Posted on 04/17/2011 6:24:30 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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, according to an investigation by Congressional Democrats.
The chemicals were used by companies during a drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracking, which involves the high-pressure injection of a mixture of water, sand and chemical additives into rock formations deep underground. The process, which is being used to tap into large reserves of natural gas around the country, opens fissures in the rock to stimulate the release of oil and gas.
Hydrofracking has attracted increased scrutiny from lawmakers and environmentalists in part because of fears that the chemicals used during the process can contaminate underground sources of drinking water.
“Questions about the safety of hydraulic fracturing persist, which are compounded by the secrecy surrounding the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing fluids,” said the report, which was written by Representatives Henry A. Waxman of California, Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts and Diana DeGette of Colorado.
The report, released late Saturday, also faulted companies for at times “injecting fluids containing chemicals that they themselves cannot identify.”
The inquiry over hydrofracking, which was initiated by the House Energy and Commerce Committee when Mr. Waxman led it last year, also found that 14 of the nation’s most active hydraulic fracturing companies used 866 million gallons of hydraulic fracturing products — not including water. More than 650 of these products contained chemicals that are known or possible human carcinogens, regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act, or are listed as hazardous air pollutants, the report said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
If the New York times and any part of the Obama administration is involved in this report you know
its a lie.
How did the oil they´re seeking not end up in groundwater? It´s been under a hell of a lot more pressure than anything else introduced down there.
Is this from the same pseudo-scientist politicos who require dairies to treat spilled milk as a hazardous substance?
Really shouldn't promote this as people simply don't know that it's just another name for water.....and these same stupid people (our teachers and politicians)tell "the children"...that Halliburton is bad.
Just like they taught my grandchildren that unions are good because they had a fire in NYC...and women died...and unions haved since saved millions of people...but they don't save aborted babies!!!!
That stuff is deadly. A colorless, odorless, tasteless, killer. Tens of thousands of Japanese died recently from an overdose. Did you hear? Tragic.
Oh dear, not CHEMICALS!
Whenever I see the word CHEMICALS, especially when used by a responsible unbiased authority like the NYT, I become very afraid.
Maybe Markey and Waxman can help us stop NY City from dumping trash into Pennsylvania old mines? Our own legislature seems to have a tin ear. I don’t like NY garbage in my state.
Fresh water tables are separated by thousands of feet of rock. Those cap rocks that kept the gas and oil contained in the first place keep the fracturing chemicals contained as well.
RE: Tens of thousands of Japanese died recently from an overdose. Did you hear? Tragic
I must have missed that news. More Japanese died from this than the Earthquake/Tsunami?
Edit to add, But then the Tsunami isn’t odorless or colorless or tasteless or even invisible.
You are a fool, benzene is extremely toxic.
RE: Doesn’t hydraulic fracturing, by definition, involve the deadly chemical dihydrogen monoxide?
That’s it, I’m gonna die. I’ve got it covering 60% of my body. In fact, my brain is filled with it too... :(
Follow the money!
My well is located about 100 yds from an active drilling site. In the year they have been drilling under my land they have tested my well three times and there has been no evidence of contamination. Likewise for all my neighbors surrounding the site...
It’s OK when government does it. Remember, you are not supposed to doubt them.
The question is, will the energy companies have the courage to stand up and refute this, or will they be so afraid of public opinion that they will just whimper in the corner?
...as opposed to oil and natural gas which are safe for human consumption...
I don’t read the NYT, so has anyone checked to see if letters were written to refute this garbage? Has anyone asked the NYT if they ever interview real scientists before they print the latest scare story?
The so-called Center for Science in the Public Interest comes out with a new scare story every couple of weeks, and it is always reported as if it were absolute truth. Journalists are pathetic.
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