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Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Fracking forum hopes to better inform Kentuckians about technique for gas drilling

The University of Kentucky Appalachian Center will host a panel discussion Thursday night about hydraulic fracturing as a method of natural-gas extraction in Kentucky. Fracking has received much attention as state governments and citizens rush to keep up with the booming industry. A moratorium on it in New York is set to expire soon, and residents of Pennsylvania and Wyoming are blaming it for damage to underground water supplies. Geologists have said minor earthquakes in Ohio could have been caused by the method.

In Eastern Kentucky, fracking is not as deep, expensive and complicated as in other areas of Appalachia, and generally does not use the chemicals used there, but drillers have the freedom to frack without special permits and don't have to notify the state about it until after the well is completed. Al Cross, director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues at UK and moderator of the discussion, said "As fracking expands to fill our energy needs, landowners and other citizens need to know more about the topic."

Appalachian Center Director Ann Kingsolver said the panel follows the university's land-grant mission by providing information to citizens. "As decisions are being made across the state about hydraulic fracturing, we organized this panel to help Kentucky’s citizens have more in-depth information to make individual and collective decisions on this key topic for the state’s future," she said. The panelists "represent a variety of relevant areas of expertise," the release says. They are Pat Banks, director of environmental group Kentucky Riverkeeper; Kim Collings, director of the state Division of Oil and Gas; Rick Bender, former oil and gas director and current vice president of BlackRidge Resource Partners; Melissa Dlieckmann, Eastern Kentucky University geology professor; Frank Ettensohn, director of the UK Honors Program and geology professor; and, Brandon Nuttall, senior geologist with the Kentucky Geological Survey.

The event will be held Thursday, Feb. 23, from 7 to 9 p.m. in Room 106 of the White Hall Classroom Building near the center of the UK campus in Lexington. It is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Shane Barton at 859-257-3948 or shane.barton@uky.edu.

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