Feedback 5/30

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Fracking's risks

In response to Scott Cline's comment, "Fracking Claim Is Science Fiction" (Feedback, May 16): There are a number of PhD's on both sides of the fracking issue. Tony Ingraffia at Cornell University says there is no way of knowing what all that fracking fluid is going to do down there over time.

But Mr. Cline fails to mention that 20 to 40 percent of the fracking fluid injected into a well is going to climb back up the same hole it went down, carrying not only itself but also concentrated salts, heavy metals, and radioactive materials. It is entirely possible that when this hits a broken well casing in permeable rock, it can be transported with migrating methane gas into domestic water wells.

Apart from the unsustainable amounts of water required for fracking, the greatest danger of fracking fluid coming in contact with drinking water is from the inevitable spills. One storage pit in Pennsylvania collapsed, leaking 400,000 gallons of used fracking fluid into a tributary of a river that supplied several small cities with drinking water. Three hundred thousand people had their drinking water contaminated.

I want to preserve New York's water for its scenic lakes and rivers, for its farms and wildlife. I want to visit my state's beautiful little villages, spend my money there, buy its wine and organic vegetables, and hike its beautiful glens and trails. Much of beautiful Pennsylvania has been ruined. Let's not let it happen here.

JOHN KASTNER, ROCHESTER