By Theodora Filis
Actor Mark Ruffalo, inadvertently, increased the public's awareness of hydraulic fracturing when Pennsylvania's Office of Homeland Security placed him on a terror watch list while he was promoting “Gasland” a documentary by Josh Fox, on the purported dangers of hydraulic fracturing or “fracking”.
Fracking is currently used in 90 percent of the nation’s natural gas and oil wells. The practice makes drilling possible in areas that 10 to 20 years ago would not have been profitable.
Fracking involves injecting water, sand, and a cocktail of chemicals at high pressure into rock formations thousands of feet below the surface. This opens existing fractures in the rock and allows gas to rise through the wells. Many of the chemicals used in shale gas drilling, such as benzene, are hazardous. Long-term exposure to such chemicals can have serious health consequences.
Because the federal Energy Policy Act of 2005 exempted hydraulic fracturing from regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act, shale gas drillers don’t have to disclose what chemicals they use.
A Congressional investigation, released January 31, 2011, indicated that oil and gas service companies have injected millions of gallons of fracking fluid containing diesel fuel into wells in more than a dozen US states from 2005 to 2009.
The report alleged that the companies violated the Safe Drinking Water Act in failing to obtain regulatory permits. The report also showed that 3.1 million gallons of fracking fluid with traces of diesel fuel were used in North Dakota during the time period studied.
The use of hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” is growing around the world as is the demand for energy. Will the increase of hydraulic fracturing around the world put even more strain on our diminishing clean water supply?
Congressional Democrats have spoken up against fracking and oil companies that have violated the U.S. Safe Water Drinking Act.
The New York Times reported that Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and two colleagues on the House Energy and Commerce Committee sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) expressing concern about the practice:
"We learned that no oil and gas service companies have sought -- and no state and federal regulators have issued -- permits for diesel fuel use in hydraulic fracturing. This appears to be a violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act."
Oil and gas companies say the EPA has taken no action against fracking, thus making it legal. Environmental groups say diesel fuel could contaminate the water supply by seeping through rock layers or through spills.
Buffalo was the first municipality to ban fracking. The Common Council voted 9-0 in support of "Buffalo's Community Protection From Natural Gas Extraction."
Pittsburgh is the only other major American city to ban fracking.
Buffalo's ordinance goes a step further, also prohibiting the "storage, transfer, treatment, and/or disposal" of waste produced during the extraction process.
Common Council member Joseph Golombek, who sponsored the ordinance, said he was skeptical of the dangers until local activists started educating him on the topic.
"I want to thank the activists for being involved," Golombek said. "Because you really brought it to us and really worked with us and gave me more information about fracking than I ever knew about."
Currently, a moratorium is in place that halts the practice of horizontal fracking until July 1, due to an executive order signed by New York's Governor David Paterson. The moratorium does not restrict vertical fracturing, which is currently taking place in many areas of the state.
In addition to groundwater contamination, Buffalo lawmakers are also concerned with fracking's effects on the Great Lakes.
A recent study conducted by Theo Colburn, Ph.D., the director of the Endocrine Disruption Exchange in Paonia, Colorado, has so far identified 65 chemicals that are probable components of the injection fluids used by shale gas drillers.
These chemicals included benzene, glycol-ethers, toluene, 2-(2-methoxyethoxy) ethanol, and nonylphenols. All of these chemicals have been linked to health disorders when human exposure is too high.
People living in the vicinity of shale gas drilling have reported foul smells in their tap water. In some instances gas well pipes have broken, resulting in leakage of contaminants into the surrounding ground.
A 2010 report issued by the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association found that the state has identified 1,435 violations by 43 Marcellus Shale drilling companies since January 2008. Of those, 952 were identified as having or likely to have an impact on the environment.
Earlier this decade, the Canadian drilling company EnCana began ramping up gas development in the Pavillion/Muddy Ridge field of Wyoming. In the summer of 2010, the majority of Pavillion residents who participated in a health survey reported respiratory problems, headaches, nausea, itchy skin, dizziness and other ailments.
This article doesn't begin to convey the damage fracking has done to communities and the environment across the country. Companies involved in this industry need to be held accountable for the environmental devastation fracking has caused.
A growing number of public health advocates and regulators across the country say they want the public to have more oversight and say in what is being injected deep into the Earth.
Fracking is currently used in 90 percent of the nation’s natural gas and oil wells. The practice makes drilling possible in areas that 10 to 20 years ago would not have been profitable.
Fracking involves injecting water, sand, and a cocktail of chemicals at high pressure into rock formations thousands of feet below the surface. This opens existing fractures in the rock and allows gas to rise through the wells. Many of the chemicals used in shale gas drilling, such as benzene, are hazardous. Long-term exposure to such chemicals can have serious health consequences.
Because the federal Energy Policy Act of 2005 exempted hydraulic fracturing from regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act, shale gas drillers don’t have to disclose what chemicals they use.
A Congressional investigation, released January 31, 2011, indicated that oil and gas service companies have injected millions of gallons of fracking fluid containing diesel fuel into wells in more than a dozen US states from 2005 to 2009.
The report alleged that the companies violated the Safe Drinking Water Act in failing to obtain regulatory permits. The report also showed that 3.1 million gallons of fracking fluid with traces of diesel fuel were used in North Dakota during the time period studied.
The use of hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” is growing around the world as is the demand for energy. Will the increase of hydraulic fracturing around the world put even more strain on our diminishing clean water supply?
Congressional Democrats have spoken up against fracking and oil companies that have violated the U.S. Safe Water Drinking Act.
The New York Times reported that Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and two colleagues on the House Energy and Commerce Committee sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) expressing concern about the practice:
"We learned that no oil and gas service companies have sought -- and no state and federal regulators have issued -- permits for diesel fuel use in hydraulic fracturing. This appears to be a violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act."
Oil and gas companies say the EPA has taken no action against fracking, thus making it legal. Environmental groups say diesel fuel could contaminate the water supply by seeping through rock layers or through spills.
Buffalo was the first municipality to ban fracking. The Common Council voted 9-0 in support of "Buffalo's Community Protection From Natural Gas Extraction."
Pittsburgh is the only other major American city to ban fracking.
Buffalo's ordinance goes a step further, also prohibiting the "storage, transfer, treatment, and/or disposal" of waste produced during the extraction process.
Common Council member Joseph Golombek, who sponsored the ordinance, said he was skeptical of the dangers until local activists started educating him on the topic.
"I want to thank the activists for being involved," Golombek said. "Because you really brought it to us and really worked with us and gave me more information about fracking than I ever knew about."
Currently, a moratorium is in place that halts the practice of horizontal fracking until July 1, due to an executive order signed by New York's Governor David Paterson. The moratorium does not restrict vertical fracturing, which is currently taking place in many areas of the state.
In addition to groundwater contamination, Buffalo lawmakers are also concerned with fracking's effects on the Great Lakes.
A recent study conducted by Theo Colburn, Ph.D., the director of the Endocrine Disruption Exchange in Paonia, Colorado, has so far identified 65 chemicals that are probable components of the injection fluids used by shale gas drillers.
These chemicals included benzene, glycol-ethers, toluene, 2-(2-methoxyethoxy) ethanol, and nonylphenols. All of these chemicals have been linked to health disorders when human exposure is too high.
People living in the vicinity of shale gas drilling have reported foul smells in their tap water. In some instances gas well pipes have broken, resulting in leakage of contaminants into the surrounding ground.
A 2010 report issued by the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association found that the state has identified 1,435 violations by 43 Marcellus Shale drilling companies since January 2008. Of those, 952 were identified as having or likely to have an impact on the environment.
Earlier this decade, the Canadian drilling company EnCana began ramping up gas development in the Pavillion/Muddy Ridge field of Wyoming. In the summer of 2010, the majority of Pavillion residents who participated in a health survey reported respiratory problems, headaches, nausea, itchy skin, dizziness and other ailments.
This article doesn't begin to convey the damage fracking has done to communities and the environment across the country. Companies involved in this industry need to be held accountable for the environmental devastation fracking has caused.
A growing number of public health advocates and regulators across the country say they want the public to have more oversight and say in what is being injected deep into the Earth.
Very cool, thanks for the info on fracking!
ReplyDeletePS - The electric red background on this blog makes it hard to read