I'm from a small town in Western Pennsylvania and recently we've been affected by the Marcellus Shale boomconstruction of wells and rigs started about a year or so ago, and in my county (Mercer) we're expected to have over 2,000 wells added within 5 years (probably expecting even more now, that's just the last statistic I've heard about 3 or 4 months ago). This county isn't really that large and to have that many would mean one or two rigs per country block. This makes me very sad to say the least. Anyways, the oil companies have been going door to door asking people to sign off their mineral rights in exchange for these large sums of money (that they might not even see for years) that's only a fraction of a percentage of what the companies would be making from their land. Not only are they ripping off the locals in my area, they're saying that it shouldn't have any environmental impact on the area. This makes me laugh. Their claim is that they're replacing the oil they suck from the earth with "a brine mixture" which I've found with various research actually contains chemical waste and carcinogens among simple brine water. In areas across the US where this method was used after several years, people were able to run tap water from their kitchen sink, hold a lighter to it, and it would catch on fire and burn as long as the water was running. I believe that no filtration system can possibly take out all of these contaminants from drinking water no matter how or how many times its filtered. Already I'm afraid to use and drink the tap water I have at home, it already has a strong chemical smell to it. Not that I've always trusted tap water (I haven't) but I at least felt safe boiling it to take out most of the flouride, chlorine, etc. out and refrigerating it for future use.We have also seen a HUGE increase in the amount of earthquakes in my area. Not to say we've never had an earthquake before, we usually would have one every 10-20 years. In the last 6 months we've already had a few minor quakes. Coincidence? I think not. What angers me the most is that the geologists that work for the oil companies are STILL trying to deny any environmental impact and to me (a 20 year old that hasn't even gone to college) its very obvious that its creating a large, rapid, negative impact. People are saying how good it is for our economy and giving people jobs (over 90% of the employees on these rigs are from southern states). I agree that it really is doing something for our local economy but surely there are better ways to improve it. I've attempted to get together protest groups but too many locals are actually FOR fracking simply because they're getting a little but of the oil companies pocket change. Is anyone else affected by fracking in your area, and has anyone tried anything to stop it? I have, but there's just not enough support in my area and as one person its just not enough to stop these monsters from the oil companies no matter how much I talk to other locals, they're turning a blind eye to all of the facts I give them just for the sake of cash.sad, sad times for Mother Earth in mercer county.
updated by @megan-atwood: 01/13/15 10:02:43PM
Anti-Fracking
make this a group
btw just a few days ago was investigating fracking maps..well it came about cause silent hill was on so that got is talking bout the coal town in pa that has the underground coal fire burning for 100 years so we started wondering if they were fracking there wich would make it far worse..and sure niff that whole area was heavy fracking
humans are such self destructive suicidal idiots
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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1
Yes they are, the human race as a whole just sickens me anymore. There are some good people with some common sense, but we are few and far between. I'll make it a group though, I didn't think of that before I posted. But do you know that to get to the "good oil" they burn what they have fracked for a good few weeks before they even start using anything, they just let it burn beneath our feet and don't use it for a goddamn thing. They could AT LEAST use what they just burn away to generate energy, but it just goes to complete waste. I'll have to share some pictures when I get a chance of the 10ft flames that spew out of the giant pipes coming from the well pads that burn away for weeks on end in preparation for the actual excavation of oil. And people just can't see what's wrong with this
Can't figure out how to add a new group. I'm on mobile though so that might be the problem but I'm also pretty technologically illiterate for my age though too. I don't know nearly as much as others in my age group do about phones and computers, just enough to get by. Lol. But SE, if you want to use what I posted to start one feel free to. I won't have access to a desktop pc for a while.
Boiling wate rconcentrates the fluoride in water, notfilters it
