Fracking Fallout: New Analysis Reveals Over 100 Million Gallons of Toxic Wastewater Spilled Since 2009
(COMMON DREAMS) Lauren McCauley — Among the litany of risks posed by the continued extraction and use of fossil fuels, an Associated Press analysis published Tuesday exposes yet another harmful side effect of the oil and gas drilling boom: an uptick in toxic wastewater spills.
According to data obtained from leading oil- and gas-producing states, “more than 180 million gallons of wastewater spilled from 2009 to 2014 in incidents involving ruptured pipes, overflowing storage tanks and other mishaps or even deliberate dumping,” AP reports, tainting agricultural land, poisoning drinking water, and sparking the mass die-off of plant and animal life.
Most of the incidents involved the spill of fracking wastewater, which is a combination of underground brine mixed with a slurry of undisclosed chemicals. As the story notes, “A big reason why there are so many spills is the sheer volume of wastewater” produced, which according an organization of state groundwater agencies, amounts to roughly 10 barrels for every barrel of oil, or more than 840 billion gallons a year.