What give you the "authority" to just say that and expect people to believe it.
Its...
I prefer a civil discourse. Hostile and personal confrontational posting are adolescent and unwanted.
Re the wells. I have them all around me, by the hundreds, and I know of NO water wells that have been affected. My neighbors have one in full production less than 300 feet from their house and well.
Many of the local water wells have had natural gas in them from day one, for many it is a problem. As for the fraking, a blanket statement concerning them is indeed untrue. If I were to say there has never been any problems, that also would be untrue.
This area underwent a large gas drilling period in the 1930s. They were of the shallow type, non fraking and some are still in production. Now we are undergoing a similar surge of DEEP well drilling, a mile down.
Carelessness in drilling etc etc, you bet. Spills and the State is right there to fine the companies and get things cleaned up. I know of NO ONE within my area that has been adversely affected.
The greenies tried to get the drilling stopped. So they held a meeting in New York City for people from around the country, to stop drilling in Pa.
So, as the wells come on line here, the gas is pumped across the line to NYC at an increased cost to their people.
So far China, Japan and Dutch have bought in by the billions of dollars in this affair. Penn State U. estimates, we alone have enough gas to supply the entire northeast for the next 75 years. At a low price. Of course we could import it from the ME as we do our oil.
We have had two huge underground gas storage areas here for well over fifty years and another is being arranged by pumping out salt to form a cavern, that will take two years and then filled with gas under pressure.
In the winter time, the process is reversed and gas is drawn out to heat the major cities of the northeast.
The greenies from the cities were here when 70 windmills were erected, the energy produced is all sold to coastal cities.
The hydraulic fracturing process involves the high pressure injection of millions of gallons of water mixed with a toxic witches' brew of undisclosed chemicals and sand to accommodate the fracturing and release of gas from the shale beds. That precious water is taken from rivers, lakes, and water resources intended for public benefit, and not to enrich the coffers of international energy companies who are engaging in a frenzied feast to plunder America's mineral resources, in much the same way they have plundered the mineral resources of indigenous people in South America, Central America, and Africa. The story is always the same. They rape, they plunder, and then leave their mess behind for the locals to deal with.
Contamination & Dumping
Ron Gulla told me that only 30 % of the fracturing fluid is recovered and supposedly processed, while 70 % REMAINS in the ground. The recovered fluid is supposed to be hauled off to processing centers, but locals have repeatedly caught company truckers DUMPING the recovered fracturing fluid on local roads, in forested areas, and even dumping it down abandoned mine shafts. To deceive the public, some trucks have "Clean Water" printed on the side.
Naturally, petroleum gases released by fracturing, liquids and the fracturing fluid itself is mixing with ground water and even percolating up through fissures into the surface environment. Initially, energy company representatives had told land owners that they were only adding three benign chemicals and sand to the fracturing fluid, but environmental activists soon discovered that there could be as many as 584 different chemicals used in the fracturing fluid mix. The energy companies involved in the gas fracturing steadfastly refuse to divulge to anybody the chemical makeup of the fracturing fluid and government regulators simply won't intervene on the public's behalf and force disclosure.
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 rammed through congress by the Bush/Cheney team exempts gas fracturing energy companies from any liability for environmental damage or injury that may result from the use of fracturing fluids. Therefore, the hard-fought federal legislation designed to protect the public interest and health, such as the Clean Water Act of 1977 and the Water Quality Act of 1987 are now null and void, and meaningless when it when it comes to gas fracture extraction. Here's a quote from Wikipedia's description of the 2005 Energy Policy Act:
"This bill exempted fluids used in the natural gas extraction process of Hydraulic fracturing from protections under the Clean Air Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, Clean Water Act, and CERCLA. The proposed Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act would repeal these exemptions."
Ron Gulla tells the story as well as anyone in the following four video clips that are now posted to YouTube. They were part of a video documentary made a couple of years ago by damacuscitizens.org to try to bring to greater public awareness the horrendous destruction of farmland that has been ripping through vast regions of Pennsylvania like a rampaging bull. This madness must stop. New York recently passed a one year moratorium to halt all drilling activity until environmental impact studies can be made and reassess the wisdom of continuing this insane juggernaut.
Pennsylvania state Senator Jim Ferlo has sponsored Pennsylvania Senate bill 1447 which calls for a moratorium on all natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale deposit, which runs through most of Pennsylvania. Currently, the greatest destruction in the Northeast is taking place in Pennsylvania, but Ohio is being prepared for the slaughter. Hopefully, enough activists in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia will rally enough local support among farm land owners and state residents alike, to prevent even more rural owners from buying into the same deception and lies that already befell Pennsylvania farmers .