Fracking is a dirty process by which energy companies use hydraulic pressure to crack open underground rock to release natural gas. While there are benefits to burning natural gas over other energy sources like oil and coal, this method poses extreme danger to our water sources - meaning extreme risks to human health. SOURCE

Both the mixture of chemicals used to break the rock and the released natural gas can contaminate underground aquifers and the toxic waste water of this process can harm local water quality. Some of these chemicals are carcinogens. However, current law exempts fracking from the laws that protect drinking water. SOURCE

The FRAC Act would do the following: SOURCE

►Require disclosure of the chemicals used in the process of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas extraction, but not the proprietary chemical formula. Disclosures would be made available to the public online.

Protect proprietary chemical formulas– much like the way Coca-Cola must reveal the ingredients of Coke, but not their secret formula; oil and gas companies would have to reveal the chemicals, but not the specific formula.

►Enact an emergency provision requiring proprietary chemical formulas to be disclosed to a treating physician, the State, or EPA in emergency situations where the information is needed to provide medical treatment.

►Repeal a provision added to the Energy Policy Act of 2005 exempting the industry from complying with the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), one of our landmark environmental and public health protection statutes.

Click HERE to watch a short video from the Food and Water Watch. Then sign their petition, (as well as this one) asking your representative to support the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act - or, more simply, the FRAC Act. *you may need to use your back button to sign both but they are slightly different. Their petition is delivered all at once to your Representatives and calls for a national ban on fracking, where as this one is sent immediately by email to your federal representatives, the President and to members on the Committee on Environment and Public Works, and calls for a passage of the Frac Act.

*After signing please keep sharing, Thank you!

If you think nuclear is dangerous to our health, just want until you find out about some of the chemcicals they are using in fracking. You will be shocked.

Washington, D.C. -- U.S. SOURCE Representatives Diana DeGette, Jared Polis, and Maurice Hinchey introduced the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals (FRAC) Act of 2011 March 15, 2011.

The FRAC Act places the practice of hydraulic fracturing under the framework of the Safe Drinking Water Act and requires energy companies to disclose toxic chemicals used in the process.

Todd Keller, Senior Manager of Public Lands Campaigns for National Wildlife Federation, said today:“The FRAC Act provides an incredible opportunity to protect wildlife habitat and human health from toxic chemicals. Hunters, anglers, conservationists, and local communities are concerned about the impacts of hydraulic fracturing on water quality, wildlife, and critical habitat. This legislation moves us toward responsible natural gas development. Exploration should not be done in a way that puts public health and wildlife habitat at risk from exposure to toxic chemicals.”

“This key piece of legislation follows on the heels of statements from Bureau of Land Management Director Bob Abbey that mischaracterizes the impacts of hydraulic fracturing on water resources and downplays the public’s right to know about what may be contaminating their drinking water. It is unfortunate a senior Department of the Interior official would be so cavalier with his words about such an important issue affecting communities all over the country.” SOURCE





READ MORE at our Blog, there is a wealth of information and links.

Watch another great informational video HERE





More about the Frac Act

The Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals (FRAC) Act was re-introduced in both the House and Senate. The House bill (H.R. 1084) was introduced by Representatives Diana DeGette (D-CO), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), and Jared Polis (D-CO) and has 31 co-sponsors to date. Senator Robert Casey (D-PA) introduced the companion Senate bill (S. 587), with Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Ben Cardin (D-MD) as original co-sponsors. Congresswoman DeGette and Senator Casey were the lead sponsors of the FRAC Act in the previous Congress.

The legislation would repeal the current exemption for hydraulic fracturing under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). The Energy Policy Act of 2005 amended the SDWA to preclude EPA from regulating the underground injection of fluids (other than diesel fuel) for hydraulic fracturing purposes. In repealing the exemption, the FRAC Act would require disclosure of the chemical constituents used in the fracking process, but not the proprietary chemical formula (an emergency provision is included requiring disclosure of the proprietary chemical formula if the information is needed for the provision of medical treatment). Under both bills, disclosure would be to the State regulatory agencies (or to EPA, if EPA has primary enforcement responsibility in the State) and the chemical additives would be made publicly-available online. SOURCE