Sierra Club objects to LNG from shale

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WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- Advocacy group Sierra Club filed a formal objection over plans to export liquefied natural gas from a port in Maryland because of ties to fracking.

The Sierra Club filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Energy claiming exports of liquefied natural gas from Marcellus shale deposits through the Cove Point LNG terminal in Maryland are bad for the environment.

Deb Nardone, director of the Sierra Club's gas reform campaign, claims LNG isn't only the dirtiest type of natural gas but could result in an increase in hydraulic fracturing of shale gas deposits in the region.

"The industry is pushing forward with these export facilities with their profits in mind, not the families who will bear the burden of increased fracking," she said in a statement.

The Marcellus shale play holds some of the richest deposits of natural gas in the United States. Critics of hydraulic fracturing, known also as fracking, say chemicals used in the process pose a threat to the environment.

The Sierra Club called for a full Environmental Impact Statement on the effects that increased fracking in the Marcellus shale play would have through the LNG export proposals in Maryland. The advocacy claims this is the first such request.