Don't assume that 'safe' frackin leases will be enough to save youDon't assume that 'safe' frackin leases will be enough to save you

To the Editor:

In this time of economic uncertainty, many see horizontal gas drilling, "fracking," as a viable solution to our country's short-term crisis. The error in this thinking is shortsightedness.

The Network for Oil and Gas Accountability and Protection stated in an article released last fall, "Shoddy well construction is allowing contaminated fluids to infiltrate water sources near natural gas drilling sites around the country, say regulators, engineers and industry insiders."

A Huffington Post article released last January stated, "The natural gas boom nasty byproduct: wastewater so salty, and so polluted with metals like barium and strontium, that most states require drillers to get rid of the stuff by injecting it down shafts thousands of feet deep. Not in Pennsylvania, one of the states at the center of the gas rush. There, the liquid that gushes from gas wells is only partially treated for substances that could be environmentally harmful, then dumped into rivers and streams from which communities get their drinking water."

It also states, "Researchers are still trying to figure out whether Pennsylvania's river discharges, at their current levels, are dangerous to humans or wildlife. Several studies are under way, some under the auspices of the Environmental Protection Agency."

Then a May article in The New York Times, titled, "Baffled About Fracking? You're Not Alone," states, "Both drilling critics and supporters use the [terminology and contamination] confusion to their advantage. The result is that the two sides often talk past one another when discussing the environmental consequences of oil and gas production from shale formations. Drilling companies have repeatedly assured Congress, and whoever else asks, that there has never been a 'proven' instance of hydraulic fracturing contaminating groundwater"

Landowners are being told to learn all they can about the leasing processes involved if they're interested in allowing "fracking" on their properties, but often the suggested altering of "the lease" does little to no help in protecting the landowner. Many around the country are signing leases as neither the landowner or the industry fully realize the dangers at hand, and many are realizing how little good a piece of paper is when the drinking water is toxic and flammable.

If you're a landowner with a plot 10 acres or larger, please visit the county recorder's office to find out if you own the mineral rights to your property, and talk to your county extension office about the best way to get your water tested if that were needed to stand up as evidence in court. A better price doesn't mean a safer lease, and mandatory pulling, state or lessee mineral rights ownership, or living downstream from a parcel being drilled, could all result in the contamination of your water and land. Please protect your land.

Brandon LaBonte
Clarke Sreet
Athens

REPLY TO THIS COMMENT

Steven H

So a liberal organization puts out a release and all the good little liberals lap it up like it was candy. No surprise there. Fracking has been around since 1949, without a single case of watershed contamination. Don't believe me? Well then, listen to one of your own. Testifying before congress last month was Obama EPA Administrator, Lisa Jackson, who conceded that her two studies at taxpayers expense of 34 million did not find one single case of the contamination, gasland and other Goebbel like groups have claimed. Not one. And Jackson is dead set against fracking and would have no reason to lie. In fact conservationist groups without close ties to the democrats actually endorse fracking.

http://reason.com/archives/2011/05/10/environmentalists-were-for-fr

Now to address your false statement about the Pa DEP still investigating water pollution caused by fracking. The DEP under Democrat Ed Rendell tried also to prove that fracking was dangerous and failed. The only water contamination found turned out to be from a local plant making household cleaners. (93% of all chemicals used in fracking can also be found in your medicine cabinet and under your sink) The real reason liberal groups oppose fracking is because it can decimate the solar and wind companies who can only survive with huge taxpayer funded subsidies.

Furthermore with the massive amounts of natural gas available, we can replace every coal fired plant and every gasoline powered car with natural gas and as a result cut greenhouse emissions by 25%. Proven reserves can run the country for 75 years. Also, there are other benefits such as the massive amount of permanent high paying jobs in the fracking industry and lessoning of our dependence on foreign oil and drastically reducing the trade deficit which has ballooned because of the 350 billion a year we spend on foreign oil. Also consider the vast amount of taxes (local, state and federal) these companies and their employees will pay.

DeborahM

This may just be another case of misinformation. There's just so much material out there on "fracking", you have to be sure to include the term "slick-water" in your horizontal hydraulic fracturing search. It's easy for people to believe this form of hydro-fracking has been around since the 1940's unless they specify "slick-water" and "horizontal". This is a relatively new, and for the most part under-studied technique, due to the speed at which this drilling is occurring. "The development of natural gas from shale formations using high-volume, slick-water hydraulic fracturing is a new technology, first applied in Texas only in the past 10 years or so and in Pennsylvania only in the past 3 to 4 years. Only this year have objective, scientific studies on the consequences been published, and these are alarming. The best evidence indicates widespread contamination of drinking water wells within 1 kilometer of gas wells, and the rate of venting and leakage of methane to the atmosphere is sufficient to give shale gas a larger greenhouse gas footprint than any other fossil fuel."....." Widespread air pollution with compounds such as the carcinogen benzene is prevalent in both Texas and Pennsylvania." Robert Howarth, professor of ecology and environmental biology at Cornell University, and co-author of a recent study of methane emissions from hydraulic fracturing. Please do your research and do not just form your opinion based on what people write in these letters. Try to obtain your facts from unbiased sources, scientific, chemical, medical sources. Then use your own brain and decide what you believe, and what you can live with. Please.

daubke

Steven, I don't think I'm alone in that when a message kicks right off with a childish insult, the rest of the message is dismissed unread as being entirely without merit. Your posting style can only accomplish two goals - preaching to the choir and pissing off opponents - neither of which is at all productive. If your purpose is to further your ideology, you're moving in the wrong direction. If it's to aggravate opponents, I suggest you examine your motivations.

rocker

I saw nothing wrong with Steven H's posting style. I think the real problem is that liberals in here don't like comments backed up by facts when they don't coincide with their liberal views. Maybe daubke should examine his own motivations for attacking Steven H.

Terry

Of course, Rocker would see nothing wrong with Steven's insulting, myopic posting style. The dude is a walking ad hominem attack, and is a classic example of someone who discards every shred of evidence that doesn't support his well-established biases. I just wish he wouldn't go on and on and on with his one-sided arguments. These comments are intended to be succinct.

Brandon

Ok, Obviously this Steven fellow is lobbying in favor of the gas industry. This whole thing has to be unbiasly examined and thoroughly understood. I'm saying do your own research and this is what I find when I look up 'fracking water pollution' on google. I'm not a liberal. I am offended by either term. I'm not even sure if the sources I gathered from were all liberal, but apparently they are according to Steven. I'm not trying to take your job, and I'm not trying to do anything besides keeping greedy people from hurting helpless people, and keeping in mind that we can't live without the world we live in.

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