World Water Day

Brothers and Sisters,
Monday, March 22 is World Water Day, and this year World Environment Day events held by the United Nations will be held in Pittsburgh, PA June 5. Their theme this year is also water.

It is ironic that during this time when world organizations are focused on the ever increasing crisis in water world wide that Pennsylvania's water quality would be challenged.

Right now, Marcellus Shale horizontal well drilling is threatening the water quality of the entire commonwealth. Here's why:
It is completely unregulated-thanks to a 2005 decision by the Bush Administration to stop regulating oil and gas operators through the Clean Air and Water Acts.

It takes a million gallons of water, per frack, to operate a horizontal well. There can be up to 10 fracks per well! That is 10 million gallons of water per year per well, and there are 5,200 well permits up for consideration for 2010! It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that this is a problem. All that fresh water comes from the rivers and streams unabated. No one asked our permission to use it, yet the water of Pennsylvania belongs to the people-that is what our charter says.
The water that is recaptured is contaminated with extremely high levels of salt-4 times saltier than the ocean, and very acid pH. It is toxic to nearly everything, except certain forms of algae.

It is also contaminated with radium...yes the same thing that produces radon gas. PA residents are already adversely effected by radon, and lung cancer from radon is a top killer in some regions of the state. All this to garner a small amount of natural gas that will not be U.S. autonomous-foreign companies are already buying into the shares, so the same thing that happened in oil production will happen in domestic gas production...only this time, our collective water quality will be destroyed in the process.

This is not a small problem. There are a variety of 72 chemicals being added to that water, but we don't know how many or in what concentrations, because the companies are not required by law to reveal that information. Municipalities who think they will make tax revenue on this type of drilling will find themselves in deep to the sewer authority who will require that water remediated before it hits the plant. Right now, it is being dumped untreated, right back into our rivers.

Anyone who wants to write a horror story, here it is, and this one is very real.
Call write, or loudly complain in the most public way to your local and state and federal officials: this is our resource, water is sacred, you cannot continue to violate our rights in this manner.
Peace,
Falcon and Dove