Even More Powerful, Personalized Letters Which Request That President Obama Ban Improper Fracking Wastewater Dumping

Fracking waste water: This is the end of clean drinking water! Stop this please!

Greetings:

My name is Dorothy P and I live at __ St, Groton, New York.

I write because it is absolutely essential for our own clean drinking water in the future that we stop the disposal of fracking wastes. This is far more important than energy supply. We cannot drink water contaminated with fracked gas or oil wastes. Underground waste disposal of these radioactive and toxic wastes is a tragedy waiting to happen. Once they get into the groundwater, they cannot be cleaned up.

Sadly, although I supported you and your policies overall, and am grateful for the thoughtfulness you put into your decisions, you made one tragic mistake on energy: During your administration, High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing (fracking) expanded dramatically across America. This natural gas and oil extraction process has caused unprecedented toxic hazards because it is not regulated on a comprehensive basis in order to safeguard public health and the environment.

While federal authority is limited regarding regulating the actual process of shale fracking, during the remainder of your term, you do enjoy ample authority to regulate disposal of the immense quantities of highly toxic and radioactive wastewaters generated by fracking. Please use this authority before it is too late.

Before your term ends on January 20, 2017, I respectfully request that you ban five outmoded and toxic-polluting oil and natural gas wastewater disposal methods associated with both fracking and conventional petroleum extraction. These historic practices should have been halted decades ago, and I am surprised that you did not ban them earlier in your term. However, there is still a small window of time for you to do so. I understand that you have been under pressure from the energy extraction corporations to let sleeping dogs lie, leave things as they are. But this would be a terrible mistake on your part. PLEASE, for the future of our children's clean water supply, PLEASE BAN THESE WASTEWATER DISPOSAL METHODS NOW.

HYDRAULIC FRACTURING

Greetings:

On behalf of the NYS Breast Cancer Network, a network of 20 community-based, survivor-driven breast cancer organization in New York that reaches over 125,000 New Yorkers with support and information services, I write because there is increasing scientific evidence that the hydraulic fracture process increases the exposure of people to substances with direct links to breast cancer.

That is why I respectfully request that you ban five outmoded and toxic-polluting oil and natural gas wastewater disposal methods associated with both fracking and conventional petroleum extraction. These historic practices should have been halted decades ago.

Regulation of Fracking Wastewater

Dear Mr. President

My name is C T and I live at __ in Ithaca New York. I also own and operate a small winery on the shores of Cayuga Lake that employs about 20 people. Also, you and I share a birthday, August 4, although mine came a bit before yours.

I write because I believe you have a historic opportunity to influence wastewater dumping before your term ends next month. Resistance to fracking in New York has been successful in recent years but we watch neighboring states and states out west suffer from the impact of inadequate regulation of wastewater disposal.

While federal authority is limited regarding regulating the actual process of shale fracking, you enjoy the authority to regulate the disposal of the immense quantities of toxic and radioactive wastewaters generated by fracking. EPA has broad authority to regulate improper conventional and fracking wastewater disposal pursuant to the U. S. Safe Drinking Water Act and the U. S. Clean Water Act, but has failed to do so on a comprehensive basis.

I request that you take immediate urgent action to ban on all toxic-polluting oil and natural gas fracking and extraction wastewater disposal practices including, but not limited to:

1. Deep-well injection which can pollute underground drinking water sources and cause earthquakes as reported in Ohio, Oklahoma and other states;

2. Agricultural crop irrigation and livestock watering west of the 98th Meridian West with wastewater containing up to 35 parts per million of potentially toxic oil/grease pollutants;

3. Landspreading for de-icing, dust control and roadbed stabilization which can contaminate soils and surface waters;

4. "Recycling" of contaminated wastewater for fracking purposes that can pollute underground drinking water sources; and

5. Recharge and evaporation pits, ponds and lagoons which can pollute groundwater.

With all respect, it would be irresponsible of you to leave office without resolving the inadequate regulation of natural gas and oil extraction wastewater disposal that is causing irreparable contamination hazards all over the nation. I request that you take swift action in the coming days to address this concern.

Thank you for your consideration and your public service. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I may answer your questions or clarify my request.

Very truly yours,

President Obama Please Ban Toxic-Polluting Disposal of Fracking and Conventional Oil and Natural Gas Wastewater

Greetings:

My name is Jenny and I live in Jefferson County Pennsylvania .

There are 2 injection wells within 25 miles of my home; the Irvin Well, which is only few miles from my home, was operated at a pressure exceeding its permitted maximum for a three month period and the injection of brine continued during a 5 month period of failed mechanical integrity." The operator was fined the maximum of $160,000. There was no error or accident just a blatant disregard of the rules. In addition there are no monitoring wells within or outside the ¼ mile review area. Now a third and fourth well have been permitted nearby despite strong objection from hundreds in the community. To the horror of residents one well will be placed in a residential area not far from an elementary school which will ensure trucks carrying toxic waste sharing the road with school buses and local traffic. The residents know that what they hold dear is at risk.

In two neighboring counties injection wells have been approved by the EPA against the wishes of the communities. Scientists and federal regulators acknowledge they do not know how many injection wells are leaking. Records from all corners of the United States show that wells drilled to bury this waste deep beneath the ground have repeatedly leaked, sending dangerous chemicals and waste to the surface or, on occasion, seeping into shallow aquifers that store a significant portion of the nation's drinking water.

Mario Salazar, an engineer who worked for 25 years as a technical expert with the EPA's underground injection program in Washington says…"In 10 to 100 years we are going to find out that most of our groundwater is polluted," "A lot of people are going to get sick, and a lot of people may die."

"There is no certainty at all in any of this, and whoever tells you the opposite is not telling you the truth," said Stefan Finsterle, a leading hydrogeologist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory who specializes in understanding the properties of rock layers and modeling how fluid flows through them. "You have changed the system with pressure and temperature and fracturing, so you don't know how it will behave."

My township contracted with a gas company to spread brine on our dirt roads for dust suppression. There is such a dusty road that borders a side of our farm. Others in the township had become suspicious when previously healthy trees started dying. Eventually the company was fined for spreading frack brine on our roads. The guilty party claimed that they didn’t know how the frack got in their tanks. A fine seems to just be a cost of doing business. Whatever they say, there seem to be elevated Geiger readings on this road now with young barefoot Amish children using it daily.

The Marcellus well drilled on a neighboring farm had violations for the improper storage and disposal of drilling wastes in their impoundments that were on site for 7 years. How long can a liner last without leaking?

Several of our Pennsylvania waterways had to be remediated because of excessive radioactivity. Hundreds of disposal sites for wastewater could be affected but haven’t been checked. More than 1.3 billion gallons of wastewater was sent to Pennsylvania treatment plants not equipped to remove many of the toxic materials.

Furthermore a produced water treatment facility in PA has had violations for leaking tanks, leaking impoundments and leachate out of its bounds. Who is consistently checking water that had been impacted by spills, violations, and who is checking for radioactivity? http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/27/us/27gas.html?pagewanted=all

We testify, rally, sign petitions and more petitions, submit comments, write letters and share information. Why aren’t our voices being heard? Can you please stop this toxic legacy once and for all and thereby protect our families and our most precious natural resource- water.

Please Ban Fracking!!!

Greetings,

My name is Toby S and I live at __ Road, High Falls, NY.

I write because I have witnessed horrifying ground water pollution, air pollution & increased seismic activity as a result of fracking. At a time of extreme climate change, we should be putting our heads together to create a truly sustainable energy infrastructure using the wind, water & sun! We have plenty & we must put aside corporate profit interests in favor of sensible & sustainable energy. Fracking would be taking us in the wrong direction & threatens our water, which is one of our most treasured resources. If Donald Trump becomes our next president, I fear the worst. He has shown no respect for our environment. You are in a position to change things now before it gets worse. Please use your power to implement a ban on fracking in favor of sun, wind & hydro energy.

The future of our planet

Greetings:

My name is Dan F and I live at __ Road, Ithaca, NY 14850.

I write because, as a teacher of over 30 years, I have come to see that my students are quietly terrified... feeling powerless, yet knowing that their futures are in the hands of adults that are not taking the action required to protect their futures as well as those that come after.

Fracking

Greetings:

My name is Elizabeth A. P and I live at __ Ave., in Buffalo, NY.

I write because I am STRONGLY opposed to ALL ASPECTS of fracking!

During your administration, High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing (fracking) expanded dramatically across America. This natural gas and oil extraction process has caused unprecedented toxic hazards because it is not regulated on a comprehensive basis in order to safeguard public health and the environment. I thought you were "THE ENVIRONMENT PRESIDENT!!" I never thought, 8 years ago, that you would be so pro-drilling (in the Arctic and the Gulf), pro-oil, pro-gas, pro-Wall St., pro-TPP (that would come with MORE environmental degradation...), pro-privitization of schools, pro-drones, and never charge Bush, et. al. with war crimes, etc. etc.... . Boy was I fooled and I personally and RESPECTFULLY believe that you "played us", the 99%!

While federal authority is limited regarding regulating the actual process of shale fracking, you enjoy ample authority to regulate disposal of the immense quantities of highly toxic and radioactive wastewaters generated by fracking. Think of Flint, think of DAPL and literally hundreds of pipelines that are now leaking and are still uncapped, across the U.S.!

Please put an end to the out of control growth of fracking in this country once and for all!

Greetings:

My name is Deborah D and I live in Ithaca, NY.

I write because I am gravely concerned about the ever growing number of shale fracking operations in this country, and even more so now, given the attitude of our President Elect towards shale fracking, as well as his feelings on the expansion of other oil and gas extracting methods. Besides the fact that it is enormously irresponsible to expand these activities in an age where we need to reverse our carbon footprint hard and fast if we want any real hope of a future for our children and grandchildren. There is the more immediate threat of releasing a plethora of toxic chemicals into the water we citizens drink and the water that's used to grow the crops we eat. This has been happening across the nation and it is unacceptable.

Please Ban Fracking!

Greetings:

My name is C B and I live at __ Road in Thiells, New York.

I write because I am profoundly oppossed to fracking. It is time to leave ALL fossil fuels in the ground put all our fucus on renewable energy sources. Fracking is one of the most destructive extraction techniques -- destroying quality of life as well as the atmosphere and adding immeasurably to climate change and global warming. I believe that it is like setting your house on fire to keep warm -- in a word, insane.

Ban outmoded gas and oil wastewater disposal methods

Greetings:

My name is Ruth L and I live at __ Blvd., Monroe, New York.

I write because I am extremely concerned with the environmental and health hazards caused by fracking. Even though New York has banned fracking, water and air flow beyond state boundaries. With renewable sources of energy poised to be as cost-effective as fossil fuels, the fossil fuel industries are no longer essential to the economy amd should not be allowed to impose unnecessary environmental and health costs on the citizens of this nation.

Fracking waste water

Greetings:

My name is Christine H and I live at __ St. Athens, Ohio.

I write because my business depends on small farmers in Ohio, and many farmers I know have been harmed by the fracking industry, especially from the gas pipelines next to or across their farms, and the injection wells for frack waste water sited in the Appalachian counties of Ohio.

Hydraulic Fracturing

Greetings:

My name is Diane F. S. and I live at __ Street, New York, NY.

I write because I am concerned about the environment and climate change. I fear that the incoming administration will enact policies that will be harmful to our planet. Without clean air and clean water, all other issues, like the economy, will be moot.

President Obama Please Ban Toxic-Polluting Disposal of Fracking and Conventional Oil and Natural Gas Wastewater

Greetings:

My name is Francis L and I live at __ , Sarasota FL, 34233 .

I write because I divide my time between FL and PA, where I continue to see the deleterious effects of fracking.

Fracking is a danger

Greetings:

My name is Barbara C and I live at __ Way, Ithaca, NY 14850.

I write because in your final days you have the opprotunity to truly protect the American peopel from what are likely to be the disastrous poicies of Donald Trump.

Fracking wasterwater safety disposal in New York State

Greetings:

My name is Elizabeth N and I live at __ Lane, Vestal, NY 13850.

I write because _I am concerned about the proper disposal of fracking wastewater in New York State_. I live 10 miles from Pennsylvania and I've seen the fracking wastewater pits and read about the drinking water pollution caused by the fracking process. I've been an opponent of fracking in New York State and so far this state has maintained it's ban. However, this may change and if it does change, I would like some assurance from you that our beautiful state will not be damaged like the state of Pennsylvania has been.

Extreme Danger to Our Environment

Greetings:

My name is M B O and I live at __ Road, Brooktondale, NY.

I write because I'm worried about fracking--not only because I live in an area hydrofrackers would love to dig into, but because of the the threats from this process extend across our nation and the world. I am especially concerned about areas that have already experienced earthquakes due to hydrofracking, and I don't see the need for it with all of the evolving and expanding renewable resource industries like solar and wind.

Marcellus Shale

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Even More Powerful, Personalized Letters Which Request That President Obama Ban Improper Fracking Wastewater Dumping

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