On Fracking (An RMB Manifesto)
C. Alexia Lane
Language: English
Pages: 144
ISBN: 1927330807
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
Around the world, a significant shift from conventional to unconventional energy extraction is occurring like never before. As traditional energy sources dwindle and the demand for fossil fuels continues to increase, civilization seems to be taking greater and greater risks in order to fuel our consumption and over-use of this planet's natural resources.
Hydraulic fracturing, or ""fracking"", has emerged as a lightning rod of controversy as engaged citizens grow more and more concerned with the threats facing fresh water resources, local geology and sensitive landscapes.
C. Alexia Lane's first RMB Manifesto introduces readers to the practice of ""fracking"" and makes it clear that there is an urgent need for current policies to be reformed in order to alleviate ever-growing community, ecological and environmental concerns.
President Nixon, with amendments in 1978, 1987 and 2012.8 Note that both the CWA and GLWQA were established in the same year, implying a shared understanding of the importance of clean water between the two countries. From the outset, the GLWQA included recognition of the need to foster adaptive management by stating the projected mandate to continually amend the agreement as new challenges and threats emerge in the Great Lakes. The 1978 revision contained the purpose statement “to restore and
water, but millions of private wells also derive their water, for domestic and small-scale agricultural use, from aquifers. As also previously mentioned, these private wells are beyond the regulatory scope in Canada, and in the U.S. they are exempt from the provisions of the SDWA. This is a huge regulatory gap, as the bulk of fracking operations occur in rural settings. Furthermore, recall that the rule of capture employed in Texas legally entitles a landowner to exhaust a neighbouring well as
groundwater, it is not considered economically viable to clean it for use as a potable water source.2 Shale gas fracking operations are located in and around bad groundwater aquifers; however, they must pass through the good groundwater aquifers, and the extraction of CBM occurs at depths aligned with those of good groundwater aquifers. Given that the well bore pierces several strata comprised of various rock, water and other geologic formations, cementing the well is complicated – honeycombing,
groundwater resources; we have excluded them from the water management equation for too long. We need to amend this now, through the development of robust groundwater management frameworks. As James P. Bruce iterates in his eloquent report “Protecting Groundwater: The Invisible but Vital Resource,” the basis for sound, sustainable groundwater management frameworks is protection from depletion and contamination; protection of ecosystem viability; allocation to maximize groundwater’s contribution
(SDWA).” Washington, DC: USEPA, 2012. Accessed July 30, 2012. ———. “Summary of the Clean Water Act.” Washington, DC: USEPA, 2012. Accessed April 5, 2013. ———. “Understanding the Safe Drinking Water Act.” Washington, DC: USEPA, 2004. Accessed (pdf) April 5, 2013, under “SDWA Fact Sheets”. ———. “Water: Laws & Executive Orders.” Washington, DC: USEPA, 2012. Accessed July 29, 2012. U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce Minority Staff for Reps. Waxman, Markey and DeGette.