Protect NYC: Say NO To Hydraulic Fracturing

Fracking is a radical procedure when compared to traditional methods of natural gas extraction. Until recently, it had been considered only as a measure of last resort.

Below are just some of the many important differences:

• Vast amounts of water are required.
• Fracking uses various chemical lubricants, many of which are toxic.
• The chemicals used in fracking are considered proprietary, and are therefore secret.
• The water used in fracking poses a major disposal problem.
• There have been over a thousand instances groundwater contamination in areas near fracking sites.
• Fracking has never been subject to an independent assessment of its environmental impact.
• Fracking isn't subject to federal regulation. (This was done via an EPA exemption pushed through Congress by then Vice-President Dick Cheney in 2005.)
• The full long-term environmental impact of fracking is unknown.

As reports of water contamination near drilling sites proliferate throughout the country, there has been increasing pressure for Congress to reexamine the industry's EPA exemption and undertake an independent assessment of fracking's environmental impact.

The natural gas industry has been fighting Congressional action and has been doing everything they can to retain their exemption to the Clean Water Act. At the same time, they have been aggressively expanding their operations presumably to take advantage of the current lack of federal regulation.