Fracking: A silent death sweeps across the nation

Fracking: A silent death sweeps across the nation


(NaturalNews) Farmland is tainted. Drinking water turns flammable. And
humans along with animals are sick. The cause? Fracking. It's
terrorizing the environment, destroying the health of those who live
close to the sites and contaminating the food supply. With more than
600,000 fracking wells and waste injection locations around the country,
if this practice is not contained soon, clean water and food will
become a distant memory.

Fracking 101

What exactly is
fracking? It's a technique used by the oil industry to facilitate the
flow of natural gas or petroleum by injecting mass amounts of noxious
liquid deep into the earth. The chemicals used in fracking (benzene,
arsenic, ethylene glycol, lead, formaldehyde, toluene, Uranium-238,
Radium-226, to name a few) devastate the land and water within proximity
to the poisonous injection sites. Even more alarming, the toxins are
also linked with birth defects, cancer, autism, kidney failure and
autoimmune disorders.

Water on fire

One of the more
dramatic illustrations of fracking contamination is water catching fire
straight our of the faucet. Seriously. The methane levels are so high,
tap water becomes combustible. Not only does fracking ruin the land and
water, but it also infuses livestock and plants with toxins that
eventually enter into the food supply. Farmers who live close to
fracking wells have become seriously ill, animals die.

One
example is seen with Marilyn and Robert Hunt, farmers in West Virginia.
Goats, chickens and cattle are raised on their 70-acre organic farm. The
Hunts turned down an offer from the Chesapeake Energy Corporation
to lease their minerals rights. This didn't prevent Chesapeake from
"stealing gas from both sides of our property," according to Mrs. Hunt
in the Organic Consumers Association article, "Fracking our Farms: A Tale of Five Farming Families." Then, in 2010, the company received a permit to dispose fracking
waste on her land. She recalls, "The water got little white flecks in
it, and we started to get sick. We lost a whole lot of baby goats that
got gastrointestinal disorders from drinking the water." Curiously, the
cattle were spared any adverse effects. Mrs. Hunt believes this is due
to the fact that the cattle drink from an uncontaminated spring high on
the property.

Susan Wallace-Babb, a Colorado rancher, has also
suffered from fracking. In 2005, she breathed in fumes from an
overflowing natural gas tank half a mile from her property. She
collapsed, unconscious. The next morning, Susan was violently ill with
severe diarrhea and uncontrollable vomiting. Within a few days, a
burning rash broke out over her body, lesions soon followed. Her
symptoms became worse whenever she went outdoors. A year later she moved
to a small town in Texas. Susan's health improved over the course of
three years until Exxon began fracking wells 14 miles away. Her symptoms
returned within a few short months.

End the madness

Until
farmers refuse to lease their land to fracking operators, the problem
will continue to escalate. In an effort to educate fellow ranchers about
the dangers of
fracking, Jacki Schilke of North Dakota, warns, "They're here to rape
this land, make as much money as they can and get the hell out of here.
They could give a crap less what they are doing here. They will come on
your property look you straight in the eye and lie to you."

For those who find fracking unacceptable, a petition to ban the practice can be found here.

To learn more, the Dangers of Fracking website offers unique animated information.


Source:-
http://www.naturalnews.com/040115_fracking_health_dangers_waste_injection.html