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Health & Fitness

Hydrofracking in New York State

Do you know about horizontal hydrofracking for natural gas in New York State?

From the time I went camping as a boy scout, I have always enjoyed the out-of-doors. As an adult, I enjoy hunting and fishing. Our family likes to hike and swim. We all bike and kayak; our boys sail on the Long Island Sound. Trips to our Long Island ocean and sound beaches have been a staple of life. I consider myself a friend of the environment. The environment, its use and its protection, have always been of interest to me. Reports of drilling and mining, off-shore and up-state, always catch my attention.

Recently, Newsday reported the ending of the moratorium on horizontal hydrofracking. Horizontal hydrofracking is a method of extracting natural gas from deep below the ground by pushing water mixed with chemicals into the fractures in bedrock under extreme pressure. These cracks in the bedrock are extended by the fluid pressure which opens the fractures and causes them to extend throughout the rock layer. The extensive system of cracks and fractures allow the natural gas to be collected at the drill site. Particulates, such as sand or ceramic, are injected into the fractures to prevent the cracks from closing. The drill bore is plugged at the deepest level to maintain pressure in the hydrofracking zone. When finished, the hydrofracking method proceeds up the bore-hole to the next level where the process is repeated.

Some of the chemicals used are considered hazardous; others are known carcinogens. The chemical and waste-water is not removed from the bedrock after natural gas extraction. This trapped waste water could migrate off of the drill sites into neighboring properties. This chemical migration would continue for decades after the drilling rigs have been dismantled and the gas companies have departed. Chemical laced waste water, deep in the ground can seep into the aquifers. There is the long-term potential for dire environmental impact.

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The gas and oil industry does not have a sterling record. Environmental problems have already occurred using this hydrofracking method in the United States and Canada.

  • A well blowout in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania in 2010, sent tens-of-thousands of gallons of hydraulic fracturing fluids into the air and onto the surrounding landscape. People were evacuated and the company has been ordered to cease all operations in the state of Pennsylvania pending investigation.
  • The environmental group, Riverkeeper, presented a report to the EPA of over 100 cases of contamination.  A 2010 EPA study discovered contaminants in drinking water including: arsenic, copper, vanadium, and adamantine collected adjacent to horizontal hydrofracking drilling operations
  • A 2011 congressional study found that, in the process of hydraulic fracturing, oil and gas companies injected hundreds of millions of gallons of hazardous or carcinogenic chemicals into wells in more than 13 states from 2005 to 2009.

Yes, natural gas is more environmentally friendly than oil or coal. Natural gas decreases our dependency on foreign oil. Yet, while opening most of New York State to this type of gas mining, the lifting of the moratorium is at the same time banning hydrofracking from any of the New York City watershed areas. This restriction of the large, sensitive drinking water regions indicates to me that the fear of contamination is a real concern. The federal government does not currently regulate this method of drilling. Horizontal hydrofracking has been excluded from regulation since 2005. Time and thought needs to be invested into prudent and feasible regulations before full scale drilling begin.

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