Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Study Finds Treated Fracking Wastewater Still Too Toxic

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Study Finds Treated Fracking Wastewater Still Too Toxic

Click here to access article by Andy Tully from OilPrice.

This website focuses on all issues related to energy and is mainly directed at investors of energy companies. Thus, it is particularly interesting so see in this online publication an article like this which provides additional evidence of the hazardous nature of the new shale-fracking technology which capitalists are so excited about.

One of the biggest concerns about hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is that the vast amount of wastewater produced by the process of extracting oil and gas from shale rock deep underground is incredibly toxic.

Most often, the wastewater is injected into disposal wells deep underground. But a process does exist to convert contaminated water into drinking water that involves running it through wastewater treatment plants and into rivers.

Now a new report says that treated wastewater could be fouling drinking water supplies.