A few weeks ago we discussed in class the need for drilling for natural gas and a new technology called fracking. Fracking is the propagation of fractures in a rock layer by a pressurized fluid. Some of the chemicals they use can contaminate water by leakage, and can be harmful to the environment.
I know this has already been blogged about, but last week I went home and learned something very disturbing. Oil companies plan on “dumping” said chemicals and diesel chemicals in to holding pits only 5 miles from my home in either direction. Whats even more disturbing is the fact that the chemicals will be stored in a cliché pit that will have no liner. The reason they will have no liner is because the diesel chemicals will eat away at the liner.
I have talked with several biology professors at schreiner and several governmental groups like the Railroad Commissions to find out exactly how this could impact the environment. The railroad commissioners assure me that the town hall meetings we have been having is gain understanding and express our concerns to prevent the company from obtaining the permits. Furthermore, they assure me that if the company obtains the permits (which it probably will) the EPA will have many requirements for them to uphold. Having had discussions with my professors, they tell me that it depends on which chemicals they will be dumping if it will be harmful or not, and they believe that the caliche pits will not only not be good chemical holders, but they will also not be good filters for any leakage.
What I have yet to mention is that these pits will be sitting over an aquifer and if this aquifer gets contaminated, it can contaminate all the way to the gulf of mexico (about 50 miles) affecting hundreds and thousands of homes. I don’t know about the everyones opinion on this, but I am very against this. It can harm the environment, decrease property values, and hurt our agricultural community.
Please give your feedback.
Wow! I had no idea they were planning on just irresponsibly dumping the waste like that. If that's the case, I am against fracking as well! I like the idea of obtaining more oil, but at the expense of the environment being ruined, I don't like that (I think I may be a tree hugger...) If they can find a more effective and environmentally safe way to "dump" the so-called "waste" then I'm sure they would have a lot more supporters and the town hall meetings wouldn't be negative.
ReplyDeleteKara Rivas
If I lived close by this site like you do Stefaney, I would definitely be worried. Even if the EPA puts restrictions and guidelines on these companies to dump the waste material, there is still a possibility toxic waste could leech into the water supply or surrounding crops. I think these companies should be required to tell every member in your community what they are planning on doing and what the risks are. This topic should also be voted on by your community and people should be allowed to stand up to these oil companies. Town hall meetings are good and maybe some members will try to fight. Like Kara said, they need to develop a better way to dispose of the toxic material or how to reuse or recycle it if that's a possibility.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry to hear that this might happen in your hometown. Just like you I would be upset with the city's decision to allow this. Things like this should not be taken lightly and it needs to be discussed with everyone in the community, this is their home too. I would be really worried about the heath risks that come with this decision. Would people get sick more? Or would family’s start have birth defects? I know someone that was raised in a community with some kind of plant and when her and her husband had their first child everything was fine. However, when they had their second, the newborn had many problems and still does to this day. They had some test done one the mother and the child and they could not find a 100% reason for the problems, but they did find a few other families from the same hometown as my friends and they had very similar problems. The doctors decided that it had to have been something in the water or something in the air that could have done this. A few years down the road they pregnant again and their third child also had very similar problems as the second child. I hope that this is not the case for your city. I do not wish this kind of problems on any family. I also hope that this is not going to be the case for the families in your community down the road.
ReplyDelete