Each day, these Rocky Mountains are covered with a beautiful sunset, as immortalized in a song by John Denver. The beauty we call, Colorado, is now blocked and ravaged by fracking rigs that rip up our soils, contaminate ground and surface waters, spew chemicals in the air such as:trimethylbenzene that impairs your respiratory system, causes brain and nerve disorders, affects your immune system, causes cancer and tumors, affects your genetic makeup, is considered an endocrine disruptor and causes liver and kidney failure. Other chemical found are acetaldehyde, acetone,cyclohexane, formaldehyde, fluorene and hundreds of other very harmful chemicals.
These chemicals are placed into our environment by the oil and gas industry and are currently harming our environment and our citizens. As you know, the oil and gas industry lavishes in its numerous federal exemptions at the expense of our health and the health of our future children.
The oil and gas industry is imposing severe, and catastrophic damage to our environment and 'your' health on a scale that will ultimately be grave when all is said and done. It's already shocking to me as I uncover the truth about oil and gas in Colorado. I have over 75 active oil and gas wells within a one mile radius of my home and cannot wait to move out of this forsaken 'Superfund' County.
I have uncovered many things in Colorado and the State appears to be negligent in its address to the safety and concerns of its citizens. I call upon the State of Colorado to fully address the harmful impacts the oil and gas industry is imposing on the environment and its citizens with a full health impact study. (I will submit an official letter to this statement).
Colorado citizens are being invaded by oil and gas development at an alarming rate. We currently have ~47,000 active wells and are set to more than double that number in the near future. One County, namely Weld County, or 'Well County' as I call it, comprises ~40% of the states active well count with 18,000 active wells as you can see in the image at the top right of this blog page.
In Weld County, our Laramie-Fox Hills Aquifer was confirmed by the COGCC in Aug of 2009 with thermogenic methane and toluene oil and gas development. Yes, this aquifer was contaminated by mining that uses fracking methods and where in the hell is the EPA? The operator who reportedly contaminated the aquifer was fined a mere $46,200. LINK
Further investigation appears to show that this aquifer has and continues to be contaminated with thermogenic methane and toluene over the last three decades by oil and gas mining. I find it shocking that our own County Commissioners even state there are no public complaints on record that stem from oil and gas development in Weld County. That's a blatant lie, and one that requires these officials either be removed from their positions for being ineffective and not addressing the real safety concerns of its citizens, or submit a public apology to the current 642 citizen complaints and admittance of lack of due diligence immediately.
What was once a beautiful Rocky Mountain view is now, forever marred by the sick industry that uses harmful, unregulated, unconventional methods to extract a mineral far less valuable than that which we need to survive. Make no mistake, this unregulated industry is causing far more harm than any 'positive' benefit they purport. Thus the much needed federal exemptions LINK
The State of Colorado has failed miserably to prevent and mitigate adverse impacts to the environment and human health.
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE
How sad our state let's this happen!
ReplyDelete