreds of gallons of tainted water. Some companies inject the water back into the ground, below drinking water supplies, or hold it in basins and transport it to sewage treatment plants. The language in discussion is vague on what happens to the wastewater. Scientists believe the injection process can create enough pressure to trigger seismic activity. Some states have prohibited the injection of wastewater back into the ground after minor earthquakes occurred near drilling sites. Southern Illinois is in the footprint of the New Madrid Fault.
Create an air pollution management plan. The
U.S. Environmental Protection Agencyrecently developed rules for fracking on federal land that require companies to manage the release of methane emissions. Illinois should insist on similar precautions.
•Establish that companies will submit proof that they are not drilling in areas of known seismic instability.
Illinois can learn from other states' mistakes. Ohio regulators announced a series of restrictions after geologists questioned whether fracking activity and the water disposed afterward caused a dozen small earthquakes in the northeastern part of the state. In Wyoming, the U.S. EPA found high levels of carcinogens in groundwater wells, which the agency said could be linked to fracking. And in Pennsylvania, state lawmakers allowed confidential information-sharing between natural gas companies and physicians who suspect their patients may be suffering from illnesses triggered by fracking.
Fracking is coming. Illinois has one chance to get it right.