After my commentary “The Understated Water Crisis” was published two weeks ago, I received an e-mail from a troubled reader.
In the commentary I spoke out against the practice of hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, which is being considered for upstate New York. The practice, now happening in other U.S. states, involves digging wells thousands of feet below the surface and fracturing shale there in order to get at precious natural gas that can provide another energy source for Americans. The process involves pumping huge amounts of water, mixed with sand, and about 0.5 percent toxic chemicals to get at the gas.
Concern has arisen that the toxic chemicals involved, though relatively small compared to the amount of water involved, are capable of harming our drinking water.
My troubled reader, who we will call Bob, was concerned that I had done a hack job of journalism and that I had gone wild with my “anti-industry” views.
Bob, it turns out, works for a law firm that gets its meal ticket from a natural gas company currently doing fracking in Pennsylvania. But never mind his connections, what did he have to say?
I engaged Bob in what I hoped would be an informative e-mail exchange, but other than a few interesting tidbits, he seemed primarily interested in criticizing me.
I was perpetuating the “disproven falsehood that fracking pollutes groundwater,” said Bob, who I found out through an Internet search has a law degree from Columbia University.
What about the Saunters, whose Pennsylvanian well water went bad shortly after fracking nearby began? What about West Virginian Bonnie Hall’s eight horses that can no longer drink from their well after fracking began near her home (as reported by Scripps News)?
Bob blamed it all on an “anti-industry agenda.”
To be fair, I think neither Bob nor I have the definitive answers on fracking. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is currently planning to conduct an in-depth study on hydraulic fracturing. They hope to begin the study by early 2011 and have results to the public by late 2012.
In theory, if the EPA gives the okay, which it likely will, fracking will begin in New York state, probably with new safety precautions in place. The issue, from a top-down perspective, is that our country needs affordable sources of energy besides oil. Natural gas presents a viable alternative.
Still, in the meantime, I remain skeptical and will share this skepticism with anyone who cares to listen.
Clean water is far more of an asset to the state of New York than a natural gas industry. It’s not purely a matter of logistics, like water treatment costs versus energy costs, it’s a matter of natural aesthetic of our environment. Something you can feel but can’t quantify.
Even if the safest measures are put in place, accidents and failures to comply always happen. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a glaring example as are all the plane accidents that inevitably happen despite the FAA’s meticulous precautions.
The blanket of safety created by modern mainstream science and technology is only so cushy.
Also, I am still struck by the fact that our nation is actively taking steps to curb pollution of our air, which may or may not be causing climate change depending on who you ask. Yet, our nation has let loose an industry that, in the event of even rare accidents and negligence, is obviously capable of damaging our natural drinking water.
Evan Mantyk lives in New York and can be reached at [email protected]
In the commentary I spoke out against the practice of hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, which is being considered for upstate New York. The practice, now happening in other U.S. states, involves digging wells thousands of feet below the surface and fracturing shale there in order to get at precious natural gas that can provide another energy source for Americans. The process involves pumping huge amounts of water, mixed with sand, and about 0.5 percent toxic chemicals to get at the gas.
Concern has arisen that the toxic chemicals involved, though relatively small compared to the amount of water involved, are capable of harming our drinking water.
My troubled reader, who we will call Bob, was concerned that I had done a hack job of journalism and that I had gone wild with my “anti-industry” views.
Bob, it turns out, works for a law firm that gets its meal ticket from a natural gas company currently doing fracking in Pennsylvania. But never mind his connections, what did he have to say?
I engaged Bob in what I hoped would be an informative e-mail exchange, but other than a few interesting tidbits, he seemed primarily interested in criticizing me.
I was perpetuating the “disproven falsehood that fracking pollutes groundwater,” said Bob, who I found out through an Internet search has a law degree from Columbia University.
What about the Saunters, whose Pennsylvanian well water went bad shortly after fracking nearby began? What about West Virginian Bonnie Hall’s eight horses that can no longer drink from their well after fracking began near her home (as reported by Scripps News)?
Bob blamed it all on an “anti-industry agenda.”
To be fair, I think neither Bob nor I have the definitive answers on fracking. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is currently planning to conduct an in-depth study on hydraulic fracturing. They hope to begin the study by early 2011 and have results to the public by late 2012.
In theory, if the EPA gives the okay, which it likely will, fracking will begin in New York state, probably with new safety precautions in place. The issue, from a top-down perspective, is that our country needs affordable sources of energy besides oil. Natural gas presents a viable alternative.
Still, in the meantime, I remain skeptical and will share this skepticism with anyone who cares to listen.
Clean water is far more of an asset to the state of New York than a natural gas industry. It’s not purely a matter of logistics, like water treatment costs versus energy costs, it’s a matter of natural aesthetic of our environment. Something you can feel but can’t quantify.
Even if the safest measures are put in place, accidents and failures to comply always happen. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a glaring example as are all the plane accidents that inevitably happen despite the FAA’s meticulous precautions.
The blanket of safety created by modern mainstream science and technology is only so cushy.
Also, I am still struck by the fact that our nation is actively taking steps to curb pollution of our air, which may or may not be causing climate change depending on who you ask. Yet, our nation has let loose an industry that, in the event of even rare accidents and negligence, is obviously capable of damaging our natural drinking water.
Evan Mantyk lives in New York and can be reached at [email protected]
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