THIS IS WHY WE NEED TO REGULATE THE FOSSIL FUEL INDUSTRY

This story illustrates the insanity of a goal of trading one fossil fuel (oil and gas) for another (natural gas) and then calling natural gas “clean energy”.  This fracking practice is nothing sort of insanity. They are poisoning the ground, and the dirt itself, as well as the water people are depending on.  There is no scenario I can think of where this fracking practice should be legal.  The industry will not regulate itself. Congress has to step up and stop this. This should not be allowed anywhere, least of all in the U.S.

NATURAL GAS: Fracking companies injected 32M gallons of diesel, House probe finds (01/31/2011)

Fracking Companies Injected 32M Gallons of Diesel, House Probe Finds

Drilling service companies have injected at least 32 million gallons of diesel fuel underground as part of a controversial drilling technique, a Democratic congressional investigation has found.

Injecting diesel as part of “hydraulic fracturing” is supposed to be regulated by U.S. EPA. But an agency official told congressional investigators that EPA had assumed that the use of diesel had stopped seven years ago.

“The industry has been saying they stopped injecting toxic diesel fuel into wells,” said Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), the ranking member on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, who led the inquiry. “But our investigation showed this practice has been continuing in secret and in apparent violation of the [Safe Drinking Water Act].”

Waxman calculated the amount of diesel based on voluntary disclosures from “service companies” like Halliburton Co. and Schlumberger, which do the “frack jobs” for well operators. On Monday, Waxman and fellow committee members Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) shared their findings in an open letter to EPA officials.

Read more after the break. This video is from November 2010.

The letter said they had not been able to determine whether the diesel injections threatened groundwater. The service companies told Waxman’s staff they did not know how close their frack jobs were to sources of drinking water, saying their clients, the well operators, would have that information.

Of the total figure, 10 million gallons was “straight diesel fuel,” according to the letter, while another 22 million gallons was products containing at least 30 percent diesel.

If you are reading this and not saying “OH MY GOD” you must work for Halliburton or one of these fracking companies.

It is not my intention to reprint the entire article here, but this story is too important to not spread far and wide.  The link to the original article is here. This is THE reason why fossil fuels have to go. Regulation is not enough. The drilling and obtaining of these fuels is going to pollute the environment to the point where we will all be poisoned.  Do we really want our tap water to burn when lit?  Do we want American well water poisoned by these greedy corporations? More from this incredible story:

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