9/12/13 - A Texas-based business has been granted a high-volume hydraulic fracturing permit to extract natural gas, crude oil or both in Livingston County. GeoSouthern Energy got the OK from Michigan earlier this month for the project which is planned for Conway Township resident Jack Sherwoodâs Maple Grove Farm property. GeoSouthern will pay him to use his property, and GeoSouthern has sent lease proposals out to most of the townshipâs homes. However, Sherwood said he doesnât expect the process to yield much, since his property has been the site of drilling three times over the past 30 years without success. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a process in which water, chemicals and sand are injected deep underground to break apart rock and free trapped gases. Proponents say itâs been done safely in Michigan for decades, but opponents argue that itâs dangerous to humans and the environment. GeoSouthernâs Michigan Department of Environmental Quality permit allows the company to drill about 4,400 feet into the ground and 5,000 horizontally. The permit allows injection of 3 million gallons of water, as well as sand and a mixture of as many as 30 chemicals. Democrats in the state House have introduced bills to strengthen fracking regulation, and some environmentalists are collecting petition signatures for a ballot initiative to ban it. The industry and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, which oversees oil and gas production, say the state already has tough rules and fracking can be done safely, even at great depths. Graphic courtesy of EPA. (JK)
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