NATURE’S CORNER
Obfuscate.
The correct pronunciation of this word is ob-fus-cate and is defined by Webster as to darken or to cloud. This one word may aptly fit our current situation. As you know, there has been a great deal of propaganda on both sides of the drilling boom. As I have dug deeper and deeper into the drilling boom, this word “obfuscate” began to have new meaning.Going to many meetings and talking to many of our neighbors and friends, one thing stands clear. There are two sides to the drilling boom.
According to the New York Times (NYT) in an article published on February 27, 2011, entitled “Regulation Lax as Gas Wells’ Tainted Water Hits Rivers.” The article states that the drilling boom has picked up the support of many environmentalists who look at natural gas as a way to help slow climate change because it burns more cleanly than coal.
This sounds like a solution to global warming and to some extent the use of natural gas will slow global warming.
However, there is a major concern. The concern is called “Hydraulic fracturing or Hydrofracking.” By now most of us know that millions of gallons of water are needed to frack one Marcellus well.
The water that is used in drilling is forced deep into the ground and placed under high pressure. Some of these pressures reach 20,000 lbs. per square inch.
Also, one must include the “flow back water.” This is the term given to the water that comes back to the surface after fracking.
Herein lies a major problem.
This water contains elements that have been deposited deep in the Earth millions of years ago. Elements and compounds like benzene and radioactive elements like radium are among materials that return to the surface after drilling. Add to these compounds used in fracking and we have what I call a “Witch’s Brew.” Many of these chemicals are said to be carcinogenic in their make-up. According to the drilling industry spokespersons, there is no need to worry about the frack chemicals since most can be found in your cosmetics or under your sink.
This is where the term obfuscate comes to the surface. Yes, the statement that many of the chemicals used in fracking can be found in make-up or in your kitchen. The caution is the assumption that everything found in make-up or under your kitchen sink is safe. I do not know about you, but I do not want to drink water with chemicals found under my sink. Items, such as, Drano, Comet, Dawn, and other cleaners are not what I want in my drinking water. Are these chemical safe to ingest into the human body? If one obtains a list of chemicals used in fracking, you will see many are suspect or have ties to cancer in humans.
Let us go in another direction. Found deep in the Earth, there are many radioactive elements. The NYT has discovered thousands of internal documents from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that show the danger to health are greater than previously understood. Radioactivity found in drinking water is far higher than federal regulators say is safe for treatment plants to handle. Many EPA scientists have shown concern and alarm that radioactivity found in Pennsylvania is a threat to safe drinking water. Add to this that the municipal treatment plants taking this frack water are incapable of removing these radioactive elements, and the fact that, with the blessing of regulators, Pennsylvania treatment plants have not tested for radioactivity since 2006. I have recently heard from the Pa. DEP that there is no concern for the alarm when it comes to radiation in drinking water. My question is, “When was the last time the DEP sampled for radiation in our water?” If one goes back to the 2006 information to make the assumption that our drinking water does not contain radioactivity elements, then the information is very tainted since aggressive drilling did not begin until 2008. As of now, there is no way to guarantee that the drinking water taken in by water treatment plants is safe.
In 2000, there were about 36,000 active drilling wells. At present, we have about 71,000 active wells. If we take this number and multiply by the 5 million gallons of water, needed to frack each well, and multiply by 30 percent flow back water, the number of gallons of water released into our streams becomes very scary. If you do the math, 355,000,000,000 of gallons of water and then multiply by 30 percent (flow back), then by 8.2 pounds for each gallon by weight, the number is 875,300,000,000 pounds. If you divide by 2000 pounds that equal one ton, you will obtain an amount of 437,650,000 tons of materials that could easily find its way into our drinking supplies.
I do not know about you, but this amount of flow back material worries me. The gas industry will obfuscate by saying that only 2 percent is actually frack chemicals. Do the math again by multiplying the 437,650,000 tons by .02, then the tonnage is 8,753,000 tons.
This number represents the approximate amount by weight of frack chemicals that could enter our drinking water within Pennsylvania. Notice that I did not mention the 70 percent of water that stays in the ground after fracking. The numbers become staggering.
Before you become obfuscated, take time to gather facts and do the math yourself, and always remember it is easy to complain about a situation. The trick is to find a solution to the problem. Get involved, it is your water and air also. Let us develop safe ways to mine and extract gas and oil.
We are all in this together, so give thanks for what you have and protect what is rightfully yours.