Oil and Gas Drilling Poses Threat To Humans and The Environment
Oil and natural gas drilling companies have long maintained that the hydraulic fracturing process used in creating natural gas wells poses no threat of groundwater contamination. The federal Government has overwhelmingly agreed with this assessment, allowing the industry waivers under many federal environmental laws.
The process, commonly known as “fracking,” involves injecting huge volumes of water laced with benzene and hundreds of other toxic chemicals, deep into the earth. Although the chemicals are injected well below the water table, as much as 60% of the fluid is later recovered and often stored above ground in open pits. There is growing evidence that hydraulic fracturing poses a great threat to groundwater quality and public health.
In recent years many groundwater contamination incidents have occurred raising serious questions regarding a 2004 EPA study which stated that hydraulic fracturing poses no threat to drinking water. Although The report took major fire from independent researchers, and government whistleblowers, it still caused congress to exempt hydraulic fracturing from the Safe Drinking Water act.
Recently the Federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) documented benzene contamination in Sublette County, Wyoming ground water. Since 2000 the area has seen well over 3000 new oil and gas wells.
In San Juan County, New Mexico the New Mexico Oil Conservation Division (NMOCD) has cited over four hundred cases of ground water contamination. The area has seen almost 5000 new wells since 2000. The contamination is said to stem from oil and gas waste pits. These pits are lawful only because oil and gas companies are exempted from the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, which sets standard for hazardous waste handling procedures.
Benzene, an organic solvent linked to several rare and debilitating blood disorders such as aplastic anemia, myelodysplastic syndromes, and acute myelogenous leukemia, is just one of the hundreds of chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing fluid. The exact compositions of these fluids are largely unknown to the public because Congress has all but completely exempted oil and gas exploration companies from the Federal Emergency Planning and Community Right To Know acts. Environmental experts believe that up to 90% of the chemicals used are toxic to humans.
The federal government should impose all of its environmental laws on all industries. It’s difficult not to speculate that if oil and gas companies were not blatantly trampling these laws, they would not require so many legal loopholes and exemptions.
