by Walter Brasch
At the time New
Jersey established a ban on fracking, it seemed symbolic, much like the
moratorium in Vermont, which has no economically recoverable natural gas; the
Marcellus Shale, primarily in New York and Pennsylvania, doesn’t extend into
New Jersey. New York has a moratorium on fracking until a health impact
statement is completed. Pennsylvania. rushing to compete with groundhogs in
digging up the state, has no such moratorium. Nor does the state have any plans
to conduct extensive research into the health effects of fracking—Gov. Tom
Corbett, the gas industry’s cheerleader, cut $2 million from the Department of
Health to provide for a public health analysis.
As it is, New
Jersey Gov. Chris Christie exercised his authority and partially vetoed his
state’s moratorium to reduce it to a one-year ban. That moratorium expired in January.
During this past
year, more evidence became public. Beneath New Jersey and extending into
southeastern Pennsylvania lies the Newark Basin.
