![]() ![]() assess whether less harmful alternatives can replace the toxic chemicals currently used.To accomplish this, state regulators should: ![]() In the absence of a moratorium or ban on fracking, California should make public safety its primary goal, not increasing the production of hydrocarbons. ![]() It is an industrial process that from beginning to end is a source of potential exposure to chemicals that are hazardous for people and the environment.Īll citizens, and especially those living near fracking operations, have a right to understand the risks posed by fracking chemicals. These chemicals have the potential to contaminate drinking water, air and soil, as well as to endanger the health of oilfield workers and people who live or work nearby. The new EWG analysis looks at what goes into the fracking fluid before it’s pumped into a well, revealing the likely origin of some contaminants in the wastewater and also the array of hazardous chemicals used, stored or transported at fracking sites. 2 And because fracking in California tends to use less water than in other states, the concentrations of chemicals in fracking fluids are sometimes higher (CCST 2015). has repeatedly come under criticism for inaccuracies and lack of transparency (Hass et al 2012).Ĭomparing the state and EPA data shows that some of the most hazardous chemicals are used less often in California than nationwide, but the typical California job uses about twice as many distinct chemicals as the national average. org, an industry-funded voluntary database that – unlike the California law – allows companies withhold information they consider trade secrets. Environmental Protection Agency report found nearly 700 fracking chemicals in use (EPA 2015a). An earlier EWG analysis found that fracking wastewater contains numerous hazardous substances, some at levels much higher than state drinking water regulations allow (EWG 2015). In California, most of the wastewater is disposed of in underground injection wells or in unlined pits, some of them dangerously close to potential sources of drinking or agricultural water. After a well is “treated” in this way, some of the fluid flows back to the surface, usually picking up additional chemicals that occur naturally in the shale. The data in the reports submitted to the state’s oil and gas regulatory agency provide the most detailed accounting available of the chemical makeup of fracking fluids, at least for one state.įracking fluid is a mix of water, chemicals and sand that is pumped into underground shale rock formations under great pressure to free up trapped oil and gas.
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