Imagine this: a tsunami of chemically treated water that contains Formaldehyde, pesticides, diesel fuel and at least 85 other hazardous materials, is injected into the earth in an attempt to crack it and release the natural gas that hides within. This is called fracking or hydraulic fracturing. The name alone can send a shiver down ones spine-it sounds like a violent attack on Mother Earth. There is much debate about fracking and it is time for you to do your own fact checking, for soon it may be “coming to a neighborhood near you.”
We are so far into this relentless and unforgiving economic recession that we are desperate to turn things around. Fracking would create jobs and farmers would receive fat checks from energy companies for the use of their land. Natural gas is an energy source that many say could keep us independent from foreign oil. Even if the supply lasts for only 10 years it buys us the time we may need to create a more prosperous America. Gas is clean energy so it is being positioned as environmentally friendly, but how clean is fracking really?
To access this natural energy we most violently assault the earthup to 8,000 feet below the surface. A well is drilled and 1-8 million gallons of water under high pressure is pumped into the well accompanied by sand and a potent cocktail of toxic chemicals. This enormous pressure causes the shale beneath us to fracture so gas can flow freely. The waste water from this process can be highly toxic and the evaporated VOCs (volatile organic compounds) pollute our air all day, every day of the week. Ozone is produced on the ground level when the VOCs come in contact with exhausts from trucks and other machinery at the well sites. You may think you are unaffected if your home is 100 miles from the site but these clouds of ozone can travel up to 250 miles.
New York is known for its pristine drinking water. This past summer, the Department of Environmental Conservation released proposed rules that would limit drilling so they must be 500 feet from our primary aquifers and private wells. Drilling may also be prohibited in the New York City and Syracuse watersheds and in addition, 2,000 feet from sources of public drinking water. But if fracking is such a safe endeavor why have any limits at all? And if it is not safe, how do we know 2,000 feet away from our drinking water is sufficient? Water is the elixir of all life, a precious resource and fresh drinking water is disappearing at a rapid pace. At this time there are 1.1 billion people in the worldthat live without clean drinking water.Who will guarantee us that the toxic fracking tonic will not seep into our drinking water, oceans, rivers and streams, destroying our fish and aquatic life? Have there been any studies that prove that pumping toxins into the earth will not ever show up in the grasses that our cattle graze upon, our milk, our produce?Fresh water is a limited resource and needs to be protected not only by our businesses but by our government and responsible inhabitants of this planet. One of the key messages of the second World Water Forum was “Water is everybody’s business.”
I am the first person to support those who believe that creating jobs at this time should be on the top of the list of our priorities here in America. An independent, clean energy source sounds natural and sensible, but does anyone really do their homework anymore?
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