News Release/For immediate release
4-2-13
Submitted by: Annette McMichael/SAFE Communications Director
media@dontfractureillinois.net 217-273-1000
The Failed Promise of Fracking Jobs
The Illinois Chamber of Commerce released a report last year claiming that fracking would produce between 1,000 and 47,000 new jobs in Illinois. Based on a report from Ohio it seems that the number will be closer to 1,000. Keeping in mind that the oil and gas industry intends to frack for oil in northern and central, as well as southern Illinois, it appears that no single community will see a significant increase in jobs.
Horizontal hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” is the practice of injecting a mixture of water, sand and toxic chemicals into the ground at high pressures, using a vertical and horizontal drilling system to fracture rock and release oil and gas. There is much controversy around this technique due to health & safety issues, as well as water usage and storage of toxic waste. The number of local jobs produced by the oil & gas industry has long been a subject of debate.
According to a recent report by Cleveland State University, http://urban.csuohio.edu/publications/hill/OhioUticaShaleRegionMonitor_Mar2013.pdf
the Ohio employment data show very modest increases for the strong shale drilling counties in Ohio between 2011 and 2012. Furthermore, the modest increases in these counties (1.4%) are similar to those experienced by moderate (1.4%) and non-shale drilling counties (1.3%).
On a similar note, Pennsylvania and New York have lost population in fracking zones, as shown in a Cornell study. This has long term economic effects on communities. http://www.greenchoices.cornell.edu/downloads/development/marcellus/Marcellus_SC_NR.pdf
SAFE (www.dontfractureillinois.net) believes that fracking safety and health concerns far outweigh potential jobs, especially since those jobs have not materialized in other states.