Farmington Hills State Rep Pushes Bills to Regulate Fracking

• require companies to disclose the chemicals they use and report water use exceeding 100,000 gallons
• allow communities and individuals to request a public hearing before a permit is issued
• increase distance between fracking operations and homes
• apply the setback distance to schools, hospitals, daycare centers and public parks

Barnett said that fracking permits are being sought in Oakland County, increasingly near populated areas. Current and pending drilling permits in Michigan would require 500 million gallons of water. But one drilling company is proposing 500 new sites, and would use four billion gallons of water. 

"It's enough to drain Kent Lake twice," she said, and to fill one-gallon containers, stacked end to end, stretched to the moon and back, then wrapped around the Earth 4.77 times. "That's the amount of water that would be withdrawn from the water system permanently."

Townsend said the fracking industry has been allowed to "play by a different set of rules" and the eight bills are designed to bring more transparency to the process. While some want to kill the industry, he said, "That's not what this package does." 

"The natural gas industry is really important," he said. "We believe we don't have to choose between the environment and the economy."

A Detroit News story on Thursday quoted Michigan state geologist Harold Fitch as saying the state already lists chemicals on its website and monitors water use.