Fracking’s hazards

Senate Republicans want to hurry up and get fracking. Never mind figuring out the safest way to do it. They want the jobs, now! But in addition to unanswered safety questions, questions also remain about how much gas there is, how many jobs it will bring and how long those jobs will last.

One thing is certain. When toxic chemicals are pumped underground, the groundwater contamination is nearly permanent. And the Senate just approved intentionally pumping toxic wastes from fracking deep underground, not far from Jordan Lake and rivers supplying drinking water for many of us! The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources recently came out against such a practice due to this state’s unsuitable geology.

If that toxic waste finds its way through our “unsuitable geology” and reaches Jordan Lake, one of those rivers or an underground aquifer used for drinking water, guess what? A bunch of us will be drinking fracking fluids known to cause cancer long after the gas has been pumped and the jobs it brought are no more.

But Senate Republicans hope to hide that problem, too. They eliminated the position of the state geologist on the state’s Mining and Energy Commission.

Denis DuBay

Cary