Date: Mon, 07 Nov 2011 12:36:58 -0500
From: Bert Bowe
Subject: Response to Tom Glendinning’s fracking opinions
November 7, 2011
In response to Mr. Glendinning’s pro-fracking post, I will not attempt to characterize his motives as he does those of environmentalists, but try to offer solutions as he requests.
“I will guarantee that the gas drilling process will be managed to the best professional standards, if we can arrive at a meeting of the minds.”
I’m not sure how he can personally guarantee this, but a great idea is to promote a reversal of fracking’s exemption (thanks to Dick Cheney in 2005) from the federal Clean Air, Clean Water and Safe Drinking Water Acts.This would greatly increase the industry’s credibility. In fact, the FRAC Act – to remove the Safe Drinking Water Act
exemption and require chemicals disclosure – is being considered by Congress now.
Here’s another partial solution and credibility-builder: have the industry do baseline water and air monitoring before drilling, and add a chemical tracer to the millions of gallons of fracking water.Then, if that tracer showed up in well and/or surface water, we would know where it came from.
I take his point that we should all do more individually to avoid adding household products, gasoline, oil, etc. to the environment, and there have been and will be more efforts to encourage that.However, here’s a big difference with household products and industrial chemicals:
– You can read what’s in them and therefore take precautions to use and dispose of safely.Not so with fracking chemicals…
Lastly, here is scary factual information (what is available — much is not) about the 600 or so chemicals used in fracking, and their health effects — sometimes with only parts per billion: http://www.endocrinedisruption.com/chemicals.multistate.php
I strongly encourage folks to read at least the summary.
Thank you so much for your response. As to Mr. Glendinning’s “story” about fracking, apparently whenever one reads something written by him, it would be wise to remember the words of Daniel Patrick Moynihan: “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.” Apparently Mr. Glendinning lives more by the old saying: “I’ll say it if you’ll believe it.”
Well, I am glad that someone is reading and has an opinion. Mr. Morgan, do you know that the two harmful chemicals listed for hydraulic fracturing method of gas extraction are at .01 and .02 percent? Do you know that these chemicals in the drilling fluid are at drinking water quality standards?
Better check your facts too. The numbers quoted are from the Nicolas Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC FYI and are also in federal listings of drilling fluids.
Thank you for the opportunity to answer a doubter.