It was only a matter of time, before the toxic data would come in.
The "unintended" toxin recycling is truly startling in an already disturbing "dirty fuel" gold-rush situation.
The Fracking Frenzy's Impact on Women
by Sara Jerving, prwatch.org -- Center for Media and Democracy -- April 4, 2012
[...]
Toxins in Fracking Process Linked to Breast Cancer
Not only has the chemical cocktail inserted into the ground been shown to contaminate groundwater and drinking water, but fracking fluid also picks up toxins on its trip down to the bedrock and back up again that had previously been safely locked away underground. Chemicals linked to cancer are present in nearly all of the steps of extraction -- in the fracking fluids, the release of radioactive and other hazardous materials from the shale, and in transportation and drilling related air pollution and contaminated water disposal.
Some reports indicate that more than 25 percent of the chemicals used in natural gas operations have been linked to cancer or mutations, although companies like Haliburton have lobbied hard to keep the public in the dark about the exact formula of fracking fluids. According to the U.S. Committee on Energy and Commerce, fracking companies used 95 products containing 13 different known and suspected carcinogens between 2005 and 2009 as part of the fracking fluid that is injected in the ground. These include naphthalene, benzene, and acrylamide. Benzene, which the U.S. EPA has classified as a Group A, human carcinogen, is released in the fracking process through air pollution and in the water contaminated by the drilling process. The Institute of Medicine released a report in December 2011 that links breast cancer to exposure to benzene.
Up to thirty-seven percent of chemicals in fracking fluids have been identified as endocrine-disruptors -- chemicals that have potential adverse developmental and reproductive effects. According to the U.S. EPA, exposure to these types of chemicals has also been implicated in breast cancer.
The Marcellus Shale in the northeast part of the United States also naturally contains radioactive materials, including radium, which is largely locked away in the bedrock. The New York's Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) analyzed 13 samples of water, contaminated by the fracking process, as a result of the hydraulic fracturing of the shale during the extraction process. The DEC found that the resulting water contained levels of radium-226, some as high as 267 times the limit for safe discharge into the environment and more than 3000 times the limit safe for people to drink. One gas well can produce over a million gallons of contaminated water. A New York Times expose in 2011, released secret EPA documents that illustrated how this water is sometimes sent to sewage plants that are not designed to process the dangerous chemicals or radiation which in some instances are used in municipal drinking supplies or are released into rivers and streams that supply drinking water.
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Let no toxic waste go unwasted ... so that NO Natural Gas reservoir will go untapped, uncapitalized ... isn't that what those cheery NG Ads say ...
Ed Schultz interviews Mark Ruffalo on Fracking -- April 4, 2012
link to video
>>>" good to have you with us as we close in on a very big story. the mining process known as fracking is once again under scrutiny, thanks to a new advocacy group. oscar-nominated actor mark ruffalo will join me in just a moment. hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a way of mining natural gas, but critics say it causes all kinds of environmental and health problems. an organization called water defense is trying to raise awareness.
>> we didn't really think anything about our water. and we just started getting sick.
>> for 11 months now, i've been dealing with contaminated water.
>> we can't take a bath at our house because the gas water.
>> we'd have a lot of aches and pains and a lot of headaches and fevers.
>> the oil and gas industry has directly lied to my family.
>> they're selling and making money, and we're losing our homes and our water supplies.
>> fracking has gotten the attention of the obama administration. this is what vice president joe biden said yesterday.
>> shale oil, below the surface of the continental united states. we know we can get it, but we have to do it environmentally soundly. there's a thing called fracking. they've got to go crack the rock in order to get it out. you can environmentally do that well and you can environmentally do it poorly.
>> i'm joined tonight by oscar nominated actor, mark ruffalo, co-founder of waterdefense.org. i urge you to go this to website and view this trailer. it is very effective, mark. nice to meet you. good to have you with us.
[...]
Natural Gas Exxposed
link to video
Natural Gas Exxposed
waterdefense.org
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