At the WNED studios downtown Wednesday night was a public forum entitled “The Future of Fracking”. As part of WNED’s “Innovation Trail” show, the free public meeting was meant to address Western New Yorker’s concerns on the issue of Hydraulic Fracturing.
Speaking were three apparent experts on the issue: Michael Joy, an oil and gas attorney for Biltekoff and Joy LLP, Sarah Eckel, legislative director for Citizens Campaign for the Environment, and Martin Casstevens, the director of Directed Energy. Biltekoff & Joy and Directed Energy are located in Amherst, and Citizens Campaign for the Environment is located all around New York with a branch in Buffalo.
At the start of the meeting, it seemed like it was going to be tame. Eckel was speaking out against the dangers of hydrofracking such as contamination of groundwater, while Casstevens was quite pragmatic and presenting both the pros and cons of the procedure. When Joy began to speak, the room felt tense and uneasy. He was arguing in favor of hydraulic fracturing, stating that it is the only energy option left for New York. He said that the movie “Gasland” was propaganda and nothing else, and misrepresented the effects of hydraulic fracturing. Talking about the scene where someone lights his tap water on fire in Pennsylvania, he said that was actually in Colorado, and from a water contamination unrelated to hydro fracking.
One could just feel that everyone in the room was there because they do not want hydro fracking in their community. So, they were none too happy with a lawyer was telling them that everything they know about hydro fracking is wrong, and it is a necessity.
Eckel said that the chemicals used in the hydraulic fluid have not been released to the public. Joy countered saying that they are posted on the Department of Environmental Conservation’s website. I visited the website and found a report listing chemicals in the fluid. There are nine chemicals listed, and they are all chemicals reportedly used in everyday life. Some of the chemicals include hydrochloric acid, used in swimming pools, and petroleum distillate, used in cosmetics. The link to the report is here.
Joy talked about these chemicals at the meeting, but Eckel says that there are many more chemicals in the fluid, which are being hidden from the public. At the end of the forum, people from the audience had many comments and asked a few questions, mainly about the environmental impact of fracturing. Eckel sympathized with their concerns, while Joy stated that they need to get their facts straight before they start making accusations. Joy also stated that the hydro fracking companies are not opposed to regulation; they just cannot work with overwhelming regulations being enacted overnight.
I am new to the issue of hydraulic fracturing, and I am wondering where the scientists are. You know, the scientists that study the impacts of hydro fracking first hand. Some say that they are not able to carry out their research because the types of chemicals used have not been disclosed to them.
Let’s hope that someday all of the facts will be made available to us. Of course, incidents like the BP oil disaster make us very uneasy about oil and gas companies coming into our neighborhood. It definitely has made me and others wary of the energy business as a whole. This issue will not be resolved easily, and the public will continue to fight for the environment, as they should.