No Fracking Way!

This is a huge, huge crisis facing NY, PA, OH, and WV. PA has permitted it, and they are quickly seeing the environmental detriment of this, largely unregulated, process. There has been a contamination at almost every drilling site! I encourage Buffalo residents to log on to the growing tide to ban fracking until more conclusive studies are done. Here is a good resource: www.un-naturalgas.org

*GASP*

Not environmental CONCERNS!

Yeah, keep those po' folks down in Belmont and Wellsville po'. We don't need to be giving them ANY opportunity to make some cash.

Let's just keep letting PA make all the bucks. Maybe our border towns can pick up a few tourists or something.

Very poorly written article (even by BR standards) that is based 100% upon emotion and politics and zero percent on thoughtful consideration or investigation of the facts.

Misspelling: allowed

Disclaimer against the petty...just in case.

In the 144th Assembly District candidates debate last night, Brian Biggie came out strongly pro-fracking. And in no uncertain terms — even saying what a great thing it’s been for Pennsylvania!

Biggie also said at the debate that he was recently married, and wants to have a “big” family (no, I’m not making that up). So let’s let him get busy with that instead of sending him to Albany to represent us — he’ll be much happier, and so will we. (But those southern tier folks won’t get to impress their visitors with flaming tap water tricks, like their cross-border cousins in PA).

Is heating a house in Buffalo the mirror image of driving a Hummer, regarding fuel consumption? Pretty much.

Wait, now I'll hear about how all the BRO folks heat their homes with fuel cells or something.

Halliburton was given a loophole, by previous CEO of Halliburton, and then Vice President Cheney. Halliburton holds the patent on the fracking procedure and manufactures the solution used in the process…. Enough said…fracking will continue no matter what the cost to our ground water, health or our environment. They have the money to buy anyone they need to get this into NYS. It sucks.

Just look at what is happening in PA. We are next. Read this article from Vanityfair. It is criminal what corporate america gets away with. It is easy for them to pay a fine they have the money to.

http://www.vanityfair.com/business/features/2010/06/fracking-in-pennsylvania-201006

It is one thing to look for new resources and energy supplies it is another to contaminate a water supply of people who have nothing to gain by someone else fracking under their properties. "In October 2009, state regulators (in Pennsylvania) finally acknowledged that a major contamination of the aquifer had occurred" This isn't just 1, 5 or 20 wells, but an entire aquifer. That is a big deal if it is leaching harmful materials into the only source of fresh water for a community.

But hey drill away and worry about the consequences later. Instead of actually trying to find a better, less potentially disastrous method of capturing the Natural Gas. No one is against the use of natural gas, it is relatively clean burning and efficient form of heating homes... but that doesn't mean we should get it at any cost.

Anyone who thinks this potentially could be a good idea should watch the HBO documentary on this subject of fracking called "Gasland". It won an award at Sundance music festival and is very good. more can be found out at http://gaslandthemovie.com/

Fresh clean water is a very valuable resource and the process alone renders millions of gallons of water useless after the process is complete, not to mention the effect on surrounding water. Also anyone who thinks a company the drills for hazardous
gasses using hazardous chemicals should be exempt from clean water act guidelines is a damn fool.

if you really support fracking, then be prepared to sacrifice whatever clean, drinkable water or aquifer runs under your property.

or it this another form of nimbyism? the marcellus shale isn't under my backyard so what do i care? just gimme the gas.

It's 'should have' not 'should of,' I guess you're job doesn't require the ability to use the English language proficiently.

Gail42: I couldn't make it to the rally. Sorry! Had work, then had to come home and take care of the pets. I have a young pitbull I adopted not long ago who is good in his crate for about 8 hours max, otherwise accidents may be possible.

I do most of my activism from my email...signing petitions and sending politicians emails, etc. My last actual rally was in 2005 when I went to the Save Darfur rally in DC. Wish I had more to speak of, honestly.

Sally: I absolutely want to get fuel to the poor, but would like to see other drilling techniques pioneered that aren't as disastrous. I also would really like to see more sane energy policy. Wind produces energy, and so does water. Neither of those require us to be so destructive. We should put up more wind turbines along the shore of Lake Erie and in inland areas (we even have the industrial know-how to make them ourselves). We should produce more hydro facilities on the Niagara River (the whole northeast benefits from our existing ones). Also, concerning the energy I'm wasting with my laptop right now: I pay more per killowatt hour to get it from a provider that uses only small hydro and wind power. I don't feel as guilty, as a result.

P.S. I also wrote "next store" instead of "next door". Jeez...I need to type slower! It's funny how that can happen if you're not careful.

Ridiculous. People just like to protest as a form of entertainment, without regard to the actual facts at hand.

Fracking of gas wells has been going on in New York State since the 1950s, including right here in Erie County. This has been done to THOUSANDS of wells in the state. Where are all the contaminated water wells?

The Marcellus Shale is thousands of feet deep. Water wells are hundreds of feet deep. Water flows down, not up. Besides, they have to remove the fracking fluid in order to produce the gas, it does not get left behind underground.

These concerns defy logic and reason.

this bird drank the water in PA.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hsILeDgSTM

Wow, that large crowd of 8 protesters looks highly educated and qualified in the field of hydrofracting. Are these the same people that brought us global warming and the o-zone layer? Buffalobychoice...it's nice to see that at least one of the potential protesters is actually employed.

Not to sound non-PC but this all seems like some sort of black conspiracy thing.

While fracking may have had its beginning in the 1950's what they did then and what they are doing now are two way different things. Back then they didn't have the chemicals they are using now, chemicals that the manufacturers won’t disclose...ZetaFlow, one fracking fluid, contains methanol and two undisclosed "proprietary" compounds...Weatherford’s (the manufacturer of this fluid) Material Safety Data Sheet on this chemical cocktail warned that ZetaFlow can be an "immediate" and "chronic" health hazard. Prolonged exposure can cause kidney and liver damage, irritate lung tissue, decrease blood pressure, and result in dizziness and vomiting.

This is not the same fluid they were fracking with in the 50’s. And while the fluid is not supposed to stay in the ground does ALL of it come back up? And it is only safe to ground water if the wellbore is properly sealed and doesn’t leak. That is what happened in Dimock PA, the well had leaks. Now there is major contamination of the aquifer. It may defy logic but it has happened. And more than a few times.

Oh, and on a side note…Halliburton just admitted (late Thursday night 10/29/10) that they skipped doing a critical test on the final formulation of cement used to seal the BP oil well that blew out. They were BP’s cement contractor. They did a test on one mix but not on the one eventually used. They (both) knew weeks in advance of the explosion that the cement mixture was unstable but still completed the work.

Halliburton – maker of fracking solution – non-disclosed propriety chemical compounds – 25,000 gallons per well – yeah I trust them!

http://www.energyindepth.org/in-depth/frac-in-depth/

and

http://www.energyindepth.org/frac-fluid.pdf

This site also discredit's some pretty outrageous claims made by Gasland. Although on a larger scale, fracturing the Marcellus is the same procedure used to frac thousands of wells in NYS.
http://www.dec.ny.gov/cfmx/extapps/GasOil/search/wells/index.cfm
Query wells in Chautauqua County, and see the hundreds of well in each township. 95% of which were hydrofractured, and show me one land owner complaining of bad water. Its a proven safe technology, that NYS regulates HEAVILY. Read between the lines, and question everything. You'll find the truth lies between both sides of the debate, as with many other problems we face.

I own property in the southern tier that sits square in the heart of the marcellus shale formation. The property is riddled with springs that range from an elevation of 1720' to 2020' above sea level. The water is pure and unadultered as it has been for thousands of years. These springs feed the small streams that in turn feed the larger creeks and eventually the Alleghany River and Mississippi River.

To claim fracking is somehow a local matter or a landowners choice is just short sighted. These aqufiers are crucial to more than just the immediate area and are part of a very complex and wide reaching ecosystem. We need to start looking at the big picture and recognize the consequences of our actions. We have only occupied WNY for about 200 years and have managed to spoil the air, water, and in some cases even the very soil. Lets not make the same mistake in the remaining rural areas that have escaped exploitation and the resulting damage.

>Although on a larger scale, fracturing the Marcellus is the same procedure used to frac thousands of wells in NYS.

Larger scale? Yeah, like an A-bomb compared to a cap gun. We are now talking about long-distance horizontal hydrofracking on a scale so grand, we don't have rigs enough in the North East. . .in areas of PA, where fracking is going full steam, the motels are packed with folks with Oklahoma, Texas and Calgaray accents.

This sounds like the arguments I used to hear during Love Canal days.

OK, let's do this then. Both sides should agree to remove the hydraulic fracturing exemptions from the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, Superfund, and a host of other federal environmental rules. (Including criminal penalties for willfulness, and attorney fees.) If it is safe, the industry has nothing to fear from the rules. If it is dangerous, we need protection. The Clean Energy Jobs and Oil Company Accountability Act of 2010, currently pending before the Senate, would eliminate the drilling industry’s 2005 exemption from the Drinking Water Safety Act and would require producing companies to disclose the chemicals used in their drilling activities. That’s a start.

That sounds way too informed, reasonable, and fair, no place for such nonsense in this debate. :)

>. And while the fluid is not supposed to stay in the ground does ALL of it come back up?

Good point, Allentwnguy, and talk about making lemonade out of lemons, recent gas industry spokespeople are bragging that most of the water *does* stay underground "after all"! (I guess, meaning that there is less contaminated water to truck away and treat on the surface.) That is supposed to be good news, but it doesn't sound good to me. (Like Hooker Chemical saying that the Love Canal project is a success because they were able to bury it all?)

The energy services in PA and surrounding areas are new to the ways of 'Fracturing' therefore these environmentalist attacks should not be placed on fracking itself, but the local procedures. I have worked in PA, NY and WV fracking with one of the largest energy service companies in the world and now I work in LA and TX, in the Haynesville Shale. Problems down here have all but vanished due to HSE policies (health, safety and environment). Please, I request that you do your research instead jumping on a bandwagon of hatred for something you do not understand. Fracking has opened up new and improved ways for us, as Americans, to harness our own resources to use ourselves, instead of looking elsewhere, such as the Middle East. BTW, Popular Mechanics named Fracking No.4 of the Top 10 Tech Concepts You Need To Know for 2011, which means there is no way to win this war unless you make over $36 billion a yr... Good Luck

Thanks. Glad to have the issue cleared up by someone with no vested interest. Like a person who works for a fracking company.