On the 1st Friday of every month, WEMU allots nearly 20-minutes to dedicate to a topic of environemtnal importance.
David Fair co-hosts the segment with Lisa Wozniak. Lisa is the Executive Director of the Michigan League of Conservation Voters. Their guest, this time around, is Jacque Rose, and the topic of discussion is the controversial process of hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking."
Jacque is a paralegal who has specialized in civil litigation in Michigan for 27 years. She first became interested in fracking related issues when land leasing agents descended on the tri-county area of the AuGres-Rifle Watershed in Northeast Michigan where she resides, especially in connection with potential threats to water resources. She co-founded the Friends of the AuGres-Rifle Watershed: a volunteer group dedicated to educating the public and government officials responsibly about the potential risks associated with deep shale high volume hydraulic fracturing. The group gives presentations, holds public meeting forums, and provides research materials and information to other groups throughout Michigan concerned with fracking issues. Jacque's leadership and activism has landed her a nickname: "The Erin Brockovich of Fracking."
Among the baseline goals that the majority of the enviro community is really striving for are the following:
- Baseline Testing - Further enumerate specifics as it relates to baseline testing and require minimum standards such as, timing, vicinity, testing parameters; Require testing for surface water, groundwater aquifer, and drinking water wells. We could probably flesh this out a bit more, but the general gist is to strengthen the baseline testing language.
- Disclosure of Chemicals – Prior to hydraulic fracturing operations, require disclosure of information on chemical additives and compounds including additive type and chemical compound name for each additive, the proposed rate or concentration of the chemical ingredient, and Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS), if available; After well operations are complete, require disclosure of actual chemical ingredients and the amounts used in fracking operation.
For more information: respectmyplanet.org
