Fracking and a Radioactive Silvery-White Monster: Radium Must be Left in the Earth

[caraher]

5. Is the NY DEC study being used to argue fracking is safe?

The report White criticizes is available through the New York DEC web site (which includes a link to a .pdf of the full report).

The scope of that study seems to be assessment of risks associated with oil and gas extraction methods that have been used in the past. The software used to estimate impacts is intended for use in environmental cleanup work. But I think the most important question is essentially unanswerable without a lot of research: how much more radium would one expect using fracking than the old methods? It could be a LOT more. I think White is correct that the 1999 study isn't really applicable to the new situation.

At the same time, I wonder whether this is a straw man on some level. Is industry citing the 1999 study to dismiss any concerns about contamination from NORM (naturally-occurring radioactive materials)?

I suspect that this is the least of many excellent reasons to oppose fracking.