[ExI] Hydraulic Fracturing

[Damien Broderick]

Barbara Lamar commented to me:

FWIW, ever since they fracked the well next to our land [an hour or so 
from Austin, TX], there have been small black particles in the well 
water. These particles were never there before. Also, the water smells 
foul, not like simple H2S but something else, almost like a dead animal. 
I wouldn't even think of drinking it. I hesitate even to use it for 
irrigation. Also, contrary to what Rafal said, they often frack the 
wells more than once. I know this from personal observation on my own 
land and from working with clients in the oil business, not from 
something I've read.

Oh, and although they were supposed to dispose of the portion of 
fracking fluid that came back up, and they did end up trucking some of 
it away (to contaminate other land somewhere else, no doubt), they 
stored much of it in open pits. The soil is sandy, so most of the fluid 
would have percolated down into the water table. Yeah, yeah, Rafal would 
say to sue them. What good is that when the courts are bound to consider 
the public good of having cheap oil, rather than individual rights of 
landowners?