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DarlingSavage -> RE: LA Environmental Chemist (8/4/2010 11:11:21 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: DesFIP
Extracting natural gas from rock layers. Very controversial here in upstate NY where the upper Delaware River watershed, a great natural beauty spot, is everyone's prime target for fracking. Sure, screw up and poison the water for millions of people.
Worse, they're screwing up the quality of life with fumes that permeate the surrounding atmosphere. They, the oil companies, liken it to gassing up your car. But who spends 8 hours a day filling up their gas tank? Furthermore, even gas stations have vapor recovery systems in place on the pumps.
Part of the problem is the Rule to Permit (or is it Permit to Rule?) problem. The rules state that if a pump or well only emits at a certain level, then no permit is required. So, what the companies do is they put a bunch of wells that only emit at the allowable amount. But they're all right next to each other!
So, now you have several gas wells that emit 24ppb of some gas like toluene all in a single area. Or, the EPA states that certain levels of a particular chemical are permitted as a waste product in the environment, but that's only them individually. A company could and is most likely emitting a number of chemicals into the environment, but since the individual chemicals being discharged are below the reportable amount, they don't report. So you end up with a whole slew of toxic chemicals being discharged into the atmosphere, rivers, and streams and the ones who SHOULD be paying for it aren't. They're just getting off scot-free.
Dereg is NOT good for us. Companies take full advantage, and then we suffer the consequences of poisoned air, water, and food. Never mind the loss of natural habitat for other living creatures AND the loss of beauty from our natural surroundings.
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