"...if this bill is enacted, there will be even greater pressure to drill in rural areas..."

 " I suspect that  these companies use waste solvent from industry that is a mixture of a  variety of similar solvents that had been dumped into barrels waiting  for incineration, and I'll be very surprised if anybody knows exactly  what is in them."

AnneMarie writes:

I seem to be a lone voice on this, but everyone has got to understand
that removing the hydrofracking exemptions from the Safe Drinking
Water Act (SDWA) will help municipal water supply systems, like that
which feed NYC, Binghamton, Ithaca, Oneonta, etc., but will NOT
protect individual home owners' wells and springs.  The SDWA only
applies to water supply systems (25+ users), and the water that
replenishes them.

What that means is that if this bill is enacted, there will be even
greater pressure to drill in rural areas.

I am in favor of requiring the disclosure fracking chemicals, but
legislation needs to include a clause to protect homeowners' water as
well as municipal water supplies.

Stan adds:

I agree with this. Another point I'd like to make concerns the 
proposed disclosure requirement. Drilling companies have argued 
against such disclosure claiming that the exact ingredients in the 
hydrofacking mixture is a "trade secret". I suspect this is 
disingenuous and that it is more complicated than that. I suspect that 
these companies use waste solvent from industry that is a mixture of a 
variety of similar solvents that had been dumped into barrels waiting 
for incineration, and I'll be very surprised if anybody knows exactly 
what is in them. Probably the most that they could say is something 
like "this hydrofracking mixture may or may not contain one or more of 
the following ingredients....", and then list all possible solvents, 
including benzene, toluene, xylene, napthalene, MTBE, etc.

Pura Vida,

Stan
Stanley Sessions PhD
Department of Biology
Hartwick College
Oneonta, NY 13820-1904
607-431-4764
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