Fracking pollutes even Baltimore and DC air5: By Ray Wallace

Even though Maryland has yet to permit any hydraulic fracturing for natural gas, emissions linked to the controversial drilling technique have been detected in the air in Baltimore and Washington, according to a new study.

     In a paper published in the journal Atmospheric Environment, University of Maryland scientists reported finding that levels of ethane, a component of natural gas, rose 30 percent from 2010 through 2013 in air samples taken at a monitoring station in Essex....

     The UM researchers say they couldn't find anything in Maryland that could account for such increases....

     But in reviewing air circulation patterns in the Mid-Atlantic region,researchers found that the bulk of prevailing winds reaching Baltimore and Washington passed over areas of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio where there is widespread drilling for gas.

     -- From “Study links air pollution in Baltimore, DC to fracking outside Maryland,” by Timothy B. Wheeler, at this April 30, 2015 Baltimore Sun site:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/green/blog/bal-study-links-air-pollution-in-baltimore-to-fracking-outside-maryland-20150430-story.html