Safe fracking myth
Dear Editor:
If anyone ever tells you that “fracking” (the extraction of natural gas from rock formations) is safe, you will know you are looking into the eyes of a liar. It’s dangerous and it’s toxic.
Last year, Chesapeake Energy pumped more than 14 million gallons of fluid to a depth of more than two miles at a natural gas well in Bradford County, Pa. before a blowout sent tens of thousands of gallons of toxic liquid coursing over fertile farmland and into a creek.
This is one of hundreds of documented accidents obtained from the Federal Environmental Protection Agency under the Freedom of Information Act. Safe fracking is a myth!
The compressor stations that vent toxic fumes are like having a bomb ready to explode on your property. Gas companies install methane gas monitors in people’s homes after fracking, so they can get a good night’s sleep and hope they don’t blow up before dawn.
The gas transmission lines that they run can rupture and contaminate property, nearby woods, streams and wildlife. Fracking companies ruin the water everywhere they go, so forget gardening, bathing and drinking it, unless you want a tasty toxic cocktail of methanol, glutaraldehyde, formaldehyde, 2-butoxyethanol, hydrochloric acid, arsenic, iron methane, toluene and who knows what else. Does that sound like happy hour to you?
Always remember that due to Dick Cheney’s “Hailburton Loophole,” fracking is exempt from major environmental laws that protect water and health.
Because of this ridiculous law, fracking has resulted in over 1,000 documented cases of water contamination.
Before they drill a well, they do seismic testing that uses dynamite blasts to create what is essentially, a man-made earthquake. This testing destroys habitat, wildlife, causes erosion, reduces plant growth, causes cracks in home foundations and interrupts phone services.
Gas drillers are allowed to ruin your health, well, property, the air you breathe, livestock, wildlife, lakes and get away with it! This defines insanity to me, but remember history repeats itself.
Starting in 1951, the government, military and Atomic Energy Commission started the Atmospheric Nuclear Testing Program. The people were told, “Don’t worry, it will be alright.” This went on for more than 20 years.
Fracking is dangerous and toxic and it can take away everything you work for and cherish.
Your life and happiness mean nothing to gas drillers. They are only in it for the money, but always remember, you can’t drink money!
Russell Ratcliff
Berkeley Springs
