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Lighting tap water on fire. Do not try this at home.
My friend screened the documentary film, Gasland, at her home last night. I sure didn’t sleep well [note to self: watch potentially disturbing documentary films during the day; light comedy at night].
It was fracking eye-opening. Check out the trailer…
When filmmaker Josh Fox is asked to lease his land for natural gas drilling, he embarks on a cross-country odyssey uncovering a trail of secrets, lies and contamination.
Personal stories highlight the hazards of the controversial “fracking”–a means of extracting natural gas from the earth–and how it renders tap water undrinkable and sometimes flammable; unleashes toxic components into the air; and, not surprisingly, causes serious health issues.
Meet filmmaker Josh Fox…
What the frack is “fracking?”
Hydraulic fracturing or fracking is a means of natural gas extraction employed in deep natural gas well drilling. Once a well is drilled, millions of gallons of water, sand and proprietary chemicals are injected, under high pressure, into a well. The pressure fractures the shale and props open fissures that enable natural gas to flow more freely out of the well. This very different from capturing gas from landfills which uses a renewable resource.
Hydraulic fracturing for natural gas is one of the country’s biggest environmental and public health challenges in history. The 2005 Energy Bill exempted the controversial hydraulic fracturing from the Safe Drinking Water Act [passed in 1974 to ensure clean drinking water free from both natural and man-made contaminates], which allowed the natural gas industry to unleash a massive 34-State drilling campaign. Essentially, the provision took the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) off the job. It is now commonly referred to as the Halliburton Loophole.
Fracking facts:
Generally 1-8 million gallons of water may be used to frack a well. A well may be fracked up to 18 times.
For each frack, 80-300 tons of chemicals may be used. Presently, the natural gas industry does not have to disclose the chemicals used, but scientists have identified volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene.
Evaporators evaporate off VOCs and condensate tanks steam off VOCs, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The wastewater is then trucked to water treatment facilities.
As the VOCs are evaporated and come into contact with diesel exhaust from trucks and generators at the well site, ground level ozone is produced. Ozone plumes can travel up to 250 miles.
Share your story whether it’s about leasing, drilling, downstream water or sleepless nights worrying. The filmmakers will share these stories with Congress. Your story also serves to help others learn from your experience. Sharing is caring. Knowledge is power.
If you live near a gas drilling operation, be sure to test your water. (Lighting it on fire is not recommended).
About the Author The founder of myEARTH360.com and the I Count for myEARTH blog, Lynn is also a contributing editor to a number of environment focused online publications. Find her on facebook and twitter.
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