Michigan Chapter Sierra Club

Tell Legislators: Protect Our Water From Fracking!

Stop Fracking with our Water


Fracking is a growing practice used in drilling for natural gas that threatens Michigan's water and air.Fracking has caused thousands of incidents of environmental contamination across the country.

Michigan can't afford to get this one wrong. Half of Michigan residents get their drinking water from groundwater wells.  Tens of billions of dollars a year are pumped into the economy by water-dependent industries like fishing, boating and tourism, and countless jobs would be lost if our waters were contaminated.

Even though fracking practices have evolved significantly and become much more dangerous, our laws and safeguards have failed to keep up. As stewards of one-fifth of the world’s fresh surface water, we must act to protect its water resources and our Pure Michigan legacy.

Urge your State legislators to pass legislation to stop fracking and to update our weak environmental protections!

Your message will be sent to your State Representative, State Senator, and the Governor.


  • Your Governor
  • Your State Senator or Senators
  • Your State Representative or Representatives


*Required fields


Dear [Decision Maker],

I am writing to ask you to pass a bill that bans all permits for high volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing in Michigan. Fracking is too dangerous for the Great Lakes State and it stands in the way of making progress toward reducing the impacts of climate change and achieving true energy independence.

Hydraulic fracturing is a controversial process for extracting natural gas that puts Michigan's fresh water at risk. "Fracking," as it is most commonly known, is quickly becoming the prevalent method for extracting natural gas. In this process, millions of gallons of water, laced with thousands of gallons of chemicals, are forcibly pumped down a well to blast open tight rock fissures to access gas deposits.

This process has been used for over 50 years in shallow wells, but recently, technological advances have made a different kind of Fracking available. This new Fracking explores deeper (up to 10,000 feet), drills horizontally once it has finished drilling vertically, and uses much larger quantities of water and chemicals. This new form of Fracking is rapidly growing and threatens Michigan's water, air, and public health. The polluted water that flows out of the well carries toxic and radioactive substances mobilized from the rock by the fracking process. In addition, each of these deeper Fracking operations consumes up to 25 million gallons of water from local watersheds and the Great Lakes basin! The specific mix of chemicals used is often kept as a trade secret; however, at least 29 of the possible chemicals are carcinogens or pose other risks to human health.

Fracking poses appalling health and environmental risks and leaves destructive footprints. Rather than allowing fracking to expand in our state, we should learn the lessons from states like Pennsylvania and Colorado, where thousands of fracked wells endanger air, water, and public health. A report from the Pennsylvania government recently admitted to hundreds of water contamination incidents due to fracking. Public health studies in Colorado found air pollutants near fracking sites linked to neurological and respiratory problems and cancer. Fracking also produces methane, a greenhouse gas that is 86 times more potent than CO2.

Current DEQ safeguards are inadequate and must be updated to protect our health, water, air, and the Great Lakes from the dangers of Fracking. There must be a ban on issuing new permits for natural gas extraction using Fracking. We also need more expansive safeguards put in place on this dangerous extraction process.

Michigan needs to ban Fracking and put more protections in place.

Please pass a bill that would ban all permits for high volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing in Michigan, and enact stricter safeguards on this dangerous extraction process. This is vital in order to protect our water, our air, and our communities!

[Your Name]
[Your Address]
[City, State ZIP]


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