Will they be as successful as they were in the past? The Western Ohio Fracking Awareness Coalition (WOFAC) asks this question as it prepares to present the "Toxic Truth" on Tuesday, April 15, from 7 to 9 p.m. at Memorial Hall on Fourth St. in Greenville. Featured will be three leading experts who have had first-hand experience with the dirty reality of fracking, its resulting waste-injection wells, and its unparalleled usage, contamination and disposal of water. Because of the serious nature of the program, the public is urged to attend, be informed, and take heed.
After they had worked hard in 2009 to successfully stop a proposed carbon dioxide sequestration project in Greenville, little did the Citizens Against CO2 Sequestration know that they would be wearing another hat in 2014. Now going by the name of WOFAC, they are up against a much more aggressive adversary - - an adversary that has not only polluted the air, caused earthquakes and lowered property values but has contaminated and depleted water, which is the earth's most precious natural resource that sustains all life forms on this planet.
According to WOFAC leaders Jan Teaford, Susan Spille and Rita McCans, this project is far more serious than the CO2 project because it has already gained a strong foothold. With 262 fracking sites now operating in eastern Ohio, and 2,000 more in the planning stage, they say that it won't be too long before western Ohio will be involved as well. However, they say, it won't begin or end here.
Spreading from state to state and country to country, fracking and its off-shoots are posing even more problems in states such as California and Texas that are already suffering from lack of rain and severe drought. In these states, fracking is competing with farming for a diminishing water supply. Even though the signs are clear that water must be preserved and protected at all costs, billions of gallons of waste water contaminated with toxic chemicals and radioactive elements from fracking are transported each day by truck, train or barge to be injected deep below the earth's surface. Once injected, the water will never again be naturally recycled to come back down as rain to replenish the earth.
As the fracking wells grow in number so will the need for Class II disposal wells, where the contaminated water will be injected. While officials at the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) have stated that it is unlikely that this area will get a waste-injection well, the word "UNLIKELY" does not mean the same as DEFINITELY. With the volatile and ever changing policies that are now raging within the State, the word "UNLIKELY" is not reassuring.
In the meantime, public-relations representatives from the oil and gas industry have effectively utilized their marketing expertise to promote what they want the public to hear and know. Unfortunately, promotions such as these present only part of the truth. In other words, they are not lying but are stating facts in a way that can be misleading or are omitting important negative points which are vitally important for the public to know.
An example is the statement that fracking has been done safely for 60 years without ONE confirmed incident of water contamination. Highly sophisticated technology proves otherwise. Ignoring the fact that spills, leaks and water contamination were not recorded 60 years ago, there is also the fact that while hydraulic and horizontal drilling methods were used back then, they were used separately and were not combined together. It wasn't until recently that they were combined to become the new technology called horizontal hydraulic fracturing (fracking). Jim Zehringer, Director of ODNR, verified this fact in a recent statement he made that was reported in the local news.
And, it wasn't until 2005 that electronic sensors, fiber optic cables, and super computers were used that enable drillers to see beneath the earth's surface to detect pathways and direct horizontal pipelines through the shale - - a process that certainly wasn't around 60 years ago.
Nevertheless, the statement THERE HASN'T BEEN ONE confirmed incident of water contamination is true -- THERE HASN'T BEEN ONE. THERE HAVE ACTUALLY BEEN HUNDREDS in just the last few years, which demonstrates how words can be stated to mislead and manipulate the public.
Another promotion that is used purposely to mislead the public is the statement that natural gas is the clean energy of the future. Would people have as readily accepted it, invested in it, and extolled its benefits IF they had known THAT NATURAL GAS IS METHANE?
Originating from decaying organic matter, garbage, and sewage, it is dirty and stinks when produced or mixed with chemicals. However, it is odorless in the atmosphere, making it hard to detect. Not only has methane been documented as migrating from drilling and disposal sites to contaminate wells, ground and surface water, but when it is released into the environment it contributes 87 to 100 percent more to air pollution than carbon dioxide. Because it is a hydrocarbon, it also releases carbon dioxide and soot when it burns - - making it a multiple whammy. In the oil fields of North Dakota, it is burned off as a waste.
Knowing what they are up against, WOFAC is combining its efforts with other citizens-action groups throughout the country who are also working to stop fracking and the environmental devastation it is causing. WOFAC says, "One group acting alone is weak. Many groups acting together are strong."
For more information, go to WOFAC'S web site at www.wofac.org
