Reminder, you can’t drink gas or oil. Nine of eleven hydraulic fracturing waste-water injection wells shut down by California state regulators were found to be dumping fracking fluids and other pollutants into aquifers protected by both state law and the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. The Center for Biological Diversity obtained a copy of a letter from the California State Water Resources Board to the Environmental Protection Agency that revealed nearly 3 billion gallons of the waste water containing toxins like arsenic and thallium were dumped into the states central valley aquifers that are used for drinking water and irrigation. The final study is still out and warns as many as 19 other injection wells could have contaminated protected aquifers.
It’s bad news in general. Each fracking site uses huge amounts of water daily. The estimated 140,000 to 150,000 gallons of freshwater becomes waste-water unfit for consumption and when dumped spreads its dangerous toxins still further. The entire state is already in a drought of epic proportions. It’s not just California at risk. It’s all our drinking water.
“Today, more than 15 million Americans live a mile or less from a fracking well.” - Nature’s Voice, Fall 2014
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2014/fracking-10-06-2014.html
http://www.desmogblog.com/2014/10/07/central-california-aquifers-contaminated-billions-gallons-fracking-wastewater