April 26th, 2016 by WCBC Radio

Earlier this month, in a unanimous 8-0 vote, the Prince Georges County Council enacted a change to the zoning ordinance that will ban hydraulic fracturing, called fracking, as well as the transportation of fracking waste, in all areas of the county.  It is the first county in the state of Maryland to impose such a ban, with officials there saying they see it as a first step toward a statewide ban.  Fracking, while controversial, is more favorably viewed by elected officials in western Maryland who see it as an opportunity to create a new revenue stream of hundreds of millions of dollars and new jobs for the economic distressed region.  Currently the state’s Environmental Protection Agency is developing fracking regulations to be used when, or if the process is ever permitted in Maryland. Delegate Wendell Beitzel of Garrett County is a fracking supporter and says that the EPA has offered assurances that Allegany and Garrett counties will have the chance to review the proposed policies and to make recommendations…