Guest Essay
 

The Real-Life Price of "Fracking"

By Kerry

June 5, 2011

I'm writing this because I desperately in my heart want to protect our water, our children.

I grew up in the middle of nowhere, but I thought it was the best place on earth. We swam in the bay, went boating on the Susquehanna river, and fished in the streams. It's the most beautiful land you've ever seen.

It's also struggling. They shut down the lumber companies and closed the factories. People really do live off of what they grow on their farms. And they're good people. Hard-working, big hearted people that care about the land. They take care of it.

For the past 5 years several companies (all owned by Halliburton have been asking to "rent" the land for a fee. The families oblige, and what starts out as one or two Fracking sites turns into 14 or 15, big machines that use chemicals to cause mini-earthquakes deep in the earth's crust to pump natural gas. They drill 7 days a week. Starting at 4am. Ending at 10pm.

I know a family back home who is fighting with the companies because their giant spotlights illuminate their whole house. They can't sleep because the noise is so loud. They own acres. They're fracking on the land next door. Hundreds of yards away. Can you imagine the noise?

Even if the families refuse, the companies run lines from one site to the next under their property. Or, the families are served documents claiming that while they may "own the land" the company "owns the mineral rights."

Right now they are pumping hundreds of thousands of chemicals underneath the three rivers that run through Pittsburgh.

I visited Frank Lloyd Wright's famous 'Falling Water' last year, and joined the PA Conservancy, hinking they could prevent the drilling near the landmark. Their response? "We are concerned about fracking." But they can't do anything without the help of Washington. Fracking companies are protected under something called "The Halliburton Loophole" Yes. That's the real name.

They are able to drill without any safety measures. They do not have to alert the public about what chemicals they're using. They do not have to clean up.

They leave a site contaminated. The chemicals seep into the soil. They are not regulated by the EPA.

They are drilling in Colorado, Sacramento, and other places too.

We want an investigation. We want justice. Those companies cannot dump their cancer-chemicals all over, and permanently polluting the water! It's wrong. They must have a psychological disease or something. They don't see the polluted wells and dead animals, but we do.

The families are scared for their children, but they're not giving up!

I truly believe one day everything will be solar and wind-powered, and these gas tycoons are the last of the greedy dinosaurs. They're rushing to get as much as they can before they become extinct. I just
hope they leave behind clean water.

You can Google the movie "Gasland" for more info, petitions, and support.

Or, at least watch this video, made by a good neighbor with his guitar. And...just be aware.

Thanks for standing with me against Fracking, and fighting for the families.

I really hope that by next summer someone in Washington hears us.