Gasland - FRACing our nation - Special Edition

I'm watching Josh Fox's documentary, Gasland. He claims that the FRAC process where high pressure water and stabilizing chemicals are shot deep into the ground beneath shale deposits to free up natural gas, has contaminated some of our rural areas throughout the nation. Some people can not even shower in their well water, let alone drink it. Some people's animals and livestock are losing hair and being made very sick.

There are those who claim Josh is making this up, here is one site:
http://www.jlcny.org/site/index.php/news/latest-news-articles/
192-debunking-gasland-the-movie?gclid=CICAnbuzuaICFQdkgwodGyNG4Q

But aside from what he says in the documentary, not even listening to him, listen to the people he interviews. Look at what they show, like being able to light their tap water on fire. The news station broadcasts, talking about the same. Regardless of the article from the web site above, something is wrong. This hasn't reached Washington state yet, but it could, its creeping across the United States to the Pacific Northwest.

There has been some movement from the Government:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/energy/6874538.html

From there, they said: The chemicals make up less than 0.5 percent by volume of the overall mix but often include hazardous substances such as acids and materials used in cleaners and antifreeze.

That's good to know.

Its claimed that Josh is lying about the exclusions of these Gas companies from clean air laws. Regarding that:
http://s3.amazonaws.com/propublica/assets/natural_gas/colburn_testimony_071025.pdf
Check out her site at:
http://www.endocrinedisruption.com/chemicals.introduction.php
Video of her:
http://splashdownpa.blogspot.com/2010/04/world-renowned-scientist-dr-theo.html
Interesting interview of her at Mother Jones:
http://motherjones.com/politics/1998/03/theo-colborn

The EPA has requested $4.3 million in 2011 for hydraulic fracturing research. February 18, 2010:

Also on Thursday, Waxman said past data received from Halliburton and BJ Services indicates they used diesel fuel in their fracturing fluids between 2005 and 2007, possibly violating a voluntary agreement with the EPA to stop using diesel.

Smith said BJ Services told its operations to stop using diesel but that some inadvertently used it for a few jobs, the last one in 2007. BJ reported the incidents to the EPA and took measures to prevent recurrences.

Halliburton spokeswoman Cathy Mann said in an e-mail that the agreement with the EPA only covered the use of diesel in fracturing jobs in coalbed methane formations and not other kinds of formations, such as shales.

This was from the chron Energy web site.

The Pro Publica site for Journalism in the public interest:
http://www.propublica.org/feature/broad-scope-of-epas-fracturing-study-raises-ire-of-gas-industry
says, Broad Scope of EPA’s Fracturing Study Raises Ire of Gas Industry.

A federal study of hydraulic fracturing set to begin this spring is expected to provide the most expansive look yet at how the natural gas drilling process can affect drinking water supplies, according to interviews with EPA officials and a set of documents outlining the scope of the project.
Here are those documents from the EPA:
http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/a84bfee16cc358ad85256ccd006b0b4b/ 4caa95a38952145f852576d3005daa17!OpenDocument&Date=2010-04-07

The oil and gas industry strongly opposes this new approach.

The EPA is undertaking the study in response to a wave of reports [4] of water contamination in drilling areas across the country and a Congressional mandate issued in an appropriations bill last fall. The agency had previously examined hydraulic fracturing in a 2004 study that was limited in scope and was widely criticized.
http://www.propublica.org/series/buried-secrets-gas-drillings-environmental-threat

I don't have any more to say about this. Not really, its speaks for itself. First, watch Josh's documentary Gasland. Even taking it with a grain of salt, it has import. Adding the Government's attitude, and the Gas industry's attitude, pretty much says it all. Along with the execs that visited people in their homes to tell them the water was safe to drink but when offered a drink of the water, refused. And it wasn't just one guy, nor was it one incident, nor one family.

Something is up. Something doesn't just smell in Denmark but across the nation. We really need to stop corporations from polluting our natural resources.

When people complain about this, they are told they have to prove it. One family, with good water for thirty years, signs a document to allow FRACing on their land, then immediately, their water turns bad, beyond bad; but they have to prove it?

We need our country back, if we ever had it. The corporations shouldn't be exempt from reality. People should be, if it comes to that.

Tomorrow: Work of Art - The Bravo Channel