Fracking in Philly: Blogpost #4

             The hydraulic fracturing company that has stepped into the waters of Pennsylvania, Marcellus Shale has only been in business for about four years now. “We have had enough time to perfect our technique. Our coalition takes special precautions when it comes to harmful chemicals and our drilling process.” After a twenty-five minute holding period because of busy lines over the phone, a representative of the Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) had assured me that there were major precautions taken in the drawn out drilling process in Pennsylvania.

Contact the Marcellus Shale Coalition at (724)-745-0100

 “…But you do use harmful chemicals when drilling, right?” I asked when on the phone with the representative.”

            “There is no reason to be alarmed, our machines are top of the line and we have very experienced workers”, she said, without answering my question.

            For a company with such an assuring logo, the MSC seemed to be dodging each question that was asked over the phone with an almost automated response. It was as if the representative had a paper of frequently asked questions in front of her to look through while I drilled her with not so pressing questions.

           The biggest contribution MSC makes to the economy are the jobs that it creates because of drilling for natural gasses. They also advertise how clean their natural gases burn, effectively leaving less of a carbon footprint than so many other materials that are used in today’s market. When looking at the following graph, we can see that natural gasses do produce significantly less harmful chemicals than other energy sources, which is great…

           However, what they don’t tell the public, and instead releease secretively to the state of Pennsylvania is a record of over 300 chemicals that are pumped into the ground along with pressurized water.