12/3/13 - The Conway Township Board approved hiring a firm of experts to help in its efforts to reduce the chances of another fracking operation opening in the municipality. Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is the process of pumping water, chemicals, and sand deep underground at high pressure to break apart rocks containing oil and natural gas, which can then be pumped out. It is controversial because the chemicals used in the process are left underground, and the long-term health and environmental effects of the process are not well-understood. Ever since an exploratory fracking operation began in Conway Township, residents have been holding meetings and doing research to find out what can be done to prevent any more from entering the community. In late November representatives from the township government met with the nonprofit anti-fracking organization For Love of Water, or FLOW, to learn about their legal options. Township Supervisor Mike Rife tells WHMI townships cannot ban fracking completely, but FLOW offers a service known as a âprotective ordinance packageâ that helps make it harder for fracking operations to enter the township and makes them easier to regulate if they do show up. The service involves a series of workshops to determine what changes could be made to local ordinances to make it more difficult to frack in Conway. At a special meeting last night, a majority of the Conway Township Board addressed about 100 concerned citizens to tell them what they had learned from FLOW and describe the protective ordinance package, which would cost $5,000 to implement. The board approved a motion to move forward with that package, which was met with applause from the audience. Members of the township boards from Handy, Unadilla, and Howell townships were in the audience, and all three plan to discuss the protective ordinance package with their boards. Rife says it is also being discussed in Marion and Cohoctah townships. (TD/JK)
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