Peak Oil Denial: Skimming Over Facts

What is that mysterious concoction being shot underground into the shale rock, and how can it not be dangerous? Fears over pollution and contamination of drinking water and the environment from fracking fluid seem to stem from a lack of  information about what this rock-shattering mixture actually is. The secret to fracking fluid is water and sand. Those two components make up about 98% of the fluid mix. The remaining 2% is composed of ingredients that are familiar to many of us, such as citric acid, guar gum (a common food additive, used to suspend the sand in the fluid), and even common table salt….
Certainly not all of these chemicals are harmless to the environment or to drinking water. But, the fracking industry has a habit of recovering most of its fluid and recycling it. This does not prevent every drop of fluid from being spilled, but it certainly means that most of the material is recovered. This saves the company doing the drilling money as well as improving its environmental impact. [1]

If you want to argue for one side of a contentious debate, I suppose there’s some merit in glossing over some of the messier facts which might otherwise spoil the point one is trying to make. What benefit that too-popular approach has for the uninformed public is another story.

This author is not the only fracking-proponent who plays a bit loose with the chemical composition side of the fracking process. I’ve mentioned that “strategy” on prior occasions.

Just a few weeks before the quoted article above was written, this almost-identical “just water and sand” comment (bold/italic mine) got my attention:

Horizontal drilling is not new but the widespread application of it is. When combined with fracking, which uses highly pressurized water and sand to break through rock formations, usually shale, and ‘stimulate’ the movement of hydrocarbons, it has made recoverable billions of more barrels of oil and vast stores of natural gas.

I added an observation which has no doubt been shared by others possessing a few more facts about fracking’s chemical components than “… ingredients that are familiar to many of us, such as citric acid, guar gum (a common food additive, used to suspend the sand in the fluid), and even common table salt….”

‘Water and sand’ … that’s it?! That observation was one of those rare times when I actually uttered an out-loud ‘What the fuck?!’
Upon what theory does the omission of ‘and chemicals’ from that description of fracking seem okay? Any citizen new to the topic would surely read the ‘water and sand’ comment and utter their own ‘WTF?’ in reply. ‘All the liberal-wacko-enviros are making all this noise about a process involving water and sand? Are they kidding?!’
How can one suggest that that very response and belief was anything other than precisely the reaction intended? Who cares if it’s misleading and a gross misrepresentation of this oil production process, Right?

But I’ll be the first to admit that fracking “ingredients” has a nicer ring than “chemicals” or “carcinogens.”

I hear “ingredients” and think of Mom’s recipe for blueberry muffins. But “chemicals” has a different follow-through:

Frack fluid that is injected into the wells contains a toxic soup of hundreds of chemicals, including carcinogens and volatile organic compounds like benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene. Companies aren’t required to disclose what chemicals they’re using either — so it makes it difficult to test for leaks and spills, and for people to be treated for health problems that may arise from exposure.
Oh yeah, and fracking is exempt from the Safe Drinking Water Act — thanks Dick Cheney! [2]

Call me crazy, but I think that matters affecting the health and well-being of millions of fellow citizens deserves a bit more content than equating environmentally-questionable industrial practices with images of baked goods.

Someone benefits from cherry-picking the facts about fracking, and almost always it’s not you and me.

~ My Photo: early morning at Good Harbor Beach, MA – 07.17.10

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