How much do you know about natural gas?
©AP Photo/Bob Moen
With exemptions from the most fundamental environmental protections including the Clean Air and Safe Drinking Water Acts, the oil and gas industry has been able to get away with polluting land, air, and public drinking water supplies — and with getting people sick every step of the way. The industry, which relies on a method called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to access most of the gas reserves underground, is not required to disclose the types or amounts of chemicals used while drilling, which makes it hard even for chemical scientists to study their impact on the environment and on human health, because they literally do not know what they are looking for. As a result, people living near drilling sites have been suffering—some with rare but extremely serious conditions, the most well-known case probably being that of Laura Amos, who was diagnosed with an adrenal tumor—with insufficient medical attention or knowledge, and no evidence to prove fracking as the cause. And absolutely no recourse, because technically, the companies are not (usually) doing anything illegal.
