Face-off Over 'Fracking': Water Battle Brews On Hill

[phantom power]

Not to be confused with "frakking." Or, maybe it is to be confused. My dad used to take me to NG drilling sites in western NY, where we could watch them fracking while he inspected for environmental compliance.

Hydraulic fracturing allows drillers to dramatically increase production. The chemicals pumped underground with the water help drillers bore through the hard rock. The pressure used is tremendous — about 300 times a typical garden hose. That creates small cracks in the rock that allow gas to escape.

Steve Harris believes that pressure also ruined his well. He lives on 14 acres south of Dallas. Shortly after a driller fracked a nearby well, he and his neighbors noticed a change in water pressure.

"When you'd flush the toilet — in the back where the bowl is — water would shoot out the top of the bowl," says Harris.

When he took a shower, there was a foul odor, and the water left rashes on his grandson's skin. His horses stopped drinking from their trough, and there was an oily film on top of the water.

(...)

"We have no evidence that hydraulic fracturing is causing problems," says Lee Fuller, vice president of government relations for the Independent Petroleum Association of America. Without evidence of problems, he says there's no reason to pile on more regulation.

"I think people need to have more faith in the regulatory agencies that are watching it very closely and their ability to respond to issues if they arise," says Fuller.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104565793

[islandmkl]

1. fox to farmer:

"Don't worry...I've got the chicken coop secure and protected."