The Risks That Come With Fracking: What The Pro-Frackers Won't Tell You

[Rick Rowlands]

Ethylene glycol?  Maybe we should ban automobiles as well since that is in every vehicle cooling system and I know that most of the time when there is a car crash there is an ethylene glycol spill!

[irishbobcat]

What the Land Man, The Vindicator, and all the paid P.R. people for the oil and gas companies won't tell you when they discuss how good fracking
is for the valley, your neighbor's property, your property, and your water....

Dangerous Chemicals:  Hydraulic fracturing fluids contain dozens of toxic chemicals like formaldehyde, benzene, toluene, biocides, ethylene glycol, and hydrochloric acid, chemicals which have known adverse health effects and which are being injected through and near aquifers used for drinking water. (EARTHWORKS, "Oil and Gas Pollution" (http://earthworksaction.org/oilgaspollution.cfm) Several of these chemicals are well-known human carcinogens; others are listed as proprietary and are unknown.
Lowered Property Values: There have been many reports of decreased property values where shale oil/gas drilling occurs, with the greatest drops following problems like chemical spills, pipeline explosions, and contamination that leaves homes without potable water. (See Denton Record-Chronicle, Sept. 18, 2010, "Drilling can dig into land value;" Altoona Mirror, Oct. 10, 2010 "Clearville residents blame reduced property values on natural gas project.") Also, HUD, FHA, and other mortgage lenders' guidelines don't allow loans where there is an active gas/oil lease on the property or drilling occurs near a home.
Water/Land Contamination Risks:  Current Ohio oil and gas regulations allow drilling right next to important streams and in floodplains. Although they require baseline testing of water wells before drilling commences within 300 feet of said water wells, under the Ohio Revised Code, this applies only in urbanized—not in rural—areas.
Inadequate Well Monitoring/Inspection: In Ohio, there are currently about 40 inspectors for the 64,378 active and 275,774 total oil/gas wells in Ohio with about 1000 news wells in the state drilled each year. Ohio Department of Natural Resource (ODNR) recommends that each new well should be inspected eight times during the drilling process. Thus the industry is largely left to "self-report."
Fracking-Friendly Oil and Gas Regulations in Ohio:

   
• Do not address the particular problems associated with new Marcellus and Utica shale oil/gas development, such as huge water withdrawals and wastewater treatment required and higher risk of chemical spills and radioactivity.
• Do not require an inspector to visit a well during drilling.
• Do not require that an active well be inspected.
• Contain no special regulations for high-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing (the NEW process for drilling in deep shale), which involves injection pressures over 10,000 psi and injection of toxic chemicals into the ground (about 35,000 gallons of chemicals per frack).
• Allow wellhead and oil and brine tanks to be located as close as 150 feet from a home, hospital, school, etc. in urban areas; and as close as 100 feet from such structures in rural areas. This, in spite of the fact that exploding tanks have been known to spread debris more than 400 feet from the tanks.
• Allow oil and gas well drilling in residential neighborhoods, in violation of local zoning, health, and safety ordinances.
• Allow open pits and dikes for catching and temporarily storing toxic waste products from drilling.
• Allow operators to bury toxic drilling and fracking sludge on site.
• Do not require ODNR to fine a company for even flagrant, willful violations, making it easy for offenders to violate again. ODNR rarely fines anyone.