According to this CBC news article, Britain is giving a broad thumbs up to industry to start fracking the shit out of that country. This is apparently motivated by a desire for energy independence, compensating for a dwindling supply of oil coming from the North Sea basin, and is being marketed to the public via the tried and true spin promising economic boon.
The counter-argument? The only thing mentioned in the article is that increased earthquake/tremor activity has been positively linked to fracking activity. Fair enough, but isn’t there something that should be considered that is considerably more insidious and dangerous? How about contamination of the water supply?
Fracking releases trapped oil by literally fracturing apart the shales that contain them using a high pressure fluid made of water and a cocktail of undisclosed (but most assuredly nasty) chemicals. There are lots of studies and articles out there that will tell you that “no aquifers were harmed during the making of this money”. However, before you drink that kool-aid, know that as solid as the ground may appear to us, water does in fact move freely through it; yes, even through granite. It moves slower through some materials than others, but rest assured it does most definitely flow continuously. Given that this is a fact (as any geologist will tell you) it follows that fracking-contaminated water will end up somewhere where it can do harm. Maybe not this year; maybe not in ten years; but soon enough. And, by the way, I don’t simply mean “do harm to us”. There is, it turns out, an entire world full of plants and animals out there that we tend to forget about when our eyes glaze over with the prospect of new wealth.
I don’t care how many studies come out that say “there is no evidence that fracking is harmful” — use your cognitive faculties and apply some logic and common sense. Consider the following three irrefutable facts:
- Water moves through rock and much of it eventually expresses itself as surface water — lakes, rivers, springs, and plain old ground water that gets taken up by plants.
- Because fracking fractures rock in order to make it easier for oil to move, it will let water move more easily as well;
- Fracking pushes massive volumes of poisonous chemicals into the earth;
Now, despite the spin that “scientists” working for the oil industry want to put on this, what logical conclusion can you come to about where those poisonous chemicals are going to end up? Do you really in your heart of hearts believe that pumping zillions of litres of chemicals into the ground is a good idea?