Fracking a single well can use between two and nine million
gallons of water combined with sand and chemicals. Much of the
fresh water used returns to the earth’s surface, but contains
radium and bromides.
“When bromide in the wastewater mixes with chlorine (often
used at drinking water treatment plants), it produces
trihalomethanes, chemicals that cause cancer and increase the
risk of reproductive or developmental health problems,” the
report notes. It also found that 450,000 tons of air pollutants
can potentially be produced in one year by the practice.
Environment America, who published the report on Thursday, called
fracking “highly polluting” and noted increasing numbers
of documented cases of illness as a result of the practice. In
addition to cancer, toxic substances from fracking chemicals and
waste water can cause endocrine disruption, neurological problems
and immune system problems.
“The numbers don’t lie – fracking has taken a dirty and
destructive toll on our environment. If this dirty drilling
continues unchecked, these numbers will only get worse,” John
Rumpler, a senior attorney for Environment America said in a news
release after publication of the report.
Fracking is the extraction of oil and gas by injecting water to
break rock formations deep underground. Use of the process has
increased rapidly in the US in recent years, despite warnings
from scientists who have studied it, illustrating the
climate-damaging methane emissions and radioactive effects that
come with the operation.
Over 80,000 wells nationwide have been drilled or endorsed across
17 different states since 2005, and the report measured that
around 360,000 acres of land have been damaged as a result — the
highest being in Texas where around 130,000 acres of land were
calculated to have been damaged.
While this figure included land cleared for roads, well sites and
pipelines, among other technical processes, the report states
that “the total amount of habitat and landscape affected by
fracking is much greater.”
The report was hot on the heels of the publication of research
from Duke University, released on Wednesday in the Environmental
Science and Technology journal.
The team analyzed water and sediment samples from the Josephine
Brine Treatment Facility in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, finding
radium levels 200 times greater than samples taken upstream from
the plant, and far higher than permissible under the Clean Water
Act.
Radium is a radioactive metal that can cause diseases like
leukemia and other ill-health effects, if one is exposed to large
amounts over time.
As a result of uncertainty over the implications of fracking and
its negative health impact, house prices have seen a noticeable
decline. The report cites a Texas study which found that homes
worth $250,000, located within 1,000 feet of a well site lost
between three and fourteen percent of their value.
Another possible reason for the decline in property value is the
threat to public safety because of the increased likelihood of
earthquakes. Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, Ohio and Colorado have
all experienced earthquakes sparked by injection well wastewater
disposal.
Environment America’s research expressed concern that the damage
resulting from fracking was on a scale “unimagined” only a
few years ago, and went on to recommend that “banning fracking
is the prudent and necessary course to protect the environment
and public health.” The report strong advises that states
take the initiative to ban the practice.
Copyright: RT