To frack or not to
frack is a big controversy in my area. It seems good. Quick money, needed money
and all you have to do is lease your land to the natural gas seekers and they
do the rest. They pay you upfront and you’ve got cash in hand. It’s a good deal
in this economy. Right? You’d better read up on the horror stories. Better yet,
see the documentary “Gasland.”
If you sign a gas
lease agreement, eventually they (the gas people) come on your land with a
drill derrick and high tech equipment and plunge into your land for a while and
then the drilling takes a turn and carves a bore a good distance horizontally.
I don’t know exactly how far, but it’s not a few feet.
The Marcellus gas
shale is a strata of rock that extends from the Catskills in New York, through
Pennsylvania, portions of Ohio, most of West Virginia and into a little bit of
Kentucky. It has been known about for decades, but new techniques have made the
gas more recoverable.
Next comes a
high-pressure earth enema filled with millions of gallons of your ground water,
sand and caustic chemicals most of which are considered carcinogens by the DEP
and EPA.The pressure creates a minor earthquake and cracks or fractures the
shale rock structure to release the gas.
The problem is
“residual waste,” toxic wastewater that is supposed to be carted away for
disposal, BUT…not all of it goes away. It stays within the fractured zone and
in many cases pollutes by seeping into your aquifer, polluting your land, your
drinking water and even your surface water for livestock and pets.
A new report
released a few days ago by scientists at Pennsylvania State University said
they detected chemical compounds used for fracking in the drinking water of
three Pennsylvania households.
A few of years ago
in Dimock, Pennsylvania, where fracturing has been going on for some time, the
ground water has turned brown, people got sick, livestock started loosing their
hair, the stories go on and on.
This missive is
not going to tell you what to do. Check it out yourself. I’m no more skilled on
this than you are. I make no judgment in whatever choice you make. It’s your
land. I don’t live on it, but there are definite consequences.
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