PA Fracking

Saw that one too.... oh boy.
 
It's ok boys, they tell us it's all safe, drink up!! Besides, our health care industry will simply make more money off of all this as well, so it's a win-win for everyone, except the public of course.
 
my brother just told me about that. Its kind of a coincidence that they are dumping it into blacklick, being that it's one of the more polluted streams in west central pa, and doesnt really get fished or have any oversight. Its just a little radium, right? half life of 1600 years, so it will continue to bioaccumulate for a very long time. These are the kinds of things the state should be enforcing but aren't because they are bought by the industry.
 
I'm certainly concerned about the bromides, but that was a known danger. There was some talk about it a while back, as levels in the lower Allegheny exceeded federal guidelines at times. No one waste plant was putting too much in, but they're release schedules were staggered and uncoordinated. If too many happened to release at the same time, then the levels spiked to unacceptable levels. As this article states, when the bromine interacts with chlorine that we put in drinking water, bad things can happen.

I think, on the Allegheny, they set up a testing procedure and coordinated releases. Don't know if the same is true of other large rivers or not. And I highly doubt it's true of smaller waterways. So that is a major concern, IMO. Demands more monitoring than we have. And I might say a very appropriate use of the "impact fee"!

For the radium. Well, we knew it was there. It's always there. You're standing on some radium right now. There's been some in every sip of water you've ever drank. It's a natural substance in the ground. Houses built on particularly rich (still natural) deposits have to have radon remediation.

The question is one of degree, and how much it accumulates rather than washing through. 200 times higher than background doesn't tell you much, as background might be 100,000 times smaller than the danger level. What is the actual concentration? How does that compare to federal standards? And if you let out a little at a time, does it flow down with the water and out to sea, or does it accumulate on the stream bed in an additive fashion so that concentrations continuously increase?

It's a potential serious concern. But I'm gonna stop short of outrage until questions like that are answered.

Coal, by the way, is one of the worst industries regarding radium. Fly ash is particularly nasty. Coal plants put out many thousands of times more radiation than do nuclear plants!
 
Keep in mind the story is from 2 years ago and there have been changes since then.
 
Just think of it as a night light provided free of charge. Of course, in the future the oil/gas industry must make a profit and will monetize this asset.
 
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