More Research Finds That Fracking Contaminates Groundwater

A recent study has found that in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania the closer you live to where there is fracking the more likely your water well will be contaminated with methane.

            The study was performed by Robert Jackson, a chemical engineer from Duke University. He found that home wells that were less than a mile from a fracking operation had methane concentrations that were six times higher than concentrations of wells that were farther away. He found methane in 115 of 141 residential water wells he examined.

            It is believed that the wells are contaminated when the protective metal casings and concrete around a frack well leak. Isotopes and traces of ethane characteristic of the natural gas found in the Marcellus Shale distinguish the gas found in the well water from methane that might have been produced by microorganisms in the groundwater.

            There is also the possibility that the fracking actually opens up pathways for the natural gas to seep up and contaminate the groundwater. A fracking expert from Cornell University, Anthony Ingraffea, is in the process of examining inspection reports from most of the more than 41,000 gas wells that have been drilled in Pennsylvania since the beginning of 2000. So far it looks like his research reveals that a higher percentage of fracking wells are leaking than conventional oil and gas wells drilled into other formations besides the Marcellus Shale.

            With these new findings, I wonder if there will be any Pennsylvania lawmakers who might say, “Hey, we better investigate this a little more before we let even more fracking in our commonwealth.”

Hey, Kids, Can You Keep a Secret? Pennsylvania Fracking Settlement Includes Couple's Children

In reaching a monetary settlement with fossil fuel companies over damages cased by the companies’ fracking, a Pennsylvania couple has been placed under a gag order to not talk about the terms and conditions of the settlement. And their children have, too.

            Chris and Stephanie Hallowichs claimed that the fracking performed by Range Resources, Williams Gas/Laurel Mountain Midstream and MarkWest Energy adjacent to their 10-acre farm in western Pennsylvania contaminated their water supply and harmed the health of their entire family. They experienced burning eyes, sore throats, headaches, and earaches. They settled with the fossil fuel companies for an undisclosed amount.

            Gag orders in court settlements aren’t unusual. But this is the first time that children have been included in a gag order. As the article from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette points out, legal viewpoints differ on whether children can be included in such a gag order. My suspicion is that the children were included to throw a wild card into the settlement. The lawyers for the gas companies know that adults have a hard time keeping their mouths shut, and it is almost impossible for children and teenagers to keep a secret. If one of the kids talks, it voids the settlement.

            It could be a win-win for the fracking companies.

Orwell and Fracking

In Pennsylvania the state legislature passed and the governor just signed into law HB 1950, a law regulating fracking. Fracking is the high-pressure injection of fluids into rock formations to free up fossil fuel for drilling. Besides water, there are a number of other fluids used in fracking. Lots of different chemicals are in these fluids, many of which raise health concerns.

Many environmentalists and local communities denounce the law because it removes from local communities their ability to restrict fracking in their communities. Besides the concerns of local communities, the law goes beyond the realm of oil and natural gas and into regulating the practice of medicine, and in so doing becomes truly Orwellian. If a doctor or other health professional determines that chemicals that entered the water supply due to fracking poisoned someone, that physician or other professional cannot alert others to the danger posed by the well water. As the law says, the health professional “shall maintain the information as confidential.” The companies doing the fracking can also get a written statement of confidentiality from the health professional or doctor.

Despite the dangers to others, the doctor can’t call the newspaper or local broadcast stations; he can’t alert other physicians; he can’t even let other persons living in the poisoned person’s household know about the poison. This runs counter to all of our traditions of public health and modern medicine. What if John Snow had been restricted from alerting nineteenth century Londoners to the dangers of that one cholera infected well? What if cigarette companies managed to get similar legislation passed in the 1950s just as the medical community was finding more connections between smoking and heart disease, cancer, and emphysema?

Among a government’s most essential functions is public health. The Romans had public health laws. Public health is in the bible, too*. If our governments abrogate responsibility for one of their essential functions to help the energy industries, what are they good for?

*Deuteronomy 23: 12-13: Designate a place outside your camp where you can go to relieve yourself. As part of your equipment have something to dig with, and when you relieve yourself, dig a hole and cover up your excrement.