Spills of Drilling Chemicals Worry Experts
Even if they just pump plain water into the ground, what comes up naturally is hazardous and radioactive. The things that come from the earth are heavy metals, said Ron Bishop, a biochemist at SUNY Oneonta who worked construction with the gas drillers. Levels of radioactivity 250 times environmental regulation standards have been found. Due to exemptions the gas drillers don’t even have to test their water. The European Union has banned 250 chemicals that are in use all across America.
Get Involved with Regulating Drilling
The Federal EPA is setting up a phone line where infractions and incidents in the drilling process can be reported by concerned citizens the number is (877)-919-4372. Stanford Township is going to be making videotapes of its roads so that damages done by drilling trucks can be proven in order to get the drillers to pay for the repairs.
Away With Compressor Stations!
Part of the process of natural gas production is pumping gas from the drill site to long distances through long pipelines. Before the process begins, the gas is cleaned of contaminants such as sulfur and water at large compressor stations. These compressor stations are compared to “mini-refineries” and strong odors and constant headaches usually comes along with them. A number of compression stations will be constructed along the Millennium Pipeline. What does this mean for residents near the pipeline?
It’s All in the Numbers
Some recent letters claimed that gas drilling with hydro-fracking is safe, yet data show that 1-2 percent of wells have caused water contamination problems, a close-to-home example being Dimock, PA. That doesn’t sound like much of a problem, but if the airline industry had such a 1 percent failure record, there would have been 97,147 crashes in the last year. Anyone for flying?
