At last week's town hall meeting in Presque Isle, Maine Governor Paul LePage closed out the event with a jaw-dropping claim that using "2015 mining technology", aka fracking, doesn't pollute. A link here to a few articles that dispute his statement.
And because you KNOW you want to hear the audio... it is available at Maine Progressives.
Transcript and more below.
LePage: There's a billion dollars of gold, in this county, according to the geologists in the state of Maine. I've never seen too many people lose money on gold and there are jobs.
Woman in audience: They lose money in the clean up after the pollution.
LePage: No. That is correct, if you use 1950 mining techniques, but if you use 2015, you don't. We can argue that all day long.
Same woman: Do you have an example-
LePage: The point is-
Same woman: Do you have an example of a mine using 2015 technology that does not pollute?
LePage:Yes.
Same woman: Who? Where? What mine?
Governor LePage takes questions from the audience at Presque Isle town hall, 3/19/15
LePage: Every single uh, fracking mine, uh, every single fracking, uh, operation in the country does not pollute.
Crowd: What?
(Incredulous laughs, loud murmurs)
LePage: We can argue it all day long, but the point is, you're one billion dollars more.
Man in audience: Don't drink water in Pennsylvania.
LePage press secretary Adrienne Bennett: (quickly) Right. Everybody, thank you all very much for your time, I encourage you to grab a booklet if you don't have one already and again, thank you for your time.
Here is a letter published today in the Bangor Daily News in response to the governor's claims.
Out of mind
Gov. Paul LePage’s recent response to a question about oil and natural gas production using a technique known as “fracking” stunned me. While stumping for his budget proposal at a town meeting in Presque Isle, the governor stated there were more than $1 billion worth of gold deposits under Aroostook County. One attendee pointed out that the cost of controlling mining pollution might exceed the value of the gold extracted. The governor disagreed, defending his opinion by claiming the fracking industry does not pollute.
Here is the exchange, as reported by the questioner, Ms. Shelley “Chicky” Mountain:
LePage: “There is a billion dollars worth of gold in this county.”
Me: “It will cost more than that to clean up the pollution they leave behind.”
LePage: “Maybe if you are using 1955 mining technology, but not with 2015 technology. There is no pollution with modern technology.”
Me: “Do you know of any mines using 2015 technology that have not polluted?”
LePage: “Yes.”
Me: “Where? What mine?”
LePage: “Fracking. Every single fracking operation in this country does not pollute.”
The governor’s ignorance about the environmental impacts fracking is scary. Fracking uses enormous quantities of clean water, adding chemicals to make it “slippery.” Once used for fracking, the water is unfit for anything else. It must be treated or injected underground for our children and grandchildren to drink.
For the governor, the dangers of fracking truly are “out of sight, out of mind.”
Andrew Stevenson
Belfast