long nytimes article on fracking

[jayL]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/20/magazine/fracking-amwell-township.html

 

[iceyguides]

scary. I just get a bad feeling about all of this, it's very shady and i think the penn state scandal is a good illustration of just how much you can get away with in good ol' pa if you know some people who are willing to sweep things under the rug. The industry people seem like just those kind of people. $ > humanity. Drill baby Drill!

 

[bikerfish]

good article jay, thanks for sharing. yes it's long, but worth reading.
more and more, I think we're really getting screwed here in pa. I've read some articles that have called pa an energy sacrifice zone.
nice.
another thing that might be interesting to follow is the health of the gas rig workers, although the companies probably just take them out in the woods and shoot them if they get a tummy ache, can't have illnesses cutting into profits!

 

[DaveS]

Thanks for the post Jay, I can't read the whole thing right now, but I will. Today they are starting on the property adjacent to me. There's about 6-8 pieces of equipment to prepare what I assume will be a catch basin.

I am concerned, but hopefully this will not be the natural disaster, it could be. My house is my biggest investment,and I'm not oblivious to the fact that it may lose lot of value

Anyway, I thought I'd make a point to photograph the progress and post my observations, here as sort of a "man on the scenes" reporter.

 

[jdaddy]

DaveS wrote:
Anyway, I thought I'd make a point to photograph the progress and post my observations, here as sort of a "man on the scenes" reporter.

That's a great idea.

 

[SBecker]

How are you going to do that Dave with that old school film camera?

 

[DaveS]

Well, It IS nearly christmas, Shane, I'm sure my dog will get me a new camera, so there. ( I just have to go back thru the 47,263 threads on digital cameras to make sure I get the wrong one!)

In the mean time there's been no action on the well site, I assume due to the holiday and such.

 

[TimMurphy]

Dear jay,

I read the entire article and frankly, I am growing sick of the naysayers and complainers. If your kid is sick he's sick, that's life, time to buck it up and carry on! Life ain't supposed to be a rose garden.

There is money to be made, consequences be damned.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

 

[jdaddy]

NY has been very conservative and cautious in allowing drilling. Then I read, "Following a series of hearings this month, New York will decide whether to allow fracking early next year. In the meantime, New Yorkers are looking to Pennsylvania, the first neighbor to welcome fracking, as a model." Seriously. You want to follow our model? There is NO model.

Having said that, this seems like an alarmist article with little to no supporting documentation. Pets dying, kids sick, etc. I'd like to see the reporters stick to one family, one issue and go with that. Let's take the frozen puppies and go with that. Puppies born without legs and fur? Entire litters aborted. Entire litters with clef pallets? I'd love to see some indepth review and study of what is happening in that singular issue.

 

[bikerfish]

I agree jdaddy, I'd like to see someone do a follow up and concentrate on some of the animals. maybe someone already is. I would think that somebody, somewhere, who has the resources would be testing those animals and trying to figure out the exact cause of death or illness.
as for the kids getting sick then getting better once moved away, I would want air testing as well as water testing. could be some nasty toxic gases coming off those retention ponds, compressor stations, etc, and if your living directly downwind, you get to breathe it all in. again, just guessing here, but I think studies need to be made, hence, why I think it's important to find out all the facts and impacts this industry could have before moving forward instead of using our citizens as guinea pigs.