Latest fracking news Whya re you not fighting this stuff?

[PetBazaar]

Are you willing to bet your health on it? Remember the Wheal Jane Tin Mine water contamination? People are still suffering from the effects and that was only tin just think what the poisons that are used in fracking could do!

Extract from an Exeter University article on the Wheal Jane Tin Mine incident...

"This very visual pollution incident caused widespread concern but had no significant biological impact."


This has been a public service annoncement.

[adruml]

Well Pennsylvania is sinking (,reports of sinkholes over the last few days). With the $$$ involved with fracking I don't believe we will ever know if the sinkholes were/are related to fracking.

[westlondoncarparts]

With regard to Wheal Jane, the release of highly toxic minerals into the local ecosystem affected wildlife and caused fish to die. This did not all happen immediately after the incident. There were delayed effects as over time the discharged pollutants worked their way through the local area. Millions of pounds had to be spent after the overflowing on building settling ponds to trap mine waste contaminants.

I think it possible that the quote ‘no significant biological impact’ is intended not to relate to the whole Wheal Jane incident but rather to a picture of the flow of ferrous discharge held in suspension in the water in the area approximately 5 miles away from the mine site at the bar where the predominantly freshwater Restronguet Creek meets the wider Carrick Roads sea waters The relevant webpage is at http://projects.exeter.ac.uk/geominc.../Main/jane.htm..

[burgyeb]

The issue for me is whether fracking would be properly controlled.

In the UK Health and Safety is completely over the top so the risk of contaminated water is low.
I expect UK fracking would be an example to other places of how to do things safely, if you had the will and the money to do it.

From articles I have read of USA fracking, it is presented as highly controlled and low risk for water contamination, etc. If the reports were put out by the fracking companies I would expect that type of report. No matter how much care & control is put into these type of activities, the potential for risk is present. The result can be devastating to those unfortunate enough to fall in "the low risk category".

I didn't say that those from the USA couldn't post. I said that THE LINK was for the UK only.
If you click the link you'll see why
Look up your postcode to find out if you could be fracked and join the legal block now.

Sorry I misunderstood what you were saying. I never take lightly others concerns for the environment. If I do not fully understand the issue I would rather not comment.

[PetBazaar]

With regard to Wheal Jane, the release of highly toxic minerals into the local ecosystem affected wildlife and caused fish to die. This did not all happen immediately after the incident. There were delayed effects as over time the discharged pollutants worked their way through the local area. Millions of pounds had to be spent after the overflowing on building settling ponds to trap mine waste contaminants.

I think it possible that the quote ‘no significant biological impact’ is intended not to relate to the whole Wheal Jane incident but rather to a picture of the flow of ferrous discharge held in suspension in the water in the area approximately 5 miles away from the mine site at the bar where the predominantly freshwater Restronguet Creek meets the wider Carrick Roads sea waters The relevant webpage is at http://projects.exeter.ac.uk/geominc.../Main/jane.htm..

The link you provided is indeed the one I quoted from, but surely given that the article is about the spill then you have to infer that the quote relates to the spill. In addition to that quote, you'll (hopefully) have read the bit saying that the studies of some of the chemical levels over time implied that the raised levels were unrelated to the mine spill. How certain is it that the fish deaths are specifally related to this incident?

As for drinking water, the report "Pollution resulting from the abandonment and subsequent flooding of Wheal Jane mine in Cornwall, UK", states clearly "Surveys identified a number of groundwater wells and boreholes close to the mine system which required regular monitoring. None were identified to have been affected during the mine flooding or folowing discharge." Perhaps boreholes further away were affected, but is there any evidence of this, or is it just what "some bloke in the pub" said?

Now, I'm not denying that this type of thing happens, but lets see some sound evidence or backup. Scaremongering doesn't do anything for the argument.

[westlondoncarparts]

Today is another Global Frackdown Day with protests taking place in many countries around the world highlighting the potential environmental impacts of fracking.

[squern]

The problem with fracking, global warming, climate change, etc., etc., is that we don't know who to believe.
We don't know who is trying to manipulate us for their own financial ends.

I'd like to think that all scientists are seekers after truth, and would not be influenced by the source of their funding. I'd like to think that all politicians put the interests of the country, the world, and humanity before their own. But that would be naive, and ignore human nature.

We have had so many reports of impending disaster since the 1960s that I, for one, am suffering from "disaster-fatigue". The "experts" have cried wolf too often.

Incidentally, I read somewhere recently that mammoths died out because the climate warmed up. Admittedly that came from a "scientist", but it makes you wonder, because mammoths were gone before humans arrived (according to a "scientist").

I have recently been shut out of a forum discussion for expressing these opinions: The thread was closed to exclude any opinions contrary to those of the poster. Which tells you a lot about the spreaders of doom and gloom.
I don't know who is right about these predictions - nobody does. But I do know that problems are solved by discussion and innovation, not fanaticim, bullying, and closed minds.

[kreativebargains]

The problem with fracking, global warming, climate change, etc., etc., is that we don't know who to believe.
We don't know who is trying to manipulate us for their own financial ends.

I'd like to think that all scientists are seekers after truth, and would not be influenced by the source of their funding. I'd like to think that all politicians put the interests of the country, the world, and humanity before their own. But that would be naive, and ignore human nature.

We have had so many reports of impending disaster since the 1960s that I, for one, am suffering from "disaster-fatigue". The "experts" have cried wolf too often.

Incidentally, I read somewhere recently that mammoths died out because the climate warmed up. Admittedly that came from a "scientist", but it makes you wonder, because mammoths were gone before humans arrived (according to a "scientist").

I have recently been shut out of a forum discussion for expressing these opinions: The thread was closed to exclude any opinions contrary to those of the poster. Which tells you a lot about the spreaders of doom and gloom.
I don't know who is right about these predictions - nobody does. But I do know that problems are solved by discussion and innovation, not fanaticim, bullying, and closed minds.

Agree totally that we do not know who to trust or believe, and that is on both sides of the argument. A point in case could be the quote that Mammoths died out before humans arrived. The last Mammoth died out possibly as recently as 5-10,000 years ago. Man and the mammoth almost certainly met, so if the quote came from a scientist his facts have not been checked.

But the fact is that scaremongering does nobody any good. The latest I saw was that an asteroid could smash into the Earth in 2032 killing millions when actually the chances are about 63,000 to 1. Global warming has stalled despite the doomsters computer models.

We need a new source of energy, and fracking might be the answer. So lets explore that possibility in a clear and rational manner. The only way that can be done is through testing and careful, independent analysis of the results.

[squern]

I forgot about the asteroid - I was too busy worrying about the coming Ice Age, global warming, climate change, death of all bees, bird flu, power shortages, starvation, rising water levels, acid rain, dutch elm disease, ash die-back, the vanishing ozone layer, disappearing glaciers, disappearing polar bears, disappearing ice-cap, disappearing employment, rising cost of living, and so on.

Your point is well made. We do need new sources of energy. But how are we to invent, innovate, and improvise if we are all in a state of panic.

Incidentally, if your figures are right, we are about twenty times more likely to be hit by that asteroid, than win the lottery.

[adruml]

Let's not forget volcanos.