Below is a response to Thomas Friedman’s article by contraversial film maker Josh Fox. It was written as a comment under Friedman’s article in the NYT (August 4, 2012). His view, expressed in his film, The Sky is Pink, is that fracking can never be safe. Unlike Friedman, few would describe Fox as objective. Even so, if you accept Fox’s claims, and read here from some who do not, Friedman’s thesis can never be realised.
Chief among them is the notion that a “leakproof well” is possible. We’ve heard time again that strict regulation is the key to moving forward on fracking, and that new regulations should make sure that industry constructs leakproof wells that do not pollute the water table. There is no such thing as a leakproof gas well. The gas industry knows this; in fact, it has known it for decades.
I recently made a short film addressing the well casing failure issue called THE SKY IS PINK and you can watch it here: www.pinkskyny.com.
A 2003 joint industry publication from Schlumberger, the world’s No. 1 fracking company, cites astronomical failure rates of 60 percent over a 30-year span. To imagine gas companies voluntarily committing to an eternity of costly maintenance on wells failing at ever-increasing rates is beyond credulity. “Safe fracking” is a contradiction in terms.
Leaking gas wells at these rates mean thousands across the nation have enough contaminants in their water and land to render them unfit for residential use.
It’s not only the gas wells that have integrity problems; it is the oil and gas industry itself. We can believe in their self-interested assertions of leakproof wells about as much as we can expect pigs to fly.
