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Supervisor proposes resolution limiting fracking near coastal plain

Mathews supervisor Janine Burns asked fellow board members on Tuesday to support a resolution requesting that the state amend the Code of Virginia to prevent fracking in or near coastal plain aquifers. Board members weren’t ready to take action on the matter.

Burns explained that, while Mathews County may not be a target for fracking operations anytime soon, proposed fracking operations in nearby localities could pose a threat to the county’s water supply.

The aquifer that Mathews draws its water from is part of a series of coastal aquifers, said Burns, and plans already in the works for a pipeline across the Potomac River include the possibility of piercing the wall of one of those aquifers and possibly allowing contaminants to enter the water supply.

There has been a rapid spread of fracking wells in Pennsylvania, said Burns, from just one well in 2004 to around 7,500 wells today. She said she’s interested in energy independence, but with Mathews County one hundr...

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