A federally sanctioned decision announced this week will mean fracking can soon occur within portions of the largest national forest in the eastern half of the United States.
On Tuesday, the US Forest Service greenlighted a plan that installs rules that will let energy companies conduct hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, within the massive multistate George Washington National Forest.
Environmentalists had largely tried to keep the forest free of
fracking operations, in which chemicals are pumped deep below the
ground in order to extract natural gas, arguing against the
potential polluting of the area’s water supply and other unknown
risks that remain possible repercussions from the relatively new
and often controversial drilling practice.
Nevertheless, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday that the decision
reached by the Forest Service this week is welcomed by
environmentalists and energy boosters alike who are considering
the federal agency’s decision to be a proper compromise between
both sides.
According to the AP, the agency approved a plan that will let
drilling occur within around 177,000 acres of the 1.1 million
acre forest: 167,000 acres with existing private mineral rights
and 10,000 acres already leased to oil and gas companies. The
Forest Service had originally proposed a plan in 2011 that would
have outright banned fracking across the entirety of the site — a
first for a national forest, according to the AP — but ultimately
this week’s decision has opened the door for sections of the
forest already approved for oil and gas operations to go ahead
with fracking plans.
"We think the decision shows the Forest Service listened to
the local community," Sarah Francisco, the leader of the
Southern Environmental Law Center's national forests and parks
program, told the AP. "The vast majority of the forest is
protected in this decision."
"We think we've ended up in a much better place, which is we
are allowing oil and gas drilling," added Robert Bonnie, the
undersecretary for national resources and environment at the US
Department of Agriculture, the agency that oversees the Forest
Service. "From a policy perspective, the Forest Service
allows fracking on forest lands throughout the country. We didn't
want to make a policy decision or change policy related to
fracking. This decision is about where it's appropriate to do oil
and gas leasing."
Earlier this year, Terry McAuliffe, the governor of Virginia
where much of the forest is located, said he would keep fracking
out of George Washington as long as he stays in office. According
to CBS News, however, Ken Arney, a regional
manager for the US Forest Service, ultimately had the last word.
Upon Arney’s decision, Gov. McAuliffe saluted the compromise and
said the Forest Service’s decision to only open portions of the
site to fracking “is evidence that our voices were
heard.”
Additionally, US Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, also of
Virginia, applauded the final decision.
“We have long urged the Forest Service to seriously consider the
concerns of Virginians about the potential impacts of horizontal
drilling and applaud Supervisor Sparks for taking the time to
ensure all stakeholders were heard during this process. We also
applaud the recommendation of a National Scenic Area designation
for Shenandoah Mountain. We recognize the hard work that went
into this plan and remain committed to doing everything we can to
preserve Virginia’s beautiful public lands,” they said in a
statement.