Open Letter to Chris Christie on Hydraulic Fracturing

Thanks (0.00 / 0)

for posting this diary.

As I mentioned in a comment to a diary by Winston, people who can't wrap their heads around "fracking" should run to see Gasland.

When you see the flames coming out of a couple's water faucet, you will get the idea.

Fracking is a fracking bad idea.

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by: SmartyJones @ Tue Sep 28, 2010 at 23:36:42 PM UTC

Here is the trailer (0.00 / 0)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

One Vote.  Yours.  It really does matter.

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by: carolh @ Thu Sep 30, 2010 at 03:55:47 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I was privileged to attend (0.00 / 0)

a private screening in Manhattan with the producer.  It was quite upsetting.  
When I actually saw, with my own two eyes, the head of the NJDEP say on NJN one night that he was ok with it just about blew my mind.  To destroy the pristine Delaware River by diverting millions of gallons of pure fresh water and turn it into dirty poisoned water would be a tragedy to dwarf the Gulf Oil spill.  This is aside from the effect of having natural gas come up everywhere into people's water pipes.  We just had a rude reminder in California of just how unsafe natural gas can be.  Just imagine gas not confined to a pipe, but just everyhwere, seeping up from the ground. Terrifying really.

One Vote.  Yours.  It really does matter.

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by: carolh @ Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 00:00:43 AM UTC

I'm a novice (0.00 / 0)

on what the gas companies are doing. But I have built a house in my lifetime, and drilled a well, (which didn't recover after a depth of 900 ft) and hydraulic fracking saved it. Don't they just use water? They did in my case.

What do the gas companies do differently?

"Where ever you go, there you are." - Buckaroo Bonzai

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by: William Weber (WjcW) @ Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 12:53:38 PM UTC

No (0.00 / 0)

they don't just use water.

I yield the floor to carolh.

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by: SmartyJones @ Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 14:07:54 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Vertical versus horizontal fracking (0.00 / 0)

Don't want to hijack your post Varol, but this person should  Google the ProPublica series on fracking.

I also posted links to all the technical documents on WolfeNotes.com

Fracking uses high pressure fluid, composed of many toxic chemicals, inclluding benzene and diesel fuel.

Up to 5 million gallons of water are used for each well. Drought? Water supply?

There is no treatment technology capacity for the wastewater geenrated by the fracking process.

It is a new technology that operates horizontally at depth. Very diffferent from water well drilling.

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by: Winston Smith @ Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 14:16:40 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Exactly. We can treat stormwater (0.00 / 0)

before it goes into the ground.  And we also have to be mindful of something called mounding which means you don't want stormwater to go into the ground too quickly either or it will affect buildings nearby.

Our careful treatment of stormwater becomes absurd when compared to the ability of gas companies who can't control WHAT comes back up in the aftermath of fracking to use our pristine rivers as their own personal water supplies that become poisoned by their actions.

It is madness.  I can think of no other word.

One Vote.  Yours.  It really does matter.

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by: carolh @ Thu Sep 30, 2010 at 03:38:36 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

No, they use nearly 500 chemicals (0.00 / 0)

and the millions of gallons of clean river water they use in the process is  disruptive to the ecosystem and that water winds up contaminated.  Often the water needs to be trucked in from the nearby River and the amount of heavy trucks needed make the area into a heavy noisy construction zone.

Please see the movie Gasland.  You will see exactly what I am talking about.

One Vote.  Yours.  It really does matter.

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by: carolh @ Thu Sep 30, 2010 at 02:44:24 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

agree, but (0.00 / 0)

With clarifications:

1) picking nits, you meant to say "Safe Drinking Water Act" in first paragraph; and

2) please do not hold out the DEP stormwater program as some sort of model -

Builders get away with murder on stormwater management in NJ - just read the recent report by Delaware Riverkeeper that focued on Hamilton Township (Mercer County) and lax DEP oversight.

3) Christie's DEP is now revisiing the stormwater regulations' technical manual and guidance documents to weaken them in order to PROMOTE DEVELOPMENT, relax technical requirements and make it easier to build in C1 strream buffers.

Wolfe

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by: Winston Smith @ Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 14:10:14 PM UTC

I am a stormwater expert (0.00 / 0)

and I now exactly what the NJDEP requirements are.  

The problem is not the NJDEP stormwater regulations, which make scientific sense.  The problem is what the builders are allowed to get away with because of corrupt politicians and reviewers who appear before planning boards chosen by Mayors who need lost of cash to be re-elected.  AND high Ratable projects get preferential treatment from approving agencies.  

You missed the entire POINT of the post. Are you saying you are FOR hydraulic fracturing just because you hate the NJDEP?

One Vote.  Yours.  It really does matter.

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by: carolh @ Thu Sep 30, 2010 at 02:35:30 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I do think we need to fire the current (0.00 / 0)

head of the NJDEP for protecting the gas industry instead of the environment.  He needs to GO.

One Vote.  Yours.  It really does matter.

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by: carolh @ Thu Sep 30, 2010 at 03:59:39 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

A must see video of this protest. (0.00 / 0)

A Video of Mark Ruffalo explaining the situation in Pennsylvania.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

One Vote.  Yours.  It really does matter.

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by: carolh @ Thu Sep 30, 2010 at 03:45:28 AM UTC

Actually THIS is the MUST SEE first video (0.00 / 0)

http://current.com/entertainme...

This was the protest BEFORE the other video.

The reason this is important to NJ is that many NJ residents draw drinking water from the Delaware river.

One Vote.  Yours.  It really does matter.

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by: carolh @ Thu Sep 30, 2010 at 03:50:26 AM UTC