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Dear Friend, Did you know that oil and gas companies are allowed to inject secret, toxic fluids, directly into our drinking water — and the EPA is currently powerless to do anything about it? High Pressure Hydraulic Fracturing (or fracking) is a method of drilling for natural gas by pumping a mixture of water and chemicals, including known toxics and carcinogens, deep underground, and it's already responsible for more than 1000 documented cases of poisoning water in states across the country.1 Fracking wells are spreading at an alarming rate. But even more alarming, thanks to the work of Dick Cheney and his infamous energy policy, frackers don't have to disclose the chemicals used in their fluid to the EPA, and the process is totally exempt from regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The FRAC Act, a bill that has been in the Senate since 2009, would correct both these problems. As public concern over fracking has grown, the bill has gained some momentum, but we still need more Senators actively working to pass it. Will you urge Sens. Durbin and Kirk to support the bill? If you've ever seen the picture of the man lighting his tap water on fire from the recent documentary Gasland, that was because of nearby fracking.2 Fracking a single gas well uses as much as millions of gallons of water, and hundreds of tons of chemicals. While the exact contents of the fluid remains largely undisclosed, scientific examination reveals that it can contain diesel fuel, which includes benzene, as well as methanol, formaldehyde and hydrochloric acid and many others.3 The fluid is injected thousands of feet underground at extremely high pressure, literally cracking the earth to release trapped gas. Unfortunately, it must pass through our water table, where the fluids, along with natural gas, can leak through well casings into our drinking water. Yet somehow, the EPA has been handcuffed from regulating fracking to keep our water clean since 2005, in what has become known as "the Halliburton loophole." Halliburton, where Dick Cheney was CEO before becoming Vice President, patented fracking in the 1940's and remains the third largest producer of fracking fluids. And in trademark Bush administration style, Halliburton staff were actively involved in a 2004 EPA report on fracking safety. The "Halliburton loophole" remains a dangerous legacy of the Bush Administration and if we're going to protect our water, we need to close it. Fracking is currently underway in 36 states. The ramifications to our water from expanded, unchecked fracking will be extreme and are only beginning to be fully realized by the public — thanks in no small part to the continued resistance of industry to disclose the poisons it involves. An important investigative series by the New York Times recently concluded that "the dangers to the environment and health are greater than previously understood."4 In addition to toxic, carcinogenic fluids which remain underground after a well is fracked, fracking also produces substantial quantities of waste water which can be literally radioactive. According to the Times, the water is "sometimes hauled to sewage plants not designed to treat it and then discharged into rivers that supply drinking water, contains radioactivity at levels higher than previously known, and far higher than the level that federal regulators say is safe for these treatment plants to handle." What's more, above ground spills of toxic fracking fluids are becoming increasingly common. A large spill this April in Pennsylvania dumped thousands of gallons into fields and streams, eerily, on the one year anniversary of the Deep Water Horizon oil spill. The oil and gas industry is the only industry in America that is allowed by EPA to inject known hazardous materials — unchecked — directly into or adjacent to underground drinking water supplies. While some state regulations do exist, they vary widely. But water contamination isn't constrained by state boundaries, and we need a strong baseline national standard to make sure fracking chemicals are publicly disclosed everywhere fracking is taking place, and that this practice isn't putting our nation's drinking water at risk. Thanks for fighting the unchecked oil and gas influence threatening our water. Elijah Zarlin, Campaign Manager CREDO Action from Working Assets 1. Fracking," Food and Water Watch. 2. Burning Tap Water and More: GASLAND Exposes the Natural Gas Industry," Treehugger, June 25, 2010. 3. Hydraulic Fracturing 101," EARTHWORKS. 4. Regulation Lax as Gas Wells' Tainted Water Hits Rivers," New York Times, February 26, 2011 |
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