The Virginia General Assembly banned hydraulic fracturing, commonly called fracking, in the eastern part of the state. This legislation received extensive support and now protects the communities and natural resources of the lower Rappahannock River region from water...
Virginians have always treasured and relied on our waters to provide fresh drinking water, support healthy ecosystems, and sustain our economy — from the productive, historic Chesapeake Bay; its mountain headwaters; and the Clinch and Powell Rivers (which host some of...
Thursday November 9, 2017 marked a big win for the communities of Virginia’s Northern Neck as Richmond County became the first municipality to ban fracking in the Rappahannock River Watershed. After several months of research and deliberations, the...
A special type of natural gas drilling called Horizontal Hydraulic Fracturing and better known as “fracking”, is known to have a myriad of impacts on communities, infrastructure, and the natural environment. In 2013 gas companies began leasing land in the...
By Megan Gallagher Megan Gallagher lives in The Plains, Va., and is an advisor to the Shenandoah Valley Network of conservation groups. Friends of the Rappahannock and local partners co-sponsored two workshops recently for landowners considering leasing or who have...
By Aimee Delach, FOR VolunteerDepending on who you talk to, hydraulic fracturing (aka “fracking”) may be presented as an economic boom, the path to energy independence, or a fast track to a polluted watershed. As interest mounts in Virginia’s own natural gas reserves,...
BY CATHY DYSON/THE FREE LANCE-STAR Sunday August 30, 2015 Board members started looking into the issue more than a year ago and held several informational meetings about the process, which injects water and chemicals deep into the ground to free trapped gas and oil....