FRACKING FLUIDS POISON A NATIONAL FOREST — New Study Details Changes in Soil Chemistry and Devastati

[babsbunny]

FRACKING FLUIDS POISON A NATIONAL FOREST — New Study Details Changes in Soil Chemistry and Devastation of Trees and Plants

http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=1498

For Immediate Release: July 6, 2011
Contact: Kirsten Stade [phone]

Washington, DC — A new study has found that wastewater from natural gas hydrofracturing in a West Virginia national forest quickly wiped out all ground plants, killed more than half of the trees and caused radical changes in soil chemistry. These results argue for much tighter control over disposal of these “fracking fluids,” contends Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).

The new study by Mary Beth Adams, a U.S. Forest Service researcher, appears in the July-August issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Environmental Quality. She looked at the effects of land application of fracking fluids on a quarter-acre section of the Fernow Experimental Forest within the Monongahela National Forest. More than 75,000 gallons of fracking fluids, which are injected deep underground to free shale gas and then return to the surface, were applied to the assigned plot over a two day period during June 2008. The following effects were reported in the study:

[fascisthunter]

1. and Guess who will be paying for it?

[Divernan]

2. W/in 2 days, ALL ground plants were dead; W/in 2 yrs., more than 1/2 the trees were dead.

* Within two days all ground plants were dead;
* Within 10 days, leaves of trees began to turn brown. Within two years more than half of the approximately 150 trees were dead; and
* “Surface soil concentrations of sodium and chloride increased 50-fold as a result of the land application of hydrofracturing fluids…” These elevated levels eventually declined as chemical leached off-site. The exact chemical composition of these fluids is not known because the chemical formula is classified as confidential proprietary information.

“The explosion of shale gas drilling in the East has the potential to turn large stretches of public lands into lifeless moonscapes,” stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, noting that land disposal of fracking fluids is common and in the case of the Fernow was done pursuant to a state permit. “This study suggests that these fluids should be treated as toxic waste.”

For the past twenty-five years, the Forest Service has not applied any environmental restrictions on private extraction efforts, even in wilderness areas. As a result, forests, like the Monongahela, which sits astride the huge Marcellus Shale gas formation, have struggled with many adverse impacts of widespread drilling. By contrast, the nearby George Washington National Forest (NF) has recently proposed to ban horizontal drilling, a practice associated with hydrofracking, due to concern about both the ecosystem damage and also the huge amount of water required for the fracking process. Two subcommittees of the House of Representatives will hold a joint hearing this Friday to examine the George Washington NF’s singular pro-conservation stance.

“Unfortunately, the Forest Service has drilled its head deeply into the sand on oil and gas operations harming forest assets,” Ruch added, noting the National Wildlife Refuges also lack regulations to minimize drilling impacts. “The Forest Service needs to develop a broader approach than asking each forest supervisor to cast a lone profile in courage or cowardice.”

###

[WCGreen]

4. It's a frackin' shame the government allows this shit to happen...

[SoCalDem]

5. But hey..

natural gas is "clean & safe".. the commercials tell us that:)

:grr:

and people wonder why so many "critters" end up in their neighborhood trees & yards:eyes:

encroachment & devastation of habitat affects us all..even the woodland critters (perhaps them most, since they can't buy bottled water or supermarket snacks)

[dgibby]

9. My hometown in Va. sits in the middle between the

George Washington and Jefferson National Forrests. Fracking would destroy us.

[enough]

3. The USFS Research Stations do some valiant work. (nt)

[eppur_se_muova]

6. Quick, defund the Forest Service ! ...

assuming someone hasn't already.

[End Of The Road]

7. Or outsource their responsibilities to Halliburton. nt

[saras]

8. Good luck stopping the bastards...

A sensible government would demand, and get, replacement cost plus profit for any use of public land by corporations. They wouldn't be fracking, not because someone bans it, but because they simply couldn't afford it. It isn't a sensible, cost-effective use of the world's resources.

[SOS]

10. Destroying the environment

Swindling the investors
And a few people getting rich

It's the modern US economy trifecta.

[larwdem]

11. PA

I live in pa and the only consolation is the right wing hunters will wonder what the fuck happened.

:nopity:

[felix_numinous]

12. If our country was poisoned by invaders it would be an act of war.

The only difference between these criminal companies and invaders is that Americans have been conditioned to see them as "us'. But these companies are not beholden to American citizens, they are international entities with more rights than you or I.

Until they are seen as a domestic threat they will continue scorching the Earth right out from under us.

[BeHereNow]

13. Chemical warfare with the complicity of our Congress...

Right here on American soil.

And you are correct, the invading army has no allegiance to the United States of America.
They will rape and pillage this country, our environment, water, air and the well being of
every living thing here, just as they have done in other countries for decades.

Multi national corporatists acting only in their own interest, and our law makers
take the money and look the other way.

It's disgusting to watch.

BHN

[BeHereNow]

14. Kicking- this is important- writing on the wall for the future

of this country at the hands of the global KKKabal.

BHN