CARBONDALE, Ill. (AP) – An anti-fracking group has drafted a proposed community bill of rights for Jackson County that it plans to unveil at an event this weekend.
The Southern Illinois Rights Project is rallying Saturday at the Town Square Pavilion in Carbondale. At the public event, the group will present the document and circulate a petition to encourage the Jackson County Board to accept its proposal.
Southern Illinois Rights Project member Al Parr says the group aims to protect residents and the environment from the expansion of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in southern Illinois. Although the Illinois Constitution includes protections regarding residents’ health and well-being, he says the state could do more to regulate fracking.
Parr tells the Southern Illinoisan that the group seeks regulation or a ban on unsustainable energy development.
