The people of Colorado are concerned about their state, and rightly so. What was once a pristine landscape with clean air and clear running streams is slowly being killed by contaminants leaking into the waterways and smog filling the once clean air.
Hydraulic fracturing, more commonly known as “fracking” was developed by the oil and gas companies so that they may gain access to oil and gas deposits found in shale rock. These companies will drill down below the earth’s surface and use a mixture of chemicals, water and sand to eat away at the rock at extremely high pressure, which will release the trapped oil and gas.
While those in favor of fracking will argue that the process is safe, the fact remains that those who are exposed to fracking near their homes often complain of headaches and nausea, among other things. There have also been several reports of residential wells being contaminated by the chemicals used in the fracking mixture, and over 1,000 cases of water contamination have been documented. Testing has shown that water wells near fracking sites have much higher concentrations of methane in the water than a normal well.
Then there are the other issues; the hundreds of tanker trucks needed to truck water and supplies to the drill sites. Because the trucks are so heavy it causes the roadways to be torn up much quicker than usual and the taxpayers get to foot the bill for the new asphalt which needs to be put down.
America is experiencing some of the worse drought conditions it has faced for decades, yet millions of gallons of water are used to complete each fracking job. Then there are the chemicals; approximately 40,000 gallons of chemicals are used to complete one site. There are approximately 600 different chemicals used in fracking including mercury, radium, formaldehyde, lead, uranium, and hydrochloric acid. This is particularly disturbing due to the fact that the oil and gas industry is lobbying hard to expand their fracking efforts along the Delaware River Basin as well as the White River National Forest in Colorado; this will affect the drinking water of more than 15 million Americans.
Several studies have concluded that even nature is taking offence to fracking; as Voltaire once said, “Men argue, nature acts.” In the states of Oklahoma, Texas, Ohio and Arkansas seismic activity has increased significantly in areas where underground disposal wells are utilized for the disposal of fracking wastewater. Scientists are most concerned about areas of the United States such as the Midwest, which do not have the extensive fault line maps as they do in other areas of the country; for example, the state of California.
Environmentalists across America are looking to Colorado for success in their anti-fracking initiatives, and new rules and regulations regarding fracking. No one wants to live near these toxic fracking sites, but in some cases people do not have a choice about moving; nor should they have to. It is up to these large corporations making billions of dollars to do the right thing and make human safety a priority, rather than their profit line.
