Fracking doesn’t sound so great

Fracking doesn’t sound so great

I drove through a white misty cloud of chemicals during well drilling on Warner Road that was so noxious I was very concerned about health and vegetation.

Some things to consider about fracking of wells:

Voc’s (volatile organic contaminates) are evaporated into the air and can travel 250 miles.

Local government has no control or power over fracking and cannot stop it. Authority is at the state level and must be changed politically at that level.

Industry sources claim they have used fracking to produce more than 1 million oil and gas wells since the late 1940s. However less than 2 percent of wells fractured have used the high volume technology necessary to get gas from shale. This approach is far bigger and riskier than fracking of earlier years.

To drill a well only a 200-foot buffer is used; pipe lines are not specified in lease agreements.

Carbon footprint is 5-6 acres. It takes 10 million gallons of water to frack a well and only 30 to 50 percent is recovered. Ohio law allows any surface water to be used without permission or payment, from streams, ponds, lakes, aquifers etc..

Horizontal fracking differs in that it uses a mixture of 596 chemicals, many of them proprietary and toxic. The water then becomes contaminated and must be cleaned and disposed of. Brine water cannot be treated. It must be evaporated and removed. Scientists have identified benzene (a known carcinogen), toulene, ethyl benzene and xylene. A study found at least 73 chemicals used had 10 or more adverse effects and should be considered potentially hazardous to humans.

Wells average 8,000 feet (depth of drinking water aquifers are about 1,000 feet). Poor cement casings in wells leak natural gas and fracking fluids into water wells.

The “Halliburton Loophole” exempts companies from the clean air and water act and disclosing chemicals used in fracking, essentially taking the EPA off the job.

Fracking fluid flows back to the surface in the first two weeks, with more over the lifetime of the well. Fracking also extracts salts, heavy metals, hydrocarbons, and radioactive materials from shale, posing risks to ecosystems and public health when these return to the surface. Flowback is collected in pits or tanks till treated or disposed of.

A moratorium is needed to review the carbon footprint of these wells. Contamination is forever.

Leeanne Martyak, Hubbard