The New York Times article, "Regulation Lax as Gas Wells' Tainted Water Hits Rivers" is quite scary. It seems that there is radioactive material in the waste water that results from fracking that is not sufficiently treated in the sewage treatment plants, but is returned to Pennsylvania's rivers, including the Susquehanna. Lines like this make me worried: "While Pennsylvania is an extreme case, the risks posed by hydrofracking extend across the country." This makes me a little uncomfortable about possibly returning home next year.
Not all of the article was very good: because fracking is such a recent innovation, there are large gaps in our knowledge about its dangers. This was pretty unpersuasive: "Gas has seeped into underground drinking-water supplies in at least five states, including Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and West Virginia, and residents blamed natural-gas drilling." I'm curious about whether gas seeps into drinking water on its own, and if so, how often. However, and I think that the article emphasized this well, the fact that fracking is such a recent innovation means that we need to be careful and slow with putting it into practice (and make sure that there are enough inspectors to check on the gas companies).
But here is the best quotation of the article--it's from a Texan who is concerned about the effects of drilling on her family's health: "'I’m not an activist, an alarmist, a Democrat, environmentalist or anything like that,' Ms. Gant said. 'I’m just a person who isn’t able to manage the health of my family because of all this drilling.'" (I love the fact that she has to make it clear that her concern about natural gas drilling does not make her a Democrat!)
1 comment:
Look up "Halliburton loophole" and associated articles if you remain unpersuaded by massive evidence of not only water contamination, but air pollution from condensate tanks, etc. Not to mention major intrusions on the landscape from well-pads and roads. Get a satellite map of the land east of Farmington NM, as a good example of a fracking future.
Fracking was first done in the late 1940s but the big recent innovations are horizontal drilling and higher pressures, plus a wider range of injected chemicals, which can easily creep into the water table when mistakes are made. The drill bore passes right through water tables on its way further down.
In Colorado, some punk drillers were busted for injecting millions of gallons diesel fuel into a bore hole; a blatant violation of the Clean Water Act. The industry is far more interested in dollars than long-term quality of life. There is no reason to be cautious in your assessment of what's going on.
Post a Comment