The Environmental Protection Agency has discovered
reasons to indeed believe that hydraulic fracturing is the cause of water
pollution in the Pavilion, Wyoming vicinity. Over the years there have been
some complaints regarding the water quality in this area. In 2004 some issues were
reported about the discoloring of the water and even more recently in 2010
another confirmed contaminations led to replacement water having to be provided
to the residents. Based on samples from residents’ drinking wells there have
been traces of hydrocarbons, carcinogens as well as about 10 other compounds
that are thought to be related to fracking. This of course isn’t satisfactory. These
findings completely falsify the belief that hydraulic fracturing was a safe
process to perform in relation to the environment. The drilling industry gave
the impression that hydraulic pressure would naturally force fluids down and
that deep geologic layers were so tight that they would prevent chemicals from
rising to the surface. However, this apparently isn’t true since these are the
same chemical infecting local water resources
This
article raised awareness to me and I am now concerned. The water my family, friends,
peers and I drink could contain similar chemicals or even different chemical
that could affect our health. This is a scary thing to think about especially
knowing that the industries contributing to water contamination knows that what
they partake in could causes harmful changes in the water but they aren’t
willing to publicize this information or better yet stop doing it. The Environmental
Protection Agency has supportive data in the Wyoming case that points the
finger at hydraulic fracturing but I am sure that is not the only manmade
contribution to the negative chemicals in water sources. Therefore, I think it
is important to investigate in great detail each harmful issue and then do
something about it.
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