To the Editor:

I am writing in response to the aptly-titled article “Fracked” (Dec. 1, 2010). The true extent of the man-made disaster being created by hydraulic fracturing is difficult to fathom.

Pennsylvania, now being called “little Texas” by some, is leading the way in the industry, and the social and natural catastrophe it has brought with it. Drilling companies prey on the desperation of small farmers and other landowners unable to make ends meet
through traditional means. But they don’t stop there. All sorts of shady deals have left parks and game lands ostensibly “protected” for public use covered with countless wells and makeshift access roads. The economic benefits are continually lauded in the capitalist media, but the real cost is never mentioned.

Since drilling started, several workers have been killed in the western half of the state alone. In 2007, a 26-year-old man was killed in an explosion in Greene County. In June of this year, two more workers were killed in a blowout in Clearfield County. Those lucky enough to survive can look forward to the future, when there will be no more wells to install, rendering their positions superfluous.

Even those who have no direct contact with the industry can’t escape its enormous environmental impact. Hydraulic fracturing fluid is suspected in the 2007 Dunkard Creek fish kill that wiped out once-abundant fish and aquatic life over a 30-mile stretch of water along the Pennsylvania-West Virginia border. Just this November, an estimated 13,000 gallons of fracking fluid was spilled in Lycoming County near a spring, a stream and two drinking water wells. I wish I could tell you exactly what that fluid contained, but the “Halliburton Loophole” exempts companies involved in hydraulic fracturing from the Safe Drinking Water Act, which means they can keep their noxious recipe a secret.

As the ongoing practices of hydraulic fracturing and mountain-top removal have clearly demonstrated, neither those in power nor private or non-profit organizations can be trusted with the stewardship of nature. Nothing short of a thoroughgoing revolutionary transformation, which has as key
features the abolition of private property, commodity production and the profit motive, can lead us to end the mindless plunder of the world we live in. The duty to carry out this revolution falls squarely upon the shoulders of the working class. It’s a monumental task, but humankind depends on it.

R.S. — New York, N.Y. (via e-mail)