Saturday, February 5, 2011

Gas industry: diesel in fracking fluid legal

Some of the most diligent people tracking the Marcellus Shale fracking controversy are the investigative journalists at Pro Publica (in Latin, "for the people").

Their reporter, Abrahm Lustgarten, reveals that the natural gas drilling industry has pumped millions of gallons of diesel fuel into our region of Mother Earth, so they can squeeze out a few more shillings of profit with their hydraulic fracture process. The diesel lingers thousands of feet below the surface, its tendrils leaching out through the newly fractured subterranean rock, seeking a taste of our drinking water.

"After three members of Congress found that drilling companies used more than 32 million gallons of diesel fuel to hydraulically fracture oil and gas wells between 2005 and 2009, the industry is fighting back, not by denying the accusation, but by arguing that the EPA never fully regulated the potentially environmentally dangerous practice in the first place."

http://www.propublica.org/series/buried-secrets-gas-drillings-environmental-threat

--Michael Hasty

1 comment:

Gramma Windy said...

What I wonder is, how much gas are they getting with that 32 million gallons of diesel? What is the price per gallon of diesel now? About $3.50 gallon? That would be about $112,000,000 dollars worth of diesel just for that area mentioned. And how much has that boosted the price of diesel on the market?