Dozens of regional residents gathered in the theater of the student center at Allegany College of Maryland, Wednesday, January 4, for the opportunity to share their concerns and questions with Allegany County legislators as they prepare to head into the 2012 Maryland General Assembly session. While the comments presented covered a wide array of topics, including the potential use of slot machines for organizational fundraisers, the importance of continued support for public education, and medicinal marijuana, natural gas drilling (fracking) in the Marcellus Shale area, (which includes sections of Allegany and Garrett County, MD) was by far the most discussed item. And while the delegates prefaced the open commentary session with a reminder that they were not there to debate, discussion did become contentious at times.

Although State delegates made several attempts to discourage further conversation on fracking during the open session, encouraging those present to instead attend the meetings of the special commission that has been appointed to explore the issue, a solid number of citizens were willing to bring up their concerns. Overall, the gathering was a strong representation of democracy in action.

Comments on fracking ranged from pro to con, with some speakers taking a middle of the road approach. Drilling supporters mentioned the potential economic benefits of allowing drilling in Western Maryland and expressed concern that the current moratorium on drilling in Maryland was delaying progress and potentially violating the rights of private landholders. Representing a more neutral approach, Sam White, of Mount Savage, MD, questioned the current infrastructure’s ability to accommodate the large truck traffic that would inundate the area’s narrow roads. And several area residents expressed strong reservations and concerns about the potential environmental impact of drilling, supporting the current moratorium and encouraging local legislators to consider recent scientific studies to ensure the safety of drilling in the mountain region. Today’s issue of the Cumberland Times-News features some of the highlights of that commentary, including Frostburg resident Amy Fabbri’s proclamation that she would not vote for anyone who supports fracking until they could guarantee that our communities' land, water, and health would not be at risk.

Unfortunately, my name was near the bottom of the list of speakers and my one year old went into meltdown mode before I was given the opportunity to speak. My prepared statement is provided below. The Appalachian Independent embraces respectful dialogue and strongly encourages individuals to use this forum to express their own opinions on the issues or to submit their own stories and editorials.

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I am Kara Rogers Thomas of Frostburg, MD. I hold a combined PhD in Folklore and American Studies with an emphasis on Appalachian Studies and I’ve been following closely the intensifying debate over natural gas drilling in the mountain region. I worry that while fracking may at first blush appear to be beneficial to the region, its long term impact could be devastating to the region’s environmental and cultural sustainability.  

From Surface Mining to Natural Gas Drilling, a growing number of Appalachian residents believe the region is under assault by the nation’s energy industry. Over the course of the last thirty years, a number of Appalachian Studies scholars have addressed the concept of exploitation in the region, historically and contemporaneously—focusing particularly on the role of absentee business holders and extractive industries. Taken collectively these studies portray an image of social, environmental, and economic injustice established and perpetuated by an economic and industrial system which encourages the extraction of Appalachian resources and contributes to environmental degradation while failing to provide the region with fair financial compensation.

From the fur trade of the 1700s, which devastated the region’s wildlife populations, to the Georgia gold rush of the early 1800s, which directly contributed to the Removal of the Cherokee from their traditional homelands and the tragic Trail of Tears, to timbering and coal mining in the 1800s and 1900s that left the mountainsides bereft of trees leading one observer to caution that western Maryland was in danger of becoming a “vast field of ugly stumps”—a prediction very nearly realized by 1900 when dendrologist George B. Sudworth observed that, "[i]t would be difficult to find a region in which the useful timber has been more generally removed than in this county" (Buckley, 1998)*, to the intensification of coal extraction operations in the 1900s leaving acid mine drainage to pollute regional waterways, with clean up costs continuing to accumulate long after coal extraction has ceased, to current day Mountain Top Removal Mining which has devastated communities, contributed to deadly flooding throughout the region, and made ghost towns of ;long enduring mountain communities,—the region’s history is rife with stories of extraction, environmental degradation, and social injustice.

Before rushing into yet another form of extraction that may be capable of doing grave harm to our natural resources, we should review our history. Short term and potentially short sighted economic gains are never worth the sacrifice of our natural landscape and cultural sustainability. In the long term, environmental devastation is far more costly than any temporary economic boost the natural gas industry can offer.Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter.

* The Environmental Transformation of an Appalachian Valley, 1850-1906, by Geoffrey Buckley, The Geographical Review 88 no2 175-98 Ap 1998.