Natural Gas IS NOT the Answer

New Gas ~ Same as the Old Gas

Have you seen the commercial about how the United States has 100 years worth of natural gas just lying under our feet? How about the commercial that states that new natural gas can make solar and wind power viable? Viable? It is already viable--and happening.

View these and other commercials at NewNaturalGas.org, brought to you by Amerca's Natural Gas Alliance. The old natural gas companies want you to think it is all new natural gas and everything is groovy. These commercials and websites illustrate a classic case of greenwashing.

Natural Gas Mining Pollutes Air and Water

The exploration and production of natural gas is just as polluting as the exploration and production of oil. Natural gas is located underground and must be discovered and mined.

During the exploration process, benzene, toluene, formaldehyde, methane, hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, sulfur dioxide and particulate matter are released into the air. These chemicals and toxins are known to cause asthma, cancer, neurological disorders, pulmonary reduction, coronary problems, endocrine disruption and debilitating headaches.

For color photographs and 3D generated images of gas fields, please visit Sky Truth.

Hydraulic Fracturing (FRACKING)

Hydraulic fracturing occurs when fluid is injected under high pressure into a gas well. These pressurized fluids, often containing toxic and radioactive substances, crack the underground rock formation to allow the oil or gas to flow. Studies show that, while some of these contaminated fluids are returned to the surface, some remain underground.

Fracturing is highly unpredictable and may lead to contamination of ground water and drinking wells. Fracturing should be regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Yet, in 2005, Congress exempted hydraulic fracturing from the Safe Drinking Water Act. This Halliburton loophole should be closed ASAP. For more information, please read more about then fracturing process here.

Runoff and Consequences

This gas well was hydraulically fractured with radioactive sand propellant, and tagged with radioactive material . . . . When the gas well was operable, the run-off was piped directly from the site to a point and then left to run uncontrolled down a hillside gully, through a culvert, and down a ravine where it then emptied into the slough behind our house . . . Please read the article about one family's fight.

First responders may suffer from exposure to toxins in hydraulic fluids. Cathy Behr, an emergency room nurse in Durango, Colorado, treated a miner in a fracking fluid spill at a natural gas rig. Read about how she almost died because the gas company would not disclose exact composition of the fracking fluid.

Abandoned Wells

• Gas from oil layers can come to the surface through the well bore and collect in buildings with potentially explosive results.
• Gas can also contaminate drinking water wells.
• Surface runoff can use the well bore as a conduit to contaminate nearby water wells.
• Oil that reaches the surface from abandoned wells pollutes the soil and surface water.
• Salt brine from the oil bearing layers can use the well bore to reach and pollute fresh water layers or discharge at the surface into nearby streams.
• In coal mining areas, well bores allow gas to reach mines and acidic mine water to reach the surface.
• Abandoned wells that collapse inward are a physical threat to outdoor enthusiasts.

Natural gas may be clean burning,
but the process to bring it to your stove is
D - I - R - T - Y.

It is oil and gas that are no longer viable options! If we want to breathe the air around us and drink water from our faucets, we must say NO to OIL and GAS.

Tags: hydraulic facturing, gas exploration, radioactive runoff, toxic drilling fluid