For most of us, consumption of energy from unsustainable sources is currently unavoidable. So who are any of us around here, besides environmental hypocrites, to gripe about the slowly building onslaught of drilling, infrastructure and services for that superior transitional fossil fuel, natural gas? Just people who love this place, our surroundings, even some of the fellow humans with whom we share our neck of Penn’s Woods.

Given the track record of the resource extraction industry, why should we trust them or our elected and hired watchdogs with our long-term health and quality of life? We can’t. Just ask John Hanger, the acting Head of PA DEP. Hanger acknowledged in a Reuters article that some of the chemicals in fracking fluids could be dangerous to human health but said that risk has to be weighed against the benefits that will come from the exploitation of what he called the ‘enormous’ gas reserves contained in the Marcellus Shale.

“Enormous?” How enormous? Several estimates have been published. Enormous enough for the whole country’s gas needs for 15 years, or 10 or 3. What do these numbers mean in terms of water use and quality, drilling pad concentration, infrastructure and negative economic impact? Most of what we read about the fracking of gas wells involves either the use of water resources or the need for disposal of “brines.” Brines or toxic waste? The oil and gas industry puts a lot of effort into language and PR. We read about filtering of chlorides, a bit on turbidity, with levels of radioactivity thrown in. Anything about air quality issues, ground level ozone, endocrine disruption?

Fracking procedure ingredients can include a component of proprietary formulas. The formulas are protected because, among other reasons, they make a difference in the output of the wells. Shouldn’t first responders, the DEP and operators of filtration plants know what they are dealing with?

Besides unbridled prosperity, perhaps what we want out of the coming boom is for people not to lose their health or quality of life because of it; for fetuses to arrive healthy, relatively on time and within budget; for those children to be able to grow and thrive in a place that supports their well being; for the landscape, water, air, wildlife and trees and plants to continue to support our existence, ease or inspire our spirits, and provide space for us to pursue our recreational activities; for our urban corridor not to turn into the crowded, stressful mess so many others who aren’t privileged to live here endure daily.

How necessary to a good life is any of that? What is it worth and how much of an impact will the designs of the gas industry have on our quality of life?

We all realize there are unbelievable amounts of energy and revenue derivable from the ground here. Isn’t there enough eventually coming for a small bit of it to go to providing the DEP with everything it needs to inspect and monitor water extraction, drill sites, transportation and treatment facilities, to prevent problems rather than responding to incidents? Enough to establish base line studies of air, water, public and environmental health? Can’t we insist on the use of less effective but environmentally benign, fracking mixtures? Could we capture a tiny portion of shale gas revenue for funding research on a less water, trucking, and toxin intensive system of extraction than hydro fracking?

Is it really smart to foul one precious natural resource to extract another? Water can be treated and cleaned up to acceptable standards, but acceptable standards change. Do current standards for one chemical take into consideration what happens when a toxic soup is presented to vulnerable organisms in diluted amounts?

Properly done, filtration of fracking waste is expensive and technically challenging. Operators can be inexperienced or unscrupulous. Pennsylvania requires daily sampling and reports from treatment facilities, but aren’t samples just a snapshot during a long day?

Lessors are wondering when their property might be drilled, how long it will take until gathering systems, storage and other infrastructure facilities will be online, how much time after drilling and the initial round of fracking is complete before the gas flows and royalty checks arrive.

For those lessors, for most of us, consumption of energy from unsustainable sources is currently unavoidable. So who are any of us around here, besides environmental hypocrites, to gripe about the slowly building onslaught of drilling, infrastructure and services for that superior transitional fossil fuel, natural gas? Just people who love this place, our surroundings, even some of the fellow humans with whom we share our neck of Penn’s Woods.

Given the track record of the resource extraction industry, why should we trust them or our elected and hired watchdogs with our long-term health and quality of life? We can’t. Just ask John Hanger, the acting Head of PA DEP. Hanger acknowledged in a Reuters article that some of the chemicals in fracking fluids could be dangerous to human health but said that risk has to be weighed against the benefits that will come from the exploitation of what he called the ‘enormous’ gas reserves contained in the Marcellus Shale.

“Enormous?” How enormous? Several estimates have been published. Enormous enough for the whole country’s gas needs for 15 years, or 10 or 3. What do these numbers mean in terms of water use and quality, drilling pad concentration, infrastructure and negative economic impact?

Most of what we read about the fracking of gas wells involves either the use of water resources or the need for disposal of “brines”. Brines or toxic waste? The oil and gas industry puts a lot of effort into language and PR. We read about filtering of chlorides, a bit on turbidity, with levels of radioactivity thrown in. Anything about air quality issues, ground level ozone, endocrine disruption?

Fracking procedure ingredients can include a component of proprietary formulas. The formulas are protected because, among other reasons, they make a difference in the output of the wells. Shouldn’t first responders, the DEP and operators of filtration ...