Opponents Want Fee On Lands Leased For Fracking

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Maryland opponents of a controversial drilling technique want to asses a $10 per-acre fee on land leased for extracting gas. The retroactive fee would apply to lands leased for hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, a method of drilling that extracts the gas by blasting through layers of shale rock with a combination of water and chemicals. The bill, sponsored by Delegate Heather Mizeur, would use the fee to pay for a safe drilling study commissioned by Gov. Martin O'Malley, a Democrat, last year. Mizeur, a Democrat from Montgomery County, and representatives from the Chesapeake Climate Action Network will host a news conference on Lawyers Mall in Annapolis Tuesday morning before the Senate version of the bill is heard in that chamber's Finance Committee.

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