by: Ross Maestas
Hydraulic fracturing is a process that allows the oil and natural gas drilling companies to extract more product from their oil shale drilling sites. They do this by pumping a huge amount of water, sand and chemicals into the ground. This prevents the cleats, or cracks, in the rocks from closing, thus allowing them to produce more natural gas. Recently there has been concern in Colorado that the chemicals used in this process are contaminating the groundwater tables. There have been numerous reports of gas workers and even nurses becoming very ill after exposure to these chemicals. Also, people in Colorado have been able to literally light their tap water on fire as it comes out of the spout. The companies responsible for these injuries has refused to release the formulas for these chemicals because they cite them as "trade secrets." They claim it would be like asking Coca-Cola for the formula to Coke. Do you think that legislation should be passed to force these drilling firms to release the chemical formlas of what they are pumping into our ground?
8 comments:
Hell yes! Surely there must be ways around the companys' rights to their 'trade secrets' if there is a risk to public health. What does the EPA have to say about it? Don't those companies have to say what they're pumping into the ground? Have there been conclusive studies conducted that have pinpointed the source of the contamination to be where those companies are drilling?
I think that they should find some more conclusive evidence that these chemicals are definitely what is causing the problems with the water table and getting people sick before any sort of legislation is passed for them to release their business secrets. I also believe that they (the companies) should have restrictions on what they can and cannot put into the ground in the first place, and face very severe penalties for not complying.
YES, definitely. If people are exposed to these chemicals, they have a right to know what they are and how they will affect them. Even if these chemicals aren't the ones causing the damage and illnesses, how do these companies know that the chemicals won't cause harm to people and the ecosystem in the future? There is a serious risk associated with flushing any sort of non-native chemical into the ground, and there should definitely be some sort of restriction for doing so.
I think they should absolutely have to release what these chemicals are, even if it is not to the public some investigation should take place.
It seems impossible for the chemicals not to have an effect on the groundwater system. If they are opening up more cracks in the ground it means the contaminants can travel further too. The government should definitely regulate that.
I have a teacher who has done significant work dealing with this problem in Pueblo, Co. Hydraulic fracturing does impact the groundwater and so it must be regulated. I know the Clean Water Act does not regulate groundwater, but are there any other laws and regulations currently in place that companies are required to follow?
I worked over the summer with the env law center and many times the idealism of ending thing like this can play out in a best case scenario where communities and oil companies work together to reduce impact. Although there are such things as green-fracking the water contamination still happens.
andrew sieving
Absolutely! I can't believe they have been allowed to get away with this. This is obviously bad for people's health, and that should come before a company's sickening "trade secrets."
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