When you can absolutely, definitely, permanently prevent THIS, THEN tell me why you support fracking

[DFW]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/08/30/ohio-man-pleads-guilty-to-dumping-fracking-waste-into-mahoning-river/

Until there is a 100% guarantee it won't happen, I'm against it. I don't care if after the fact the guy and his boss get the death penalty and their families are sent to Siberia with no food or clothing. The fact remains that the public is without sufficient protection from incidents like this, except if there is no fracking in the first place.

Of course, nothing is foolproof, and bad pollution has come from many sources, but something as widespread and (apparently) so very loosely regulated as fracking is a disaster waiting to be prevented. I wish it were so.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Two hours and NO responses!

And I fully agree with you. There are no sufficient protections in place; in fact, there are hardly any.

There is a lot of secrecy and behind-the-scenes finagling going on to keep us in the dark.

And lots of money to tempt people who desperately need it, of course.

[DFW]

4. People have their priorities

This one obviously seems low down on the totem pole. Sic transit gloria mundi.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. Plus you did make the Greatest Page.......Congrats!

[DFW]

7. I didn't even see that

I should check on stuff like that, I guess

But it's 7:30 AM on a Saturday, and I'm only up because my wife's cousin invited us to a birthday thing this afternoon down in Wiesbaden. Otherwise, there would be NO WAY I'm up at this hour on a Saturday. Yesterday was NOT my best of days here.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

8. All you have to do is check the number of recommendations...

You need five and they need to have come in during the first 24 hours after you posted. When those 24 hours are over, the thread vanishes off the Greatest Page.

I imagine you have a roaring case of jet lag.........

Take care!

[DFW]

9. I have a roaring case of jet lag for sure!

I had one thing I had to take care of in Brussels Thursday, and I'm wasted.

Plus, I had ordered a new car (my old one is over ten years old, and my daughter in Frankfurt needs one) a few months ago, and I went to pick it up yesterday afternoon. It had little gas in it, so I went to fill the tank. It was hot any sunny, so I hit the air conditioning and got hit by a blast furnace. I called the dealership from whom I had just picked up the car, and he said I must just be unfamiliar with the control panel. Yeah, I'm such an idiot. Well, my mechanic at the garage where I gassed up was an idiot, too, because he couldn't figure out how to make the AC work either. I drove it back to the dealership, and THEY couldn't figure out how to make it work either. I asked, don't you guys get your new cars checked out before you deliver them to your customers? He said sure we do, but had no explanation why this happened. So much for efficient German car engineering. The trouble is, they put so much in the way of electronics into their cars these days, that more and more can go wrong that no one can see until it's too late. Even the emergency brake is now turned on and off by some switch. I HATE that. Some wire goes pfft, and I have no emergency brake, and no way to know it until it's too late.

Anyway, so much for my day LOL!!

I saw the recs, I just usually never look. People either care what I say or don't. The world keeps turning in any case, right?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

10. Omigod, good luck with the car!

I have to say, I am surprised at the lack of knowledge on the mechanic's part. Yeah, so much for efficient German car engineering.

And, yes, the world sure does keep on turning!

Take care...

[marions ghost]

2. more from the article:

Guesman admitted to running a hose from a 20,000-gallon storage tank full of liquid fracking waste to a storm drain, then draining the combination of saltwater brine and a toxic oil-based drilling slurry from the tank directly into drain. The dumps occurred between November 1, 2012 and January 31, 2013, and they always happened at night and when Guesman was the only employee still at the facility.

According to Guesman, Lupo had also ordered him to lie to law enforcement officers about the number of times he disposed of the waste and the amount of waste that was disposed each time.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources learned of the illegal disposal via an anonymous tip from someone within the Hardrock Excavating. Lupo, its owner, has also been charged with violating the Clean Water Act, and faces up to three years in prison and a $250,000 fine. It is not known whether testifying against his former employer is a condition of Guesman’s plea.

In the wake of the January discovery, Hardrock Excavating lost its permits for brine injection wells, and Lupo was ordered to stop operations at three other companies that he owns. A single injection well owned by one of those companies, D&L Energy, was deemed responsible for eleven earthquakes in the Youngstown area between 2011 and 2012.

[reformist2]

3. THIS is the dirty little secret that will end fracking. I bet they all do this.

They claim they take the special fracking water and bring it back to their facilities for treatment... but how many of us really believe this?? Not many, I suspect. And after this story that you posted, a lot less than before.

[DFW]

6. Forget the three years in jail and the $250,000 fine

Instead, make the two of them drink and bathe in the polluted water they dumped in the river--for a month. That would be a far more fitting punishment. What's left of them after that would be a far more effective deterrent to polluters than 3 years in prison and a fine that is probably pocket change to a fracking outfit.

If polluters KNOW they will suffer the same fate as their victims, I'm betting safety will improve dramatically at the very least.

[LWolf]

11. Are there people on DU who support fracking?

I don't, and I haven't seen anyone else here in support.

Of course, I don't read every thread.

[DFW]

12. There are indeed. Check out this thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/112752389#post14

I had quite a back-and-forth with someone on this thread. See what you think.

[LWolf]

13. NSMA

I read through that and was thinking that I don't understand why I'm still shocked at what people on DU will support. At this point, nothing should shock me anymore.

And that, of course, brought back old DU memories.

[DFW]

14. There are many points of view represented here

Trying to understand them all is probably an exercise in futility. At least the guy said openly where he was coming from and didn't get nasty. That's something (I guess).