FAC Shale Gas

In what appeared to be acute poisoning, 16 cattle died on a Louisiana farm last April after drinking fluid next to a natural gas drilling rig.

In Colorado, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzine and xylene have been found in drinking water from wells, there were 206 spills suspected in 48 cases of water contamination, and methane, the most common contaminant found in water wells, blew a pump house off its foundation, forced the evacuation of homes and turned tap water flammable. 

Residents in PA are suing a gas company for contaminating drinking water, which led to health problems.

Fourteen families whose drinking water has been contaminated with methane from natural gas drilling in Dimock Twp.

Contact the writer: llegere@timesshamrock.com

George Zimmermann, the owner of 480 acres in Washington County, southwest Pennsylvania, says Atlas Energy Inc. ruined his land with toxic chemicals used in or released there by hydraulic fracturing.

Water tests at three locations by gas wells on Zimmermann's property -- one is 1,500 feet from his home -- found seven potentially carcinogenic chemicals above "screening levels" set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as warranting further investigation.

Baseline tests on Zimmermann's water a year before drilling began were "perfect,"

A study by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that came out in January found “elevated levels” of benzene in 21 of 94 rural drilling sites.

Texas State Sen. Wendy Davis

In Texas, the biggest environmental issue has been air quality.

“Because of hydraulic fracking and horizontial drilling, we today produce 10 times the amount of energy with one-tenth the number of wells drilled. We are reducing land disturbance, reducing the need for infrastructure and reducing all types of environmental foot prints because we are drilling fewer wells,” Tucker said.

The action means that applications to drill for shale gas in those two regions will be considered on a case-by-case basis instead of the rules applying to the rest of the state.

Rep. Michael Arcuri, D-Utica, is rightfully "outraged by the DEC's decision ... for what appears to be no better reason than to protect wealthy landowners and New York City residents," he said in a media statement.

And some of the risks might be more exotic. In March, a Leading Edge journal study led by seismologist Brian Stump of Southern Methodist University in Dallas suggested hydraulic fracturing had triggered small earthquakes in Texas in 2008 and 2009, when flowback water was "deep-injected" onto an earthquake fault, one method of getting rid of wastewater that doesn't let it flow into streams.

county meetings

On the climate side, natural gas produces only about half of the carbon-dioxide emissions of coal burned to produce electricity, according to the Energy Information Administration. In January, a Congressional Research Service report suggested that doubling the nation's electric power generation from gas, with a corresponding drop in coal, would reduce current coal-plant carbon dioxide emissions by 19%, lowering total U.S greenhouse gas emissions by about 6% overall.

What will the cumulative damage be through the decades as natural gas is drilled and piped around the state?

By dedicating a portion of proposed gas extraction tax revenues to land, water and wildlife conservation and to local governments impacted by gas exploitation, we can offset the damages caused by natural gas operations.