Tuesday, December 4, 2012

What is Fracking Doing to Our Environment?


Below are two articles that explore two ways fracking is destroying our environment. The first concerns the role of fracking in producing massive sink holes that may contain dangerous waste. This first article also addresses the role of fracking in producing earth quakes.

The second article examines how fracking can unearth natural radioisotopes that pose significant health risks. 

After excerpts from these two articles you will find a link to a new article on how fracking chemicals end up in our FOOD supply!

Media Silence on Mass Sinkholes By Anthony Gucciardi, NaturalSociety 03 December 12 http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/276-74/14845-media-silence-on-mass-sinkholes

[Excerpted] Have you heard of the massive sinkholes popping up around the nation? Flammable craters spanning acres wide and leaking radiation, monster sinkholes described as 'apocalyptic' have forced residents out of homes, expelled radiation into the environment, and are now ushering in concerns about serious Earth changes in the near future. If you've heard of these sinkholes, chances are it has been from the alternative media.

A more serious issue, even beyond the dangers posed by these radiation-leaking sinkholes, is how man-made processes like fracking and excessive drilling are changing the planet on a larger scale. Bloomberg reports that fracking is a likely cause for a dramatic rise (sixfold) in earthquake activity from 2000 to 2011. Not to mention contamination of the water and food supply.

Extreme mining practices by Texas Brine and others are also responsible for triggering the sinkholes.
So are these actions 'waking up' the New Madrid fault line? In case you're not familiar, the New Madrid fault line was responsible for the legendary 1811-1812 earthquakes dubbed the 'New Madrid' earthquakes. Extremely powerful and devastating earthquakes that are the most significant earthquakes to hit the United States in all of recorded history. As Investment Watch explains, the research indicating fracking and excessive mining in the expansion of earthquakes along the Madrid line reveals a concerning and plausible reality.... [end excerpt]

Fracking and a Radioactive Silvery-White Monster: Radium Must be Left in the Earth Karl Grossman Common Dreams Nov 9, 2012 http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/11/09-3

[Excerpted] Fracking for gas not only uses toxic chemicals that can contaminate drinking and groundwater -- it also releases substantial quantities of radioactive poison from the ground that will remain hot and deadly for thousands of years.

Issuing a report yesterday exposing major radioactive impacts of hydraulic fracturing known as fracking -- was Grassroots Environmental Education, an organization in New York, where extensive fracking is proposed.

The Marcellus Shale region which covers much of upstate New York is seen as loaded with gas that can be released through the fracking process. It involves injecting fluid and chemicals under high pressure to fracture shale formations and release the gas captured in them.

But also released, notes the report, is radioactive material in the shale including Radium-226 with a half-life of 1,600 years. A half-life is how long it takes for a radioactive substance to lose half its radiation. It is multiplied by between 10 and 20 to determine the “hazardous lifetime” of a radioactive material, how long it takes for it to lose its radioactivity. Thus Radium-226 remains radioactive for between 16,000 and 32,000 years.

“Horizontal hydrofracking for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale region of New York State has the potential to result in the production of large amounts of waste materials containing Radium-226 and Radium-228 in both solid and liquid mediums,” states the report by E. Ivan White. For 30 years he was a staff scientist for the Congressionally-chartered National Council on Radiation Protection.
“Importantly, the type of radioactive material found in the Marcellus Shale and brought to the surface by horizontal hydrofracking is the type that is particularly long-lived, and could easily bio-accumulate over time and deliver a dangerous radiation dose to potentially millions of people long after the drilling is over,” the report goes on.

“Radioactivity in the environment, especially the presence of the known carcinogen radium, poses a potentially significant threat to human health,” it says. “Therefore, any activity that has the potential to increase that exposure must be carefully analyzed prior to its commencement so that the risks can be fully understood.”... [end excerpt]

Majia here:  Now read about how fracking chemicals and waste are ending up in our FOOD SUPPLY

Fracking Our Food Supply http://www.thenation.com/article/171504/fracking-our-food-supply


RELEVANT POSTS

Nov 27, 2012
[Excerpted] Gov. John W. Hickenlooper, a Democrat, has warned Longmont residents that the ban is likely to mean a lawsuit from the state, which insists that only it has the authority to regulate drilling. Already this summer ...
 
Oct 11, 2012
Though the fluids were natural and not the byproduct of drilling or hydraulic fracturing, the finding further stokes the red-hot controversy over fracking in the Marcellus Shale, suggesting that drilling waste and chemicals could .
 
Oct 24, 2012
Earthquake-Causing Fracking to Be Allowed within 500 FEET of Nuclear Plants. Posted on October 22, 2012 by WashingtonsBlog. Posted by Majia's Blog at 9:40 AM · Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to Facebook ...
 


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