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Hydraulic fracturing...
Horizontal hydraulic fracturing (aka fracking) is the technology responsible for the natural gas drilling boom occurring in central New York and other areas.
Fracking, a new twist on an old technology, has made it possible and profitable to extract gas deposits from deep, tight formations like the Marcellus and Utica shale. But hydrofracking makes drilling dirty because it:
Injects toxics through the water table
A mix of dozens of chemicals (including some toxic carcinogens) are added to the water and forced down the well at high pressure to break up the shale and free the gas, sometimes being made to travel horizontally for thousands of feet.
Graphic: ProPublica
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Leaves most toxics underground
After fracking, most of the toxic fluids are left underground where they may travel to pollute other water resources.
Uses chemicals that don’t have to be reported
The gas industry is exempt from several federal laws that protect health and the environment. Because of a loophole in 2005 energy legislation, the industry does not have to comply with requirements in the Safe Drinking Water Act to report the toxics it uses to the public or government.
There are documented cases where—even when people’s lives were at risk due to toxic exposure—drilling companies have refused to disclose the toxics they used.
From landowners to first responders, people exposed to toxics can’t know what they are dealing with or what may be contaminating their drinking water, and it’s hard to hold the industry accountable for damages.
Requires millions of gallons per well
Unlike traditional drilling, fracking requires hundreds of heavy trucks (usually running on polluting diesel fuel) to carry the two to four million gallons of freshwater and thousands of gallons of chemicals required per frack across county and town roads to well pads.
Pollutes reclaimed water
The water that is taken from fracked wells often comes up even more toxic than when it was injected because heavy metals, salts, and radioactive materials are picked up in the process. Such “produced water” is sometimes pumped into open, plastic-lined pits which can then easily pollute the air, soil, and water at the surface of the well.
Produces pollution that isn’t easily treated
In New York State, traditional water treatment facilities are not currently equipped to fully treat contaminated wastewater and waste (such as drill cuttings) that result from fracking.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Clean Water
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