Saving Energy, the Economy and the Environment

The Aug. 15 front-page story "Traditional Energy's Modern Boom," about drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale formation in Pennsylvania, perfectly captured the Klondike gold-rush mentality behind the drilling.

But it didn't completely convey the real cost of drilling. As the article noted, producing the gas requires "millions of gallons of chemically treated water, injected under tremendous pressure into the rock to shatter it and free the gas to migrate to the wellhead." This is a loss that can stress our already gravely threatened aquatic systems.

The article cited "environmental concerns about the disposal of the treated water and the potential for contamination of groundwater" and quoted an energy executive as dismissing the concerns. It did not mention that about 50 percent of the water used in drilling is laced with drilling chemicals and that whatever leaches out of the rock strata 5,000 feet down comes back to the surface, is collected in tanks and then is taken to the local municipal sewage treatment plant, where it is fed into the treatment plant's discharge. In other words, the solution to pollution is dilution.

According to the geologists, there is enough gas in the Marcellus formation to supply the entire country for just two years.

We need to break our addiction to fossil fuels and shift to clean energy technologies that offer the best possible long-term solution to global warming and energy challenges. We deserve better choices than the oil and gas industry is offering us today.

EDWARD PERRY

Boalsburg Pa.

The writer serves on the environmental committee of Pennsylvania's Trout Unlimited.

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