Shale Gas Drilling and Hydrofracking: Risky Business

Peter HudiburgPlymouth Friends of Clean Waterhudiburg@frontiernet.net

Well Water Contamination Has Happened

Dimock, PABradford County, PACoitsville, OHBainbridge, OH Washington County, PAButler County, PAMany of these and others can be tracked from the

NRDC’s Amy Mall blog – with links to articles, environmental agency reports, etc.

http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/amall/incidents_where_hydraulic_frac.html

Water

Dimock, Pennsylvania: EPA To Send Water To Town With Tainted Wells “EPA said the sampling data it reviewed turned up hazardous levels of

substances including: _arsenic, a cancer-causing element that may be present in elevated

concentrations due to drilling; _barium, a silvery-white metal and a common constituent in drilling fluids that

can damage the kidneys with extended exposure. _DEHP, a chemical added to plastics to make them flexible, a probable

human carcinogen; also used in drilling; _glycols, including ethylene glycol, an antifreeze commonly found in drilling

fluids; _manganese, a naturally occurring substance that is sometimes used in

drilling fluids and can damage the central nervous system if ingested.” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/19/dimock-pennsylvania-epa-_n_1217422.html

Water

Buried Secrets: Is Natural Gas Drilling Endangering U.S. Water Supplies? by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica, 14 Nov 2008,

“Tests in Sublette County showed contamination in 88 of the 220 wells examined, and the plume stretched over 28 miles. When researchers returned to take more samples, they couldn’t even open the water wells; monitors showed they contained so much flammable gas that they were likely to explode.”

http://grist.org/?p=26818

Water

EPA Releases Draft Findings of Pavillion, Wyoming Ground Water Investigation for Public Comment and Independent Scientific Review Release Date: 12/08/2011.

Findings in the Two Deep Water Monitoring Wells: “EPA’s analysis of samples taken from the Agency’s deep monitoring wells in the aquifer indicates detection of synthetic chemicals, like glycols and alcohols consistent with gas production and hydraulic fracturing fluids, benzene concentrations well above Safe Drinking Water Act standards and high methane levels. Given the area’s complex geology and the proximity of drinking water wells to ground water contamination, EPA is concerned about the movement of contaminants within the aquifer and the safety of drinking water wells over time.”

http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/EF35BD26A80D6CE3852579600065C94E

Water

Stephanie Hallowich and family, Washington Co, PA,

"Stephanie and her family complained that their well water supply had been contaminated and that their two children had been exposed to volatile organic compounds from the drilling operations in the water and air.

"Ms. Hallowich, said that water tests found ethylbenzene, toluene, styrene and tetrachloroethylene -- all cancer-causing organic compounds. She said the air and water contaminants caused them to experience burning eyes, sore throats, headaches and earaches. They've had to pay about $500 a month to have water delivered to the farm.

"Range Resources settled with the Hallowiches for some undisclosed amount but the settlement contains a gag order."

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11237/1169736-58.stm

Stephanie Hallowich Speaks Out. http://pafaces.wordpress.com/2010/04/23/stephanie-hallowich-speaks-out/

Here’s the Dream Home that Stephanie and her husband built in the country. http://pafaces.wordpress.com/2010/04/23/an-a1-industrial-zone/

Water ---Butler County, PA

Several families fought hard to keep their replacement water after their wells were contaminated. But Rex Energy ordered the water company to remove their water buffaloes. Some of the people had disabilities.One Connoquenessing family which depended on a water buffalo provided by Rex is now staying with relatives, unable to care for their newborn with a limited water supply. http://ecowatch.org/2012/rex-energy-cuts-off-families-access-to-safe-drinking-water-after-contamination/

Mr. Fair, of Connoquenessing Pa., is faced with using this well water after Rex Energy removed his water tank.. Photo by Diane Sipehttp://ecowatch.org/2012/rex-energy-cuts-off-families-access-to-safe-drinking-water-after-contamination/

Help Butler County Families Hurt by Gas Drilling Now!February 24, 2012http://protectingourwaters.wordpress.com/2012/02/24/help-butler-county-families-hurt-by-gas-drilling-now/

Water

Federal Scientists Warn NY of Fracking Risks, by Dusty Horwitt, Senior Counsel, February 22, 2012"The U.S. Geological Survey widely regarded as impartial and authoritative has warned New York State regulators that their plan to allow drilling and hydraulic fracturing for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale could endanger private water wells, municipal aquifers and New York City’s drinking water supply."http://www.ewg.org/report/federal-scientists-warn-ny-fracking-riskshttp://www.scribd.com/doc/83492110/USGS-Letter-to-DEC

Water

Federal Scientists Warn NY, Horwitt (cont)"The U.S. EPA has written the NYS DEC arguing that they are ill- equipped to regulate a boom in shale gas drilling and have limited financial means to enforce the numerous new regulations they have proposed. The EPA has raised additional concerns, among them, that NYS has understated the severity of radioactive pollution associated with drilling and doesn’t know how such contaminants would be disposed of."http://www.ewg.org/report/federal-scientists-warn-ny-fracking-risks

Abandoned Wells

Deteriorating Oil and Gas Wells Threaten Drinking Water Across the Country By Nicholas Kusnetz and ProPublica | April 4, 2011, Scientific American

"In 1989, the Government Accounting Office found nine cases where abandoned wells had contaminated groundwater, including one Kentucky case that rendered the water for more than 80 households undrinkable. The GAO said its findings were incomplete and warned that state agencies didn't have the funds to track and plug the growing number of abandoned wells."

"In 2008 the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission found that states had located nearly 60,000 wells that needed to be plugged -- and estimated that as many as a million more may be out there.

  "In the last decade, New York has managed to plug only about 125 of

its estimated 40,000 deteriorating wells."

http://www.propublica.org/article/deteriorating-oil-and-gas-wells-threaten-drinking-water-homes-across-the-co

Water

Engineering Expert Calls Fracking a “Chillingly Effective and Thorough Method” of Poisoning Drinking Water

by Paul Hetzler, former Environmental Engineering Technician with NYS DEC. “If your well goes bad, neither you, nor your children, nor their children will ever be able to get safe, clean water back…. Chemicals injected into the aquifer will persist for many lifetimes.

“Since contamination can show up months or even years after a pollution event, I’d advise all residents near a hydrofracturing operation to get monthly lab analysis on their water for several years after drilling ceases. Obviously this is quite a burden.

Water test results, he warns, may depend on who does the testing. Based on Hetzler’s DEC experience, he does not have complete confidence in gas companies …. http://www.stuarthsmith.com/engineering-expert-calls-fracking-a-chillingl

y-effective-and-thorough-method-of-poisoning-drinking-water

Water

Engineering Expert, Paul Hetzler, (cont.)

“A drinking water well is never in ‘solid’ rock. If it were, it would be a dry hole in the ground. As water moves through joints, fissures and bedding planes into a well, so do contaminants. In fractured media such as shale, water follows preferential pathways, moving fast and far, miles per week in some cases.”

http://www.stuarthsmith.com/engineering-expert-calls-fracking-a-chillingly-effective-and-thorough-method-of-poisoning-drinking-water

Abandoned Wells Endanger Water

Report for the Delaware River Basin Commission on Natural Gas Development Regulations, Dec 9, 2010 by Paul A. Rubin, April 9, 2011:

“The DRBC must plan to protect the water resources of the Basin in perpetuity. This requires looking beyond short-term impacts… to problems that may not occur until 100 years from now or more. As the DRBC plans for the 100-year flood, so too must [they] plan for the 100-year break-down of well cement and casing.

“The rate of groundwater flow, along with contaminants in it, is relatively slow, typically taking many years, decades or longer to reach distant wells and streams. This time frame contrasts sharply with both the approximately 4 to 20 year productive life of gas wells….”

http://www.delawareriverkeeper.org/resources/Reports/Rubin%20report%20finalfinalTOC4.9%202011%20.pdf

Abandoned Wells Never Die

How Fracked Gas Wells Become a Conduit of Pollution, OR why hydraulic fracturing of gas wells will lead to gas and other materials migrating to the surface via natural and induced faults and the well bore itself. Marc Durand:

http://www.damascuscitizensforsustainability.org/2011/12/how-fracked-gas-wells-become-a-conduit-of-pollution/

These videos are animations made by Marc Durand, Honorary Professor of Engineering Geology, Earth Science Dept, Univ. of Quebec.

QUOTE FROM Marc Durand: “The commercial extraction leaves 75-80% of the methane in all shales…. [This] long term life of the future abandoned and aging wells” [presents] “a serious threat for the future generations and a cost much greater than the short term $ benefits.”

To see more about the underground salts corroding the cement casing as well as the metal piping SEE Prof. Durand’s paper, “SHALE GAS – A BUSINESS PLAN VERY MUCH IN THE RED” http://fracdallas.org/docs/busplan.html

Fractured Future by Anthony Ingraffea, the Dwight C. Baum Professor of Engineering at Cornell University

"Fluid migration is not rare. For example, industry researchers Watson and Bachu, in a Society of Petroleum Engineers paper in 2009, examined 352,000 Canadian wells and found sustained casing pressure and gas migration. They found that about 12 per cent of newer wells leaked, considerably more than older wells. …[T]he process is getting worse, not better.

"Cluster drilling facilitates and prolongs intense industrialization and leaves a larger, more concentrated, and very long-term footprint, not a smaller and shorter one."http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/11/28/nb-f-shale-gas-anthony-ingraffea-122.html

Gas Wells Leak (Ingraffea)

Identifying the Sources of Fugitive Methane Associated with Shale Gas Development, (Slide 13) Karlis Muehlenbachs, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences University of Alberta Edmonton, Canada

From Schlumberger, Oilfield review : "Poor cementing and tubing failures lead to gas migrating to surface, causing: Sustained casing pressure, Surface casing gas, Soil contamination, Aquifer contamination. "Note: gas can leak from production tubing or from anywhere up the well bore "

http://www.albertasurfacerights.com/upload/files/Idedtifying%20the%20Sources%20of%20Fugitive%20Methane%20Karlis%20Muehlenbachs.pdf

Gas Wells Leak (Muehlenbachs)

Gas Wells Leak (Muehlenbachs)

Problems and poor cementing are common and lead to gas migration and sustained casing pressure (Slide 14) (From Schlumberger, Oilfield review) "In 15 years 50% of wells leak." http://www.propublica.org/article/deteriorating-oil-and-gas-wells-threaten-drinking-water-homes-across-the-co

Gas Wells Leak (Muehlenbachs)

"More than 70% of casing gases do not come from target zone, but from intermediate layers." (Slide 16) EPA HF Workshop, March 10-11, 2011, Arlington, VA TSA Inc. http://www.propublica.org/article/deteriorating-oil-and-gas-wells-threaten-drinking-water-homes-across-the-co

Air Pollution

Fracking: EPA Targets Air Pollution From Natural Gas Drilling BoomBy DINA CAPPIELLO 07/28/11

"In March, pollution from natural gas drilling in the Upper Green River Basin in western Wyoming triggered levels of ground-level ozone, the main ingredient in smog, worse than those recorded in Los Angeles, one of the smoggiest cities in the U.S.

"In Dish, Texas, a rural town northwest of Dallas, the state's environmental regulators detected levels of cancer-causing benzene, sometimes at levels dangerous to human health, likely coming from industry's 60 drilling wells, gas production pads and rigs, a treating facility and compressor station.

"The gases escape into the atmosphere during drilling, from storage tanks, compressors along pipelines and other equipment."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/28/fracking-epa-air-pollution-natural-gas-drilling_n_912564.html

NG Not a “Clean” Alternative

Robert Howarth, PhDThe David R. Atkinson Professor of Ecology & Environmental

Biology at Cornell University

Howarth’s original April 12, 2011 paper Methane and the greenhouse-gas footprint of natural gas from shale formations by Howarth, Renee Santoro & Anthony Ingraffea http://cce.cornell.edu/EnergyClimateChange/NaturalGasDev/Documents/PDFs/Howarth%20et%20al%20%202011.pdf

Howarth's New Paper: Venting and leaking of methane from shale gas development: response to Cathles et al. by Howarth, Renee Santoro & Anthony Ingraffea

http://www.eeb.cornell.edu/howarth/Howarthetal2012_Final.pdf

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Shale Gas Conventional Gas Coal Diesel Oil

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Methane

Indirect CO2

Direct CO2

(Howarth et al. 2011)

Greenhouse gas footprint of shale gas and other fossil fuels (20-year analysis; methane given in CO2 equivalents,

assuming Global warming Potential = 105) http://www.sustainablefuture.cornell.edu/news/attachments/Howarth-EtAl-2011.pdf

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PINK = Methane emissions during initial flow-back period, routinely and continuously at the well site, during liquid

unloading, gas processing and during transmission, storage, and distributionRED = indirect emissions of CO2 from fossil fuels used to extract, develop,

and transport the gasBLUE = Direct emissions of CO2 from combustion of the fuel at end use

(Howarth et al. 2011)

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Methane

Indirect CO2

Direct CO2

Greenhouse gas footprint of shale gas and other fossil fuels (100-year analysis; methane given in CO2 equivalents,

assuming Global warming Potential = 33) http://www.sustainablefuture.cornell.edu/news/attachments/Howarth-EtAl-2011.pdf

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PINK = Methane emissions during initial flow-back period, routinely and continuously at the well site, during liquid unloading, gas processing and during transmission, storage, and distribution

RED = indirect emissions of CO2 from fossil fuels used to extract, develop,and transport the gas

BLUE = Direct emissions of CO2 from combustion of the fuel at end use

Human Health - Ruggiero

When Drilling Starts: Holes in the Ruggiero's Health, Property Values & Landowner Rights By Christine Ruggiero, Wise County, TX:This Aruba Petroleum well is 400 ft from kitchen window. Meanwhile the NYS DEC setback from a house is still only a 100 feet. http://www.earthworksaction.org/voices/detail/tim_and_christine_ruggiero

Human Health - Ruggiero

“we have experienced several spills, what appears to be a methane seep where the bubbles ignite, and constant emissions from various stages of the extraction process.

"We have several TCEQ air studies and private environmental testing that show exceedances including benzene at 120 ppb.

"Our ten year old, Reilly, was recently diagnosed with asthma. And I have experienced rashes, nausea and memory loss. Tim has loss of sensation in his extremities. We have scheduled medical testing with an environmental doctor.

"In September, the Wise County Appraisal Board devalued their property 75%. Originally on the 2010 tax rolls for $257,330, their home and 10-acre horse property are now worth $75,240." "I could not sell this house in a clear conscience." said Patsy Slimp, their former real estate agent."

http://www.earthworksaction.org/voices/detail/tim_and_christine_ruggiero

Human Health - Parr

Bob and Lisa Parr, Texas VS Aruba Petroleum, “When Lisa started having balance and other neurological problems her doctor recommended she see an environmental specialist whose tests detected chemicals in her blood and lungs that match the results of TCEQ's air sampling."Bob Parr, 50, only had 3 to 5 nosebleeds in his entire life. In the last year he has had about 3 per week. Bob and seven-year-old Emma Parr sometimes have simultaneous nosebleeds. Bob also experiences loss of balance and neurological problems. Emma was recently diagnosed with asthma. She has also suffered rashes and nausea."After receiving Lisa's test results, her doctor advised them to leave their home within 48 hours. They are now living in Bob's office space where there is no drilling nearby. Their health is greatly improved.” http://www.earthworksaction.org/voices/detail/bob_and_lisa_parr

Human Health - Parr

"Emma Parr and her father Bob began having nosebleeds after moving in to a home surrounded by gas wells." http://www.earthworksaction.org/voices/detail/bob_and_lisa_parr

Human Health - Frederick

Coitsville, Ohio: Jaime Frederick suffered a tumor that grew out of her intestine as large as a grapefruit and repeated liver and kidney infections, pains throughout her body, trouble breathing, rapid heartbeat and many other unexplained symptoms after moving into her recently renovated new home in Coitsville, OH. She suffered these symptoms for 3 years before she learned that gas wells had been drilled in her vicinity. At that point the well drilling company came into her neighborhood and decided to drill as close to her house as the law would allow. She found that the only thing she could do was to get a baseline water test. The results revealed high levels of barium, strontium and toluene from hydraulic fracturing and drilling. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hB33D105ak

Human Health - Frederick

Jaime Frederick testimony cont.:Once the company started drilling they couldn’t sleep from all the noise, vibrations and explosions, even with earplugs, earphones and their radio playing. She, her husband and dogs are now subjected to a brine tank that leaks onto the ground and periodic loud venting of gas from a pressurized storage tank that smells like rotten eggs and diesel fumes placed just outside their bedroom window. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hB33D105ak

Human Health - Stiles

They Are Afraid Their House Could Blow Up: Meet the Families Whose Lives Have Been Ruined by Gas Drilling, AlterNet, by Nina Berman, Bradford Co, PA: “Carl Stiles' home sits abandoned, inches of snow left untouched on the front steps. He left with his fiancé in mid-November after their blood tests showed high levels of barium and their home had radon levels three times the limit. They had been experiencing a myriad of health problems for months.

"I had tremors on my right side, constant headaches, numbness. We both had heart attack symptoms," said Stiles, 45. Water tests in his well showed high levels of methane. A hole erupted in their front yard and spewed out a mysterious froth.

"Chesapeake gave the couple bottled drinking water but denied responsibility. Stiles said visits to local doctors were frustrating. He believes they discounted the possibility of chemical poisoning and he suggested there was a conflict of interest because Chesapeake gives so much money to area medical centers. Finally, a toxicologist in Philadelphia told them to stop drinking their water and leave their home. They haven't been back since.” http://www.alternet.org/water/150527/%22they_are_afraid_their_house_could_blow_up%22%3A_meet_the_families_whose_lives_have_been_ruined_by_gas_drilling_%5Bphotos_by_award-winning_photographer_nina_berman%5D/?page=2

Human and Animal Health – Bamberger & Oswald

IMPACTS OF GAS DRILLING ON HUMAN AND ANIMAL HEALTH by MICHELLE BAMBERGER and ROBERT E. OSWALD

"Two cases involving beef cattle farms inadvertently provided control and experimental groups. In one case, a creek into which wastewater was allegedly dumped was the source of water for 60 head, with the remaining 36 head in the herd kept in other pastures without access to the creek. Of the 60 head that were exposed to the creek water, 21 died and 16 failed to produce calves the following spring. Of the 36 that were not exposed, no health problems were observed, and only one cow failed to breed.

"At another farm, 140 head were exposed when the liner of a wastewater impoundment was allegedly slit, as reported by the farmer, and the fluid drained into the pasture and the pond used as a source of water for the cows. Of those 140 head exposed to the wastewater, approximately 70 died and there was a high incidence of stillborn and stunted calves. The remainder of the herd (60 head) was held in another pasture and did not have access to the wastewater; they showed no health or growth problems." http://cce.cornell.edu/EnergyClimateChange/NaturalGasDev/Documents/PDFs/Bamberger_Oswald_NS22_in_press.pdf

Earthquakes, Aquifers and Hydrofracking

U.S. Geological Survey, New York Water Science Center Comments on the Revised Draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement

"The fault map, "mapped Geologic Faults in New York State", presented as figure 4.12 in the revised dSGEIS (fig. 7), grossly under represents the number and extent of faults in the Appalachian Basin of New York. The fault map is outdated and does not include the results of many publications summarized below that have mapped additional faults and should be considered." http://www.scribd.com/doc/83492110/USGS-Letter-to-DEC

Earthquakes, Aquifers and Hydrofracking

WEB OF CRISS-CROSSED EARTHQUAKE FAULTS: "Jacobi’s map shows a web of deep basement faults that criss-cross NYS. He concluded: "not only are there more faults than previously expected in NYS, but also, many of these faults are seismically active." Further, “most cultural facilities (e.g., waste disposal sites, bridges, pipelines) are not far from a potentially seismically active fault” (Jacobi, Basement Faults and Seismicity in the Appalachian Basin of NY, p.75, 105).

"NY has a history of earthquakes, e.g., 91 earthquakes since 1973 in an area Jacobi denoted as “high risk”- just 30 miles from the NYC Watershed (USGS Earthquake DataBase). There is also a “history” of induced earthquakes and fluid injection into gas wells from the 1960s, e.g., the UK (Bowland Study), OK (OK Geological Survey), TX, AK, Alberta, BC, and CO."(Nikiforuk, http://www.energybulletin.net/print/59848) and OH (Fountain, NYT, Jan 1, 2012). http://schoharievalleywatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/frack_earthquakes_Web-of-CrissCrossed-Basement-Faults_Jacobi-Map.pdf

Rubin, hydrogeologist, Hydroquest. Press Conference: Fracking: The Geology of Aquifers and Earthquakes, Jan. 23, 2012, Legislative Office Bldg, LCA Room 130. Geologists: Paul Rubin and Arthur Palmer, Sponsored by: Schoharie Valley Watch and Sustainable Otsego

Geologist Paul Rubin, “Excessive lubrication of faults and fractures with highly pressurized hydraulic fracturing fluids, bolstered by repeated hydrofracturing episodes, may result in fault activation and bedrock settlement [earthquakes].

"Rubin estimates the life of an aquifer to be about 1 million years, while he pegs the estimated life of a gas well between 4 to 20 years and that of an abandoned gas well filled with cement and steel between 80 to 100 years. He adds that even the smallest of cracks could allow natural gas to seep into aquifers and potentially trigger earthquakes."

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wamc/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1897359

Earthquakes, Aquifers and Hydrofracking

Earthquakes, Aquifers and Hydrofracking

Report for the Delaware River Basin Commission Consolidated Administrative Hearing on Grandfathered Exploration Wells To Delaware Riverkeeper Network and Damascus Citizens for Sustainability by Paul A. Rubin HydroQuest, November 15, 2010"Ground motions from even one significant earthquake, among many that occur over time, may catastrophically shear numerous gas exploration and well casings or, at the very least, may result in fracturing and loss of integrity of well casing cement designed to isolate freshwater aquifers from deep saline waters. As such, earthquakes may instantly destroy the integrity of hundreds of gas wells, thereby forever and irreparably compromising the hydrologic integrity of geologic formations that formerly protected freshwater aquifers. Restoration of contaminated freshwater aquifers is probably not possible, thus well failures from any single or combination of mechanisms is likely an irrevocable commitment of natural resources."http://www.runningwater.us/HydroQuest_Risk_Report.html

Earthquakes, Aquifers and Hydrofracking

Fracking and quaking: They're linked, The Tyee on Fri, 11/18/2011, by Andrew Nikiforuk.  "In 1962, the military started pumping chemical waste into a disposal well drilled two miles underground. The injection of fluids then triggered an astounding 1,500 earthquakes between 1962 and 1967." "After the military stopped injecting waste due to protests, three earthquakes greater than 5 on the Richter scale rocked Denver area, resulting in more than $8-million worth of property damage. Scientists later blamed the earthquakes on fluid injection that unbalanced an existing fault or fracture. "A decade later, after the rapid depletion of sour gas pools near the Strachan Gas plant outside of Rocky Mountain House, Alberta triggered 143 earthquakes in 23 days with magnitudes as great as 3.5."http://www.energybulletin.net/stories/2011-11-18/fracking-and-quaking-theyre-linked

Earthquakes, Aquifers and Hydrofracking

Technical Justification in Support of Requiring Cabot to Immediately Resume Water Deliveries to Adversely Impacted Residents of Dimock, PA [Public statement made at a press event in held in Dimock, PA on Dec. 6, 2011], Paul A. Rubin"First, let’s dispel the question as to whether or not groundwater between gas wells and homeowner wells has become and remains contaminated. It has and will continue to be. Worse yet, it is likely that the contaminant level will rise slowly to a peak and then subside slowly over decades or centuries.

"Fractures and faults are important contaminant transport pathways It is along these pathways that natural gas, metals, surfactants, and other contaminants have already moved from upland areas down gradient to homeowner wells. This demonstrates that pathways are open now and moving gas field contaminants. "

http://frackthemovie.com/HydroQuest%20-%20Dimock%20Press%20Statement%2012-06-11.pdf

Earthquakes, Aquifers and Hydrofracking

Technical Justification in Support of Requiring Cabot to Immediately Resume Water Deliveries, Rubin (cont.) "Prior to gas drilling activities, Scott Ely’s groundwater was clear, potable, and did not require filtration. Within the last two weeks, this water sample was found to have lead and manganese at 5.8 and 10 times State MCL levels and arsenic at 15 times the State MCL level. Data received within the last few hours revealed an aluminum concentration of 28 mg/l, some 140 times the State MCL. This is cause for great concern. Aluminum is a potent neurotoxin that may be linked to dementia, including Alzheimer’s like health symptoms. Similarly, iron was detected preliminary findings also indicate the presence of low level hexanes, octanes, and decanes. However, the high pH of the water indicates the presence of SIGNIFICANT other frack-related chemicals that are both unknown and untested –chemical compounds that do not have MCLs – chemicals that potentially present long-term chronic exposure to toxins and carcinogens."http://frackthemovie.com/HydroQuest%20-%20Dimock%20Press%20Statement%2012-06-11.pdf

Letter from 250 health professionals to Gov Cuomo

"There is a growing body of evidence on health impacts from industrial gas development. In Texas, Wyoming, Louisiana, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and other states, cases have been documented of worsening health among residents living in proximity to gas wells and infrastructure such as compressor stations and waste pits. Symptoms are wide-ranging, but are typical for exposure to the toxic chemicals and air and water pollutants used in oil and gas development and can often be traced to the onset of such operations." http://dontfrackwithny.com/250-doctors-urge-governor-cuomo-not-to-frack-with-our-health/

Letter from 59 scientists to Governor Cuomo:

"We the undersigned scientists write to you regarding the ability of municipal drinking water filtration systems to adequately remove contaminants of the sort found in return fluids from hydraulic fracturing, should they somehow enter the water system. The State has proposed that hydraulic fracturing not be allowed in the watersheds of the New York City and Syracuse water systems (where no filtration occurs), but be allowed in watersheds where drinking water is filtered before use. The presumption appears to be that municipal water filtration plants provide protection from potential contaminants. The best available scientific information does not support this presumption." http://www.scribd.com/doc/65121866/Sign-on-Letter-Final

Websites with Multiple Resources

www.toxicstargeting.com/MarcellusShalewww.un-naturalgas.orgwww.earthworksaction.orgwww.gaslandthemovie.comwww.Otsego2000.orgwww.shaleshock.orgwww.sustainableotsego.orghttp://Catskillcitizens.orgwww.gasmain.org