I’m reminded again of the man up in Faulkner County who described the Fayetteville shale gas drilling boom as a gift from God.

You decide for yourself who brought the gift of environmental damage. Summary news release is on jump. Here’s a link to full report.

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Gerard Matthews has been chronicling this story from the first for us. But the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality makes it official today. Disposal of drilling wastes has been a disaster. Check his Shale Watch blog for a lovely photo of one of these disposal sites.

Says a Department study: Every single one of the “land farms” on which this stuff has been deposited has caused environmental harm, such as in runoff of dangerous waste into water supplies. Unacceptably high application of chlorides may have made some land unusable in the future. The department found evidence of application of prohibited oil-based drilling fluid on the land.

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The department, in recent months, has gotten interested in the subject. But it has long been clear that the state’s environmental response — including the willingness of the Beebe administration to aggressively build enforcement muscle from the very first — was tardy and inadequate. Wouldn’t want to bite the hand that feeds royalty owners and politicians.

Today’s report is a damning and sobering account of the consequences.

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Remember, too, this is about just one facet of the operation. It doesn’t address respect for water in pipeline work; environmental controls on drilling sites; damage to roads; noise pollution; air pollution from drilling sites. You can be sure these have all been equally well monitored.

 

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