By Henry W.
For those who don’t know, the Marcellus Shale lies beneath the entire southern half of upstate New York and runs through Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. Within the Marcellus Shale lies an enormous amount of natural gas. But, unlike conventional gas reservoirs, the gas in the Shale is basically confined. Hydraulic fracturing (or “fracing”) is the only process known to release it.
The fracing process begins with pumping one to four million gallons of water (depending on the well size) into a drilled well. The water contains sand and any of up to 245 different chemicals. The actual chemical make-up of the fluid is not known to the public, and is one of the major controversies surrounding hydrofracing.
Known as the “Halliburton loophole,” the industry was exempted from the Safe Drinking Water Act in 2005 and is not required to list the chemical content of its fracing fluid. However, of the chemicals suspected of being used, over 95 percent of them are said to be harmful, potentially causing brain damage, birth defects, and cancer.
Once the fracing process is complete, the water, sand and chemicals are trucked away from the well pad or put into pits to evaporate. Along with the obvious dangers of fluid spills, water contamination, water usage, and health hazards, local residents have voiced other concerns about drilling. These include noise (drilling creates a great amount of noise), traffic (hundreds and thousands of tankers will be driving across local roads, public and private), air pollution, and destruction of the famous landscapes and vistas of upstate New York.
The primary concern, however, is still the threat of drinking water contamination. In early June 2009 Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.) introduced what is known as the FRAC Act (Fracking Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act). The Act would not outlaw fracturing or even postpone the use of natural gas resources. It would simply regulate the use of toxic chemicals in the hydrofracing process, by eliminating current exemptions gas drillers have from the Safe Drinking Water Act.
As of right now, “We’re just trying to move it forward… Our goal here is to, of course, get it signed in the near future,” said Jeff Lieberson, Hinchey’s Communications Director. At the moment 24 congressmen have signed on to co-sponsor the bill, and Hinchey and his colleagues are trying to find more support to advance the bill.
“We cannot put ourselves in a position where 5, 10, or 50 years from now people are left wondering how our current generation was so foolish as to not take common sense precautions to safeguard our most vital resource. We have nothing to lose by restoring the EPA’s authority, but we could lose everything if we don’t,” said Hinchey.
