University of Michigan researchers say they're conducting a detailed study of the potential environmental and societal effects of hydraulic fracturing in the state.
Paxton Resources' crude oil tanks and a flare stack, left, which burns off excess natural gas, stand in the middle of farmland owned by the Luckhardt family in Saline Township.
AnnArbor.com file photo
They're looking at seven areas: human health, the environment and ecology, economics, technology, public perception, law and policy, and geology/hydrodynamics.
Detailed technical reports are to be released early next year for public comment.
The announcement comes the same day that Gov. Rick Snyder released an energy and environmental policy blueprint that calls for increasing production of natural gas in Michigan. It defends the practice of hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," to extract gas from deep underground.