Scientific/commonsense comments wanted:

... the current borough president informs us that
· Water contaminated by fracking has an excessively salty taste, the salt being in such a concentration that it is unpalatable.*
· At present there is not a concern locally about the purity of the ground water in the county that is being heavily monitored by the Department of Environmental Protection** and ***
· Because of their concern for issues of liability and for the safety of the residents of the boro, the boro water supply is tested daily for any impurities, especially those associated with the fracking process.***
· The quality of the boro water is tested daily by the boro in addition to the requirements of testing by the EPA.***


Surveying others who live in the countryside:
· There is no present concern about the quality of the aquifer from which the well water is drawn, which is apparently the same source as the boro water.+
· No one in the parish is expressing concern presently about the quality of drinking water, they use bottled water as a convenience drink, not as a replacement for tap water.++
· There is concern about the long range effects of drawing off 4 million gallons of water per day which is the permitted rate consumption of the gas companies— the concern here being not about the quality of water, but the available of water for the future.
· That water used in fracking is trucked down to a point below Williamsport where it is treated and then released into the Susquehanna River.+++
· Water released into the Susquehanna river is also monitored by the EPA before it is released into the river.+++
· Thinking people would be more concerned about what folk downstream would be consuming, since the Susquehanna river provides water for many communities to the south, including Harrisburg.
· The real area of concern is not about the potable water, but what's in those trucks that bear the signs Residual Waste. For the moment, it would seem that we would be at greater risk from the environmental impact of one of those leaking, spilling, or being in a collision.

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* If the borough filters the salt out-- the marker-- how would I know that there might also be other unnamed chemicals in there, since we know that other communities' experience has been that the drillers will not specify?

** Izzat the fed EPA testing (Cheney's holdovers?) or a state agency in a state being benefited by fracking?

*** How can they test for chemicals they do not know are there?

+ They have done research? Or the have not yet gotten worried? Is their property leased-- are they benefiting from the fracking? Are they not worried because they have "conveniently" taken steps that headed off a potential concern?

++ They have money to spend on "convenience" water? Then I guess they must assume that we can afford it, too.

+++ If it is safe, why does it have to go downstream, and who is monitoring the effects of the water on the wildlife and human populations there? How can they monitor what they do not know is in the water?

~S~