The DANGER is REAL! When the Water is Gone, WE ARE GONE! We Need to "Protect Our Children!" The Oil and Gas Industry are currently exempt from numerous environmental laws including the Safe Drinking Water Act, Clean Air Act, and Hazardous Waste Regulations. Companies and our Leaders need to be held accountable for their actions or even for the lack thereof via standing regulation.
In the article "8 Dangerous Side Effects of Fracking that the Industry Doesn't Want You to Hear About," Reynard Loki provides a snapshot of chemical use throughout the fracking process:
· 40,000: gallons of chemicals used for each fracturing site.
· 8 million: number of gallons of water used per fracking.
· 600: number of chemicals used in the fracking fluid, including known carcinogens and toxins such as lead, benzene, uranium, radium, methanol, mercury, hydrochloric acid, ethylene glycol and formaldehyde.
· 10,000: number of feet into the ground that the fracking fluid is injected through a drilled pipeline.
· 1.1 million: number of active gas wells in the United States.
· 72 trillion: gallons of water needed to run current gas wells.
· 360 billion: gallons of chemicals needed to run current gas wells.
· 300,000: number of barrels of natural gas produced a day from fracking.
Despite the perceived benefits of Fracking, there are major issues concerning the Negative Externality and After Effects of Urban Drilling, Hydraulic Fracking and the use of Disposal Waste Water Injection Wells. We must seek alternatives for the sake of preserving the Environment, our Natural Resources and for the sake of Mankind.
Fracking toxifies our environment, poses dangers to our food and water supply, the quality of our air, accelerates climate change and contaminates the soil effecting the agriculture and livestock.
The injection process not only contaminates the natural surroundings it also acts as a lubricant that causes ground movement which has an adverse effect on the local infrastructure as experienced in a record number of earthquake occurrences in Oklahoma (Over 5000) and Texas.
Please follow the example of Vermont and New York who have put a Ban to Fracking. After all, Blood is Thicker than Oil and Gas!