Fracking not good for Essex County

Fracking not good for Essex County by Lenore Langs, September 28, 2012, The Windsor Star
There is talk by oil and gas companies of increasing the use of “fracking” to obtain natural gas from wells in Essex County and as far up the waterway as Sarnia. This would be very bad for our area. … There are several serious problems with this method. First of all, great quantities of water are needed – up to 11 million litres for each fracturing procedure. This could disrupt ecosystems, wetlands and aquifer supplies. As well, many chemicals are used during the procedure and this poses potential danger to water quality and to human health. Air pollution is another problem. It is caused by the emissions resulting from drilling, from the heavy truck traffic, and from evaporation from the pits that store the fracturing fluids. Finally, there is data linking fracking to earthquake activity. Fracking is not good for Essex County. Some provinces have either banned fracking or are discussing doing so. Our politicians should be doing the same.