About two weeks ago, the press reported two statements by Gov. Rick Snyder on the topic of natural gas extraction from Michigan sources: 1. Fracking has been performed in Michigan for 50 years, and 2. Fracking is safe. I disagree with the governor on both counts.
The even more recent sale of drilling rights on public lands raises the urgency of the fracking issue. While it is true gas production has been stimulated from vertical wells by the use of shaped charges to open up gas passages for release of the gas, the term "fracking" has been, and should be, restricted to describe the newer technology involving first drilling a vertical well and then drilling horizontally into shale from the well base, for a considerable distance.
After the well has been lined and the stratum explosively punctured, (and this is a major difference) millions of gallons of sand-bearing water laced with toxic chemicals are pumped under very high pressure into the well to further open up gas passages. Oil corporations using the fracking technique admit to 50 different chemicals being used for this purpose, but refuse to identify them for alleged proprietary reasons.
There are problems with the fracking process. The pressurized polluted water migrates uncontrollably under ground, and much of it comes up again with the gas during production. Samples of fracking water spills in Colorado have been captured and chemically analyzed and found to contain dozens of toxic chemicals. Their adverse health affects have been analyzed with reference to the Material Safety Data Sheets and found to induce health hazards in 14 categories of human disease, including serious ones.
While it is possible in principle to perform fracking safely, it is actually done with arrogant and reckless disregard for the safety of our people and of our flora and fauna. In the not-too-distant future, Michigan is going to be one of the few remaining states with the possibility of a clean, reliable water supply. We cannot allow it to be ruined. Residents of Michigan must become aware of the threats and risks that the oil corporations and the politicians they control are preparing for us.
- CAMPBELL LAIRD/Stockbridge