Last summer Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection revealed that in 245 cases it had “determined that a private water supply was impacted by oil and gas activities.” Not too long after that, a joint study from the British Geological Survey and Durham University reported water contamination associated with 6% of Pennsylvania’s gas wells . There have been at least 122 complaints about water contamination in West Virginia. There is, as yet, no fracking in the neighboring state of Maryland, which also sit on the Marcellus Shale. The citizens of this region raised concerns about the impact development would have on “public health, the environment and quality of life.” Governor Martin O’Malley (D) responded with a interim moratorium. Maryland’s Departments of Environment and Natural Resources have been studying fracking operations in Pennsylvania and West Virginia for over three years. They have just released a report on (p 2 of attached) how fracking “can be accomplished without unacceptable risks of adverse impacts to public health, safety, the environment, and natural resources.” These are the strongest Fracking rules in America.