Hydraulic Fracturing is the process of drilling and injecting fluids into a well about 10,000 feet deep, at high pressure to fracture the shale rocks and release the natural gas into the well. Although these wells produce over 300,000 barrels of natural gas per day, it is at the cost of environmental and health safety.
For each gas well, about 400 tanker trucks are needed to carry materials, which means enough diesel fuel for 400 tanker trucks, thus high air pollution. Fracking fluid is created on sight which requires mixing sand, water and chemicals: 40,000 gallons of chemicals per fracking job, and about 1-8 million gallons of water per fracking job. More than 600 chemicals are used- toxins, carcinogens (lead, uranium, mercury, radium, methanol, ethylene glycol, hydrochloric acid, and formaldehyde are all examples).
During the process, toxic chemicals and methane gas leak out from the system and contaminate the surrounding ground water. In drinking water wells, methane concentrations are 17 times higher than in normal water wells. In fact, there have been 1,000 documented cases of water contamination near gas drilling wells and many cases of sensory, respiratory and neurological damage caused by drinking contaminated water. That same water is used for drinking water in nearby cities and towns. According to http://www.dangersoffracking.com/ only 30%-50% of the 'fracturing fluid' is recovered and the toxic liquids left behind are not biodegradable. All of thus for about 18 times because the wells can only be fracked about 18 times.
This is what New York State may involve itself with by allowing comercial companies to frack on the Marcellus Shale (the section in NY State) which is a shale compound. About 90% of NYC's drinking water comes from a watershed just above the Marcellus Shale. Water pollution would be a disaster, especially as NYC does not have a water treatment plant as our water is so pure.
But NYC residents would not be the only ones to suffer from water contamination. Farmers and all the businesses that rely on local water would suffer terribly from contaminated products.
No big studies have been done yet to prove the effects of fracking.
Are we willing to forfeit our most important resource?
By signing this petition, you are helping us inform Governor Cuomo of NY State that we DO NOT WANT to risk the resource that we are so lucky to have. Unlike many other states and countries, we have pure, clean water, it would be a catastrophe for our state to lose it. Help us stop fracking in NY before it is too late!
