Posted on 05/17/2012 9:48:37 AM PDT by FreedomPoster
(CNN) -- Vermont's governor has signed a bill making it the first U.S. state to ban fracking, the controversial practice to extract natural gas from the ground.
"This is a big deal," Gov. Peter Shumlin said Wednesday. "This bill will ensure that we do not inject chemicals into groundwater in a desperate pursuit for energy."
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
You have no clue of which you speak. Fracking isn’t Geology, it’s Engineering.
I'm not a geologist, but I had a few such courses in college, and you don't have to have a degree in the subject to see many problems resulting from extensive fracturing of subterranean rock strata to release locked up oil/gas. The threat to aquifers is enormous. If you were depend on groundwater for your water needs, you'd oppose people who risk poisoning your well also!
Why is it, then, that "fracking" has been a common practice in stimulating oil & gas wells since 1947. And there has not been a single proven instance of groundwater contamination due to this practice? Not one. In 65 years!
Originally, fracturing was carried out in the vertical course of the drillstem. Over the past twenty years, it has proven highly productive when coupled with horizontal drilling --- that is the only thing that is "new" about "fracking".
I live in the midst of the Barnett Shale in North Central Texas -- where horizontal drilling and fracking was responsible for re-inventing natural gas production twenty years ago. We have never had an instance of groundwater contamination in the area.
You do realize that most groundwater is found in the first couple of hundred feet underground -- down to, maybe, 2,000 ft? "Fracking" takes place at depths of 8-10,000 ft -- well over a mile deeper. And separated by multiple strata of impermeable rocks.
So, I ask you "What is it that you have learned about "fracking" that causes you to distrust it?"
And no known reserves of natural gas.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.