|
ALBANY, N.Y., Nov. 30 — As we go to press, the State Assembly is preparing to vote on a moratorium on a new and controversial method of exploring and drilling for natural gas.
Known formally as Horizontal Slick Water Hyraulic Fracturing, called “hydrofracking” or “fracking,” for short, has been touted as a new, environmentally-friendly means of extracting natural gas from shale deposits.
Getting oil or natural gas from shale formations has historically been very costly and time-consuming. Fracking was designed as a way to reduce cost and time, thus making extraction a more viable avenue for drilling.
Designed mainly by Halliburton, fracking involves 24-hour drilling into the ground about 8,000 feet into a shale deposit, then more drilling, horizontally into the deposit another 8,000 feet. The drilling breaks up the shale and releases the natural gas. Drillers then pump water, sand and “fracking chemicals” into the deposit to trap the gas, then pump the whole slurry out of the deposit. The “frack water” is then stored in large, unguarded open-air pits lined with plastic tarp.
Among the more well-known chemicals used in fracking are benzene (a carcinogen — cancer-causing item) and hydrochloric acid.
The pits for the frack water only have orange plastic snow fence as protection, meaning wildlife, pets and kids can easily get to it.
Several states other than N.Y. have experienced fracking. Pennsylvania, W. Virginia and Colorado have active fracking in their state. North Dakota is experiencing a boom based on fracking, with many small towns literally overwhelmed by those seeking jobs.
In those states, there are already instances when frack water leaked out of the pits and into the local supply. Pennsylvania has had several instances of frack water leaking into local rivers and waterways. Colorado has seen the slurry of frack water seep through tears in the tarps into water runoff and local ponds.
In any petroleum drilling operation, there is the fear of hitting a methane gas pocket. More to the point, there is the fear that a spark from the drill bit will set off a methane explosion that will travel to the surface. With fracking, there is a second danger: methane leaking through the shale deposit and into either the frack water or the local supply.
Failures in the extracting process have allowed methane to leak into the local water supply near one Penn. drilling operation. Residents reported methane explosions in wells and flaming water from faucet taps.
Even the federal government has taken note of the concerns about fracking. The EPA held hearings over the late summer as part of their review of the process. In those hearings, they heard statements from residents in all of the states where fracking is used. Many of them talked of their experience living in a community near a drill site, and the effects that fracking has had there.
Scientists from N.Y and Penn. presented the results of their examinations of soil and water samples in affected regions, which included the revelation that many samples contained radioactive particles in amounts far above the accepted levels of tolerance.
While one is inclined to dismiss Halliburton’s claims of fracking being a “green” alternative as cynical and opportunistic, it has to be said that the entire “green” industry is filled with shameless profiteers and opportunists. Indeed, under any capitalist arrangement, such elements will be always present.
That Halliburton was faster and more capable of getting out in front of its competitors by recognizing the profit to be made in creating a “green energy” scam, that the “profiteer we know” was able to get the rights from politicians to frack (near) these communities, speaks volumes about how the ruling classes view the questions of public health and the environment in relation to the bottom line.
The environment is a workers’ issue. It is our health and safety, and that of our communities and loved ones, that suffers most when capitalism chews up the planet for its profits. This planet is not theirs to destroy. |
