The Real Cost of Fracking (36 page)

Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), 7–9, 27–28, 53

Sanford, New York, 151–52

scale inhibitors, 43, 187

seismic mapping, 185

selenium, 123

semivolatile organic compounds, 13, 62, 105

Seneca Oil Company, 84

sense of smell loss, 41, 46, 53

sentinels of environmental health hazards, 10–11, 16, 19–20

septicemia, 125–26

shale gas drilling: capturing and disposal of wastewater, 24, 189–91; and casing installation, 186; chemicals and compounds involved in (
see
chemicals used in drilling operations); community impacts (
see
community impacts of drilling operations); conventional drilling process, 182; earthquakes due to wastewater injections, 190–91; economic impact, 192; and estimates of the size of US gas reservoirs, 4, 198n13; and health impacts on people and animals (
see
animal health effects of drilling operations; health effects of drilling operations); hole-drilling process, 185–86; and impact on neighboring properties (
see
drilling’s impact on neighboring properties); and inadequacy of water-treatment facilities, 190; lack of forthright information on, from companies, 191–92; lack of information about what chemicals are used in, 126, 187; and land-lease terms, 185; Marcellus and Utica Shales locations and available resources, 183–84; misleading information about the safety of fracturing fluid, 187–88; organic compounds in shale layers, 182; production-expansion plans, 184; risks to water supplies, 6–7, 23–24, 160, 186, 188–89, 190; rock-fracturing step, 186–87; seismic mapping, 185; site preparation, 185; timeline of a typical operation, 191; use of the term “fracking,” 181.
See also
hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling

shale gas syndrome, 22, 25

shale plays, 3

silica, 6, 186, 187, 188

slickwater, 3

Smith, Ann and Andrew: attempts at legal recourse, 86, 88–89; cow-breeding problems, 112, 145; decision to move to Incident 3, 89–90; dismissal of their pond blow-out complaint by PADEP, 91; experience of solastalgia, 83–84; financial pressures forcing another move, 92–93; and gas company’s dumping of drilling wastewater, 95; health effects from the wells, 84–86, 88, 92; health improvements after last relocation, 94; lease provisions, 87–88; reaction to prospect of new drilling, 95; and water contamination due to venting at Incident 3, 90–91

Smith, William, 84

sodium, 51, 123

solastalgia, 83–84, 95

sour gas, 5

Southwest Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project, 25

State Review of Oil and Natural Gas Environmental Regulations (STRONGER), 98

states: differing regulations between, 102, 180; drilling in New York (
see
New York); drilling in Pennsylvania (
see
Pennsylvania); laws regarding disclosure, 173; laws regarding leak-detection systems, 46; promise of positive economic outcomes from shale drilling, 149–50; responsibility for hydraulic fracturing regulation, 8, 9; restrictions on local governments regarding drilling, 151; testing practices regarding water safety, 26–27

status asthmaticus, 85

STRONGER (State Review of Oil and Natural Gas Environmental Regulations), 98

strontium, 51, 105, 122, 123, 124–25

sulfate, 123

Sunstein, Cass, 10

surfactants, 51, 62, 168, 186

Tar Sands
(Nikiforuk), 183

tar sands extraction, 183

tert
-butyl alcohol, 158

tetrachloroethylene, 43

tetramethylammonium chloride, 122

Texas, 3, 4, 9, 11, 23, 71, 109

thallium, 48

Tioga County, Pennsylvania, 81, 128

Titusville, Pennsylvania, 84

toluene, 43, 53, 80, 158, 161

Towanda, Pennsylvania, 67, 71, 72.
See also
Waller, Samantha, and Jesse Klein

Toxic Ignorance, 173

toxicology testing: factor of the expense, 54; typical approach to, 25; water testing confirming contamination, 60–61

trichloroethene, 80

trichlorofluoromethane, 43, 80

trihalomethanes, 50

2-butanone, 80

2-butoxyethanol, 26, 62, 122, 186

2-methylnapthalene, 60

unconventional fossil fuel extraction.
See
hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling

US Department of Agriculture, 106

US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
See
Environmental Protection Agency

US Geologic Survey, 4, 190

US Mineral Management Service, 6–7, 43

Utica Shale: compulsory integration laws and, 100; depth of drilling, 24; estimate of amount of gas in, 3–4; location and available resources, 183–84

Valdes, Sarah: and air-quality determination, 41–43; and air-quality impact of industrial traffic, 39–40; contamination from neighbor’s gas well, 41–43; displacement of her family, 40–42, 55–56, 63–64; dog’s illness, 47–48; exposure to benzene, 52–54, 55; exposure to contaminated water, 47; fear of losing her water, 39; health improvements after receiving clean water, 51–52; heavy metal poisoning in her son, 47–49, 51–52; participation in legal action, 62; quality of life before drilling operations, 38–39; verification of water contamination, 60–62; and water testing by PADEP, 49–51.
See also
drilling’s impact on neighboring properties

vitamin E, 125

volatile organic compounds (VOCs), 52–53, 101, 103, 121, 161

Waller, Samantha, and Jesse Klein, 69–73; and air test results, 80; and animal illnesses, 74, 79; background to their story, 68–69; belief in a connection between well water and health problems, 74; contaminants identified in water, 75; decline in health, 77–78, 79; economic and health effects of operations, 63–65; financial barriers to medical evaluations, 77; intimidation of, by drilling company, 72, 78; loss of breeding potential in their dogs, 67, 76–77; quality of life before drilling operations, 75–76, 81; wastewater spreading in their area, 79; well-water issues, 73–75.
See also
Bradford County, Pennsylvania

Washington County, Pennsylvania, 133.
See also
Davidson, Wade and Sharon

Wasserman, Claire and Jason, 164–68; anti-fracking position, 155; bentonite spill, 159; and casing failure occurrences coincident with illnesses, 160; and coexistence of wells and farm crops, 165–66; community effort to keep everyone supplied with water, 163–64; contamination of their community’s water, 158; and drilling company’s termination of water deliveries despite test results, 158–59; and forced water drive due to loss of water buffaloes, 163; ill health coincident with drilling operations, 160–62; and lack of a proven direct link between drilling and water contamination, 166–67; and lack of response by PADEP to reports of water-quality changes, 157–58; and lack of testing for crop contamination, 166; limited local services afforded to their community, 156; and odor from wastewater, 168–69; quality-of-life changes due to water contamination, 162–63, 167, 168–69; and rise in well-water levels after drilling, 157; and spreading of surfactants on roadways, 168

wastewater: capturing and disposal of, 24, 189–91; cow-reproductive issues after wastewater spill, 123–24; discovery and repercussions of leak, 121–23; drilling company’s response to water-test results, 51; earthquakes due to wastewater injections, 190–91; evidence of wildlife illnesses due to access to wastewater, 117, 119–20; lack of wastewater testing by PADEP, 3, 122; leaks and spills of drilling fluids and wastewater, 43–44; odors from, 46, 57–58, 138, 165, 168–69; penetration into crops and plants, 72–73; spreading of surfactants on roadways, 168; spreading on roads by the drilling company, 7, 24, 79, 95, 140

“water buffaloes”: drilling company’s option to remove, 17, 163; issues with, for homeowners, 134–35; necessity of, in some cases, 6, 41, 50, 52, 66, 137, 157, 158; partial relief afforded by, 62, 74, 134

water contamination: and absence of routine testing for organic compounds, 144; chemicals found in post-drilling water tests, 50, 51; community-wide impact of (
see
community impacts of drilling operations); demonstration of methane in a water source, 73, 75, 138, 140; drilling company’s response to water-test results, 51; due to venting, 90–91; health improvements after clean water is available, 51–52; indications of, from drilling, 21; from leaking pit liners, 44–46, 50–51, 121–22; MCL designation by EPA, 61–62, 204n26; and PADEP’s failure to conduct pre-drilling soil and water tests, 49–50, 144–45; and PADEP’s lack of response to reports of water-quality changes, 157–58; quality-of-life changes due to, 137–38, 162–63, 167, 168–69; verification of, 5–6, 60–62; wastewater and (
see
wastewater); water availability in some drilling areas, 108–9, 135, 157–58; and water-testing practices, 26–29, 60, 107; and water-testing results after legal action, 49–51; and water-testing results in Bradford County, 74–75

Watson, Thomas Leonard, 3

well pads: drilling operations and, 185, 191; environmental violations, 159, 168; impact on real estate values, 65; intrusion on non-leased land, 50; invasiveness of drilling operations, 23, 32, 40, 70, 73, 80, 111, 112, 118, 129, 149; leaks occurring between locations of, 44; leasing terms regarding, 20; possible health impact of, on animals, 117, 142

West, Tom, 99

wet gas, 183, 189

What Would Jefferson Do?
(Pfund and Healey), 176

Wilson, Weston, 8

Winner, George, 99

writ of mandamus, 56

xylenes, 161

zoning laws and the principle of home rule, 151

Beacon Press books
are published under the auspices of
the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations.

© 2014 by Michelle Bamberger and Robert Oswald
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America

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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Bamberger, Michelle.
    The real cost of fracking : how America’s shale-gas boom is threatening our families, pets, and food / Michelle Bamberger and Robert Oswald; foreword by Sandra Steingraber.
        pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8070-8493-9 (hardcover : alk. paper)—ISBN 978-0-8070-8494-6 (ebook) 1. Hydraulic fracturing—Environmental aspects—United States. 2. Shale gas industry—Environmental aspects—United States. 3. Gas well drilling—Environmental aspects—United States. 4. Pets—Effect of stress on. I. Oswald, Robert, 1953– II. Title.
TD195.G3B36 2014
363.17’91—dc23                                         2014000487