Monday, June 18, 2012

Is There a Hidden Danger in Fracked Food Grade Petroleum?

The recent revelation of a fracking industry insider that M&M's and Advil are coated in fracked food grade paraffin left me wondering exactly what food grade paraffin or food grade petroleum is and how it could possibly be safe if it's fracked.

Then, I noticed this sign hanging over the bell peppers at the grocery store, wondered if it meant fracked food grade petroleum like the M&M's, and knew it was time to get busy digging.

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a federal law requires United States produce shippers and supermarkets to label waxed fruits and vegetables.

While I have not yet found anything specific that says "yes" or "no" to the question, Are they putting fracked petroleum wax on fruit and vegetables?" It does seem likely that, since the majority of all wells are fracked today, that it probably is the case.

So, the FDA allows the use of fracked food grade paraffin (directly from a gas & oil insider's mouth) and the use of most likely fracked petroleum wax, so the question you are left with is, do you trust the government agencies handling this to tell you the truth about the safety of the petroleum's chemicals you are exposing your family to, and do you trust them to keep you safe and act in your best interest?

If you opt to buy only unwaxed fruits and vegetables, you reduce your risk of exposure slightly, but remember these ingredients are commonly used many places you would probably not suspect: chewing gum, cheese, fruits, vegetables, spice flavoring substances (?), and as a defoamer (again ?) in foods. (Wow, that's pretty unspecific, isn't it? Got to beware those foamy foods. What foods even foam to begin with?)




Thursday, June 14, 2012

Fracking Brine "As Good As Candy"

Hi All,

Just sharing a link to a well-researched and well-written article I just found on the Morrow County Sentinel's website, Oil and gas lobbyist claims fracking well residue “good as candy!”

The article has lots of details so be sure to read it all the way to the end.

Hey Frackers, Stop Fracking Until the Drought Is Over, Please

With northern Ohio (the part of Ohio most immediately affected by fracking's water-depleting effect) now officially in a drought, the question is, who gets the water when there is a water shortage? The people who need drinking water to survive and farmers who need water to grow food for people to consume in order to survive? Or fracking drillers who want the water to get more gas out of the ground and increase profits.

I know this is dreaming, but hey, gas drillers, how about you halt fracking until the drought passes? The needs of human beings should come before the profit-related wants of a business. This is your chance to show an iota of ethics - or to show once and for all a total lack of ethics and to let environmentalists know they are right about your industry.

(Oh, and by the way I'm not saying natural gas drillers are unethical. I'm actually keeping my opinions to myself and simply challenging the frackers to show they do have some ethics. We'll all know the answer by what they do.)

Shale Map Concerns and Demotion of Ohio's Top Geologist

According to an article in the Zanesville Times Recorder, Ohio's top geologist demoted following shale map concerns, a series of errors, primarily linked to the gas and oil fracking industry, has led to the demotion of Ohio's top geologist, Mr. L. Wickstrom.

Based on an April 12 employee evaluation form cited in the article, Wickstrom's fracking-related grievances include:
  • Wickstrom developed a new Utica shale map and presented it to the Ohio Gas & Oil Association four days before allowing his supervisors to review it. The map shows where the Utica shale is buried and in what form, "dry gas, wet gas or oil." (Zanesville Times Recorder)
  • Wickstrom waited until January 17 to report the January 12 2.1 magnitude earthquake near Youngstown to his superiors.

Are Fracking Dangers Threatening to Invade a State Park Near You?

Imagine, if you will, you head out to enjoy a day in the park. Beautiful old stand hardwood trees are all around you in the picnic area. A gentle breeze is blowing. Birds are flying overhead. It's all very beautiful, but something is off. The peaceful beauty of the park is gone, sold to the highest bidder by your state's elected officials.

The sound of fracking rigs hums constantly in the background. Semi's chug in and out every few minutes. Occasionally the breeze brings the overpowering stench of chemicals and burning diesel fuel from the frac trucks. You give up on enjoying the day in one of Ohio's formerly pristine parks and head for your car only to notice it is covered in gritty silica sand dust.

A report in the Columbus Dispatch, State catalogs shale holdings in parks, forests, explains that some of Ohio's state employees have been assigned the job of sifting through Tier 1 eastern ohio property records to find public lands ripe for frackers to consume. They have even prepared maps with some prime locations marked for potential drilling sites.

Five state forests are included in the Tier 1 marked sites:
  1. Beaver Creek
  2. Fernwood
  3. Harrison
  4. Sunfish Creek
  5. Yellow Creek
According to the report in the Dispatch, Tier 2 reviews are slated begin next.

So, not only is the state giving away public lands against the will of the public, they are using public tax dollars to pay state employees to do the oil & gas company's research work for them.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Can You Protect Your Family From the Threat of Fracked Drinking Water and Food?

Of all the things that have caught my attention since I began researching the environmental effects of the hydraulic fracturing natural gas drilling method, the most striking part has been the fact that no matter how much people ask for help, no matter how many experts stand up and present data about their research, and no matter how many government agencies publish data indicating the dangers of fracking (wow, sorry about that run-on sentence) the industry marches ahead and does pretty much whatever it wants to do.

So, in light of that, I have to ask, can you protect your family from the threat of fracked drinking water and food?

I'm not being facetious, here, I really want to know. Do you feel safe?

I know some pro-frackers are going to pop in here, munching on their M&M's and popping Advil while drinking their tap water, to say something like "Yeee Haaa, I shore nuf can keep muh famly safe cuz there aint not no threat from frackin. Drill, babee, drill." But I want to know what the people who have done actual research have to say.

Even if you buy bottled water and do not drink your tap water, where do you think the bottled water comes from? There is fracking done in every state in the country (Ooh, except, I believe Vermont recently banned fracking - kudos Vermont) and in almost every country in the world, so what do you tell yourself about the safety of your drinking water and food supply?

Do you have any assurance that fracked water is not used to grow your produce or feed the livestock that produce your meat, eggs, and dairy products? No?

I truly wish I could wind up this post with an assurance that water and food purchased from #### place #### would be safe (come on, just one safe place, please,) but if fracking is everywhere, and there is no science and research-backed way to assure its safety, then there can be no assurance. I wonder if Vermont could supply enough frack-free water and food to supply the rest of the nation, or at least the families who care about the dangers of fracking???

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Fracking Bad Karma: Now They're Fracking Elementary Schools?

Months ago, I sarcastically joked, after learning of a gas company fracking a cemetary, asking if elementary schools were next.

I did not think any company would stoop so low, I guess I should have known, now one of them is fracking by an elementary school.

Now THAT is seriously, seriously LOW, and everyone involved in the decision to frack that close to children deserves to have some seriously BAD karma headed their way.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

The Things Kids Say... About Fracking

A post on Facebook's Protest Shale Gas Fracking page led to a cute spoof of a gas company's commercial made by two clever young men. (Well, the gas company getting spoofed might not think it's cute.) Like the post said, kid's know the ads are BS. (Makes you wonder why some adults fall for the propaganda.)

If you click on the embedded image below the video will play on the kid's (or their parent's) You Tube channel.

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Fracking's Effect on Air Quality

If you have been following the water-related issues from fracking, you might also be interested to hear about air quality issues caused by the process.

According to an article on Mount Vernon News, an expert, Dr. Deborah Cowden M.D., recently spoke at a Stewards of the Land information session, desscribing the air quality effect of fracking activity.

The source for at least part of Cowden's presentation was a study performed in Colorado by the Garfield County Health Department. Garfield has a heavy concentration of fracking wells, making it an ideal location for such a study.

The Assault on Air Quality

Forms of fracking pollutants:
  • Dust (from truck traffic and mining process)
  • Silica (used in the mining process)
  • Smoke (casued by fires and explosions)
  • "Volatile organics from condensation tanks, compressor stations, rogue gas and evaporative pits.
  • Diesel fumes from drilling engines, large fracking pumps and truck traffic." (Quoted from Mt Vernon News, 6/8/ 2012 to ensure accuracy)
One interesting point, if you drive past one of the fracked sites, you will not see or smell the "volatile organics affecting air quality with the naked eye. You have to have an infrared camera to see this type of odorless air contaminant.




Cowden: Fracking an assault on air quality http://www.mountvernonnews.com/local/12/06/08/cowden-fracking-an-assault-on-air-quality.php#ixzz1xIuxnWAL

Friday, June 8, 2012

The Role of Fracking in the US Economy

I recently picked up a pro and con Congressional report about fracking at the local library. I was actually kind of surprised to find something like that in my little town's library.

As I read through it, one thing really caught my attention, well there were a lot of interesting things, but especially this one.

One of the document's authors wrote that the economy of the United States hinges on the success of the natural gas industry.

Think about that a moment, because it's huge.

One industry, that according to some has the potential to destroy our eco-system, according to what I read in this congressional report (you can get a copy for $19 if your library doesn't have one), carries the burden of repairing the American economy.

So, if that author is correct, our only hope of rebuilding America to the point where the "American Dream" is possible for the average Joe, is to allow the fracking industry to proceed at will.

I'm going to hold my own thoughts about this and ask you, "What do you think?"

MWCD Halts Water Sale to Frackers

This past week, the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District decided to temporarily halt the sale of water to oil and gas drillers.

While it has been all over the news, One recent report came from the Mansfield News Journal. According to the information provided, the moratorium is only temporary, but it is in response to concerns expressed by the public.

Please Say They Don't Really Frack My M&M's... Please

According to an article (and video showing the trestimony - so you can actually watch the man saying this if you want to) pro-fracking industry expert testified before the Ohio House Public Utility Committee on May 22, and described the process as safe because (as proof of the process's safety) the crude paraffin obtained by fracking is used to make the coating on M&M's and Advil pain pills.

Wow. Just wow. I'm going to miss my M&M's.

Fracking Geysers in the Back Yard: Not a Danger, Just a Fraccident Nuisance?

A gas drilling operation in Sardis, West Virginia hit an aquifer, which unfortunately repressurized a few old wells.

One family had a geyser in the back yard, with water shooting about 10 to 12 feet in the air. The luckier families just had "small gushers". (Um, something can't be small and a gusher at the same time can it?)

Apparently, as usual, even the DEP does not know what was in the fluid being injected into the ground and (oopsie) the aquifer, because a DEP spokeperson presented a relaxed stance, saying the drilling company was, " using only water and possibly a nontoxic soap when it hit the aquifer." (Fuel Fix)

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Battlestar Gallactica and Frack

I recently watched an old episode of Battlestar Gallactica on Netflix, and I loved, loved, loved, that Starbuck's favorite, most used, and frankly only, cuss word was - frack.

While it was not often because the show was made before television got so trashy, every time something went wrong or he was mad about something Starbuck would say , "Frack."

Frack, frack, frack. This concludes the humor break, now, back to your regular scheduled programming.

Fracking Well Casing Questions and Answers

One of the things I have heard the most frequently since I began researching fracking brine is, that it is safe as long as the well casings do not fail. So, how often do well casings fail? Question and answer session and video below...

Q: How many well casings fail right off the bat, leading to methane migration?
A: 6.2%

Q: How many well casings fail over a 20 year time span?
A: 60%

Q: Do any well casings last forever?
A: They ALL fail over time.

Q: Where do these figures come from?
A: The Pennsylvania DEP

Q: Why doesn't the oil & gas industry fix these problems and make well casings that actually work?
A: They can't. There is no way to guarantee safety. Natural things like drilling through earth and stone cannot be controlled or predicted.

Q: Where can I learn more about this?
A: You can watch a Cornell University engineering professor, Dr. Ingraffea, explain if you would like. The video is embedded below.

Those Darn Anti-Fracking Radicals

According to an article on Cleveland, Josh Mandel, the Senate candidate who according to a different report on Open Secrets received $80,000 so far in 2012 from oil & gas lobbyists, is concerned that those darned cantakerous environmentalist radicals are going to hinder gas and oil drilling in Ohio.

I guess it's easy to say nice things about folks who give you gobwads of cash and to say negative things about opponents of your financiers?