The Oil and Gas companies argue that National Forests were created for multi-use and therefore they have as much right to access as any other shareholder. But how can you share something after you have destroyed it.
A test fracking water spill last year revealed the surprising toxicity of Fracking Water.
Fracking Fatally
Destroys Forests In As Little As Two Days | The study conducted by the U.S. Forest Service concluded
that fracking causes
alarming damage to the environment in as little as two days.
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:
- 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 findings, which looked at the effects of land application of fracking fluids on a quarter-acre section of the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia, found that After two years, half of the trees were dead and the soil composition was radically altered. “The explosion of shale gas drilling in the East has the potential to turn large stretches of public lands into lifeless moonscapes,” concluded Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) Executive Director Jeff Ruch.
When asked if there had been any similar effects on vegetation
observed at such spill sites, Pennsylvania environmental regulators said yes.
“In the Northern part of Pennsylvania, there have been several
spills where frack flowback escaped the well pad and containment area and
caused damage to vegetation, particularly fields that adjoin the well sites,”
wrote Department of
Environmental Protection spokeswoman Katy Gresh in an email.
She added, “There have also been a handful of truck accidents
in which frack flowback water spilled and damaged vegetation. In some cases,
DEP’s Environmental Cleanup program staff has worked to remediate such areas.”
The original study abstract is below:
Forest impacts of fracking
Journal of Environmental Quality -
Abstract
1.
doi:
10.2134/jeq2010.0504Vol. 40 No. 4, p. 1340-1344
Received:Nov 23 , 2011
* Corresponding author(s): mbadams@fs.fed.us
Received:Nov 23 , 2011
* Corresponding author(s): mbadams@fs.fed.us
Land
Application of Hydrofracturing Fluids Damages a Deciduous Forest Stand in West
Virginia
1.
Mary
Beth Adams *a
1.
aUSDA Forest Service,
Northern Research Station, P.O. Box 404, Parsons, WV 26287. Assigned to
Associate Editor Fien Degryse
Abstract
In June 2008, 303,000
L of hydrofracturing fluid from a natural gas well were applied to a 0.20-ha
area of mixed hardwood forest on the Fernow Experimental Forest, West Virginia.
During application, severe damage and mortality of ground vegetation was
observed, followed about 10 d later by premature leaf drop by the overstory
trees. Two years after fluid application, 56% of the trees within the fluid
application area were dead. Fagus grandifolia Ehrh. was the tree species
with the highest mortality, and Acer rubrum L. was the least affected,
although all tree species present on the site showed damage symptoms and
mortality. Surface soils (0–10 cm) were sampled in July and October 2008, June
and October 2009, and May 2010 on the fluid application area and an adjacent
reference area to evaluate the effects of the hydrofracturing fluid on soil
chemistry and to attempt to identify the main chemical constituents of the
hydrofracturing fluid. Surface soil concentrations of sodium and chloride
increased 50-fold as a result of the land application of hydrofracturing fluids
and declined over time. Soil acidity in the fluid application area declined
with time, perhaps from altered organic matter cycling. This case study
identifies the need for further research to help understand the nature and the
environmental impacts of hydrofracturing fluids to devise optimal, safe
disposal strategies.