Hydrofracking poses danger to Michigan water supplies

Jim Olson, an environmental attorney and acting chair of the Flow for Water Coalition, has an op-ed piece in the Detroit Free Press about the dangers of allowing energy companies to use hydrofracking to mine for natural gas in northern Michigan. Drawing a parallel with the recent oil spill in Calhoun County, Olson writes:

And an equally or more devastating threat to Michigan’s water now looms: the production of natural gas by fracturing (“fracking”) shale deep beneath the Lower Peninsula. It involves shooting massive quantities of highly pressurized chemicals and water to penetrate and shatter the shale in order to release natural gas. These practices demand as much as 5 million gallons of groundwater for each well. Companies refuse to disclose the chemicals involved by claiming they are a trade secret.

Fracking is exempt from federal water laws. Most states, like Michigan, have not evaluated the impacts.

Because of numerous documented spills and harm in other states, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has commissioned a thorough study. Congress is considering a bill to remove the exemption from water laws. New York has passed a moratorium on further drilling.

For good reason. The rapid withdrawal of millions of gallons of water for each well can deplete and lower groundwater, lakes and streams. Spills, leaks and overflows are not infrequent. As much as 70% of the toxic water flows back to the surface and must be trucked away and then injected into the ground.

Unfortunately, the state of Michigan has been pushing hard and fast to expand this practice, auctioning off 120,000 acres of state land for hydrofracking earlier this year and slating another 500,000 acres to be auctioned off later this year. And that’s in addition to hundreds of thousands of acres of private land leased for that purpose.