2/7/14 - The first meeting regarding fracking between Conway Township and Traverse City-based environmental group For Love of Water, or FLOW, took place last night. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, involves injecting water, sand, and chemicals at high pressure deep underground to create cracks in rocks that contain oil and natural gas, allowing the fuels to be harvested. It is controversial because some groups, including FLOW, say the process pollutes the surrounding area and can lead to dangerous chemicals contaminating local water supplies. The first fracking operation in Livingston County opened in Conway Township last year, and since then officials and residents have been researching the industry and what they can do to prevent it from continuing to spread into their community. The township has contracted with FLOW at a cost of $5,000 to get information and consulting on how to resist fracking in the future. Last night was the first meeting resulting from that contract, designed to educate residents and officials about the options available to them. Executive Director Lynn Kirkwood tells WHMI that FLOW will review local ordinances and identify ways to make fracking more transparent and easier to regulate. More than 100 people attended the meeting, including residents of Conway, representatives from the county government, and officials from several local townships. While most in the audience appreciated the discussion, there were a couple of dissenting voices in the crowd who said fracking has been done in Michigan without harmful effect for decades and was part of the country's strategically-important oil production efforts. Kirkwood says the high-volume fracking currently spreading around the state has only been going on for about four years, and it has been proven to pollute the local environment. (TD)
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