Fracking Technology Has Been Used Safely for Years

Lie #1 fracturing technology has been deployed in the United States for nearly 65 years

For water wells yes, this involved throwing a couple of sticks of TNT down the well. Later on for vertical wells it was used. But slick-water horizontal hydrofracturing is a recent development and has only been used for a couple of years

Lie #2 the EPA has publicly stated that fracturing does not pose a significant threat to groundwater...

That statement was taken from The 2004 study examining the environmental and safety implications from fracking coal bed methane reserves. not shale gas extraction. Totally different processes and studies

Lie #3 We're still talking about the deployment of water, sand, pressure, and small percentages of additives.

I like how he just negates the hazdous chemicals pumped down the well. JUST DO THE MATH to see the amounts of chemicals used!

In horizontal slick-water hydrofrackng the process uses about 6 million gallons of water and materials pumped into the well-bore for each frack job so even at 1/2 percent of a chemical still amounts to 30000 gallons of hazardous chemicals being pumped into the well (based on a volume/volume ratio) and that is per frack job, the well can be fracked multiple times!

There is a significant amount of, as he put it "additives" such as biocides pumped into the well to inhibit bacterial growth Formaldehyde and gluteraldehyded as examples . Not to mention corrosion inhibitors, hydrochloric acid, viscosity modifiers and other industry proprietary compounds which are exempt from regulations. These are pumped at high pressures to break the shale to allow the methane to be released. These chemicals under pressure react with each other as well as the compounds in the shale and rock to form other compounds such as cholornated aromatic compounds. Also this process extracts other chemicals from the shale and rock and makes compounds which were once locked in the rock and shale soluble and able to travel with any water in and around the shale.

To where who knows? No long-term geological studies have been conducted on the potential migration of these chemicals

David Meiser of PA 10:40PM November 29, 2011

Unfortunately, the preceding comment is like many others from the wacko left and others influenced by the left who don't bother to verify what they are told...long on assertions of various ill effects and woefully short of evidence.

First, natural gas prices in the US have come down sharply in the last several years to roughly $4tcf.

Second, any industry that can be proved to be causing leukemia, asthma, arsenic and barium poisoning, poisoned water, and the other ills asserted buy opponents would have been shut down long ago.

There may be instances involving poor well drilling, casing and sealing that have caused discrete problems, and there are laws and regulations in place to address them. These are no reason to tar an entire industry, or the fracking technology.

We don't ban deer hunting because a few hunters are careless and shoot someone else. We don't ban automobiles because a few knuckleheads get drunk, drive and kill someone else. We don't ban chainsaws because some idiots whack their own legs. We don't ban cell phones because some people talk and text while driving and cause vehicle crashes.

B Kalik of WV 12:31PM November 29, 2011