Oregon Senate Committee Passes Five-Year Moratorium on Fracking

For Immediate Release—May 21, 2019

Contact: Thomas Meyer, (360) 460-7397, [email protected]

Salem—The Oregon Senate Environment and Natural Resources committee today passed a bill to enact a five-year moratorium on fracking. Lawmakers voted 3-1 today to move the bill onto the full Senate. The measure passed the Oregon House in March as a 10-year moratorium, before being amended by the Senate committee.

The fracking process injects a high-pressure mix of toxic chemicals into underground shale rock to extract fossil fuels. It poses a serious risk to public health and to drinking water. While there are currently no fracking operations in Oregon, there is potential for the process to be used in various parts of the state.

In response to the vote Food & Water Watch Regional Organizing Manager Thomas Meyer issued this statement:

“Moving this fracking moratorium forward is a huge accomplishment for Oregon communities and our climate. Study after study shows that fracking poses severe threats to drinking water, air quality and public health, not to mention the global climate that we all depend on. This type of dangerous fossil fuel extraction could come to as many as 14 counties across the state. Unfortunately, the Senate committee kicked the can down the road by shortening the moratorium to 5 years. If policy makers were serious about addressing the climate crisis, they would ban fracking once and for all, here in Oregon and across the country.”

If the bill goes into law, Oregon would join New York, Vermont, Maryland, and Washington which have all banned fracking. Food and Water Watch was the first organization to call for a national ban on fracking.

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