I’ll be on the lookout for coverage today of a legislative committee’s discussion of proposals to provide for better state oversight of the safety of gas exploration in Arkansas. Anything that could be hazardous to a gas company’s bottom line, no matter how small, is generally poorly received at the Arkansas legislature.

Coincidentally, a lawsuit has been filed in federal court in Little Rock by a White County family alleging harm to young children by release of toxic chemicals in fracking for gas near their home.

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UPDATE: Shocker — Teresa Marks, director of the Department of Environmental Quality, says the state has all the regulatory authority it needs. Oh, well, maybe what it lacks is the manpower, money and will to enforce the authority it has.

UPDATE II: Bourbon and Bacon Biviano and Jason Rapert, another gas industry tool, are defending gas drillers against the report on environmental failings richly detailed in the Arkansas Public Policy Panel report. It’s the faith-based theology of Bush, Perry and all the rest. Dollars are divine.

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