Part III: Turning Rural
America into the New Industrialized Wastelands
Despite precautions not to
contaminate ground water, at least 3 states participating in the fracking boom,
Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio, each have hundreds of complaints
regarding contamination of water supplies. Texas has over 2,000 complaints of well
water contamination; however, Texas state regulators have not confirmed one
single case, which is probably a reflection of the nature of the Texan
government.
The state government of
Texas has also been insistent that the fracking has been in complete compliance
with air quality standards. Fracking is now known to be a definite source of
air pollution. From the drilling, fracking, to processing, volatile organic
compounds (VOCs) that include benzene and toluene are released. VOCs are known
causes of cancer and also play a role in the development of neurological
disorders. Specific to the Eagle Ford Shale Formation, there has been the
continued release of hydrogen sulfide, a toxic gas that cause minor illnesses
like nausea, nose bleeds, asthma, and at high enough doses, causes death. This
past February, the Center for Public Integrity published a report on this very
subject titled “Big Oil, Bad Air.” Air quality would have to be regulated on
the state level, and as Governor Rick Perry does not believe in the existence
of an Environmental Protection Agency as he stated frequently when he was
participating in the Republican primaries, his administration appears to not
believe in environmental regulation on the local state level as well.
On the positive side, this
past April 24, 2014, a Texas couple has won a more than $2.9 million judgment
against the energy company Aruba Petroleum for disruptive fracking near their
land. A jury found Aruba “intentionally created a private nuisance” through its
drilling and fracking operations near the home of Bob and Lisa Parr. The
pollution was so bad the Parrs had to flee their home for months at a time.
Their attorney says the case marks “the first fracking verdict in U.S.
history.” Perhaps this will embolden others to take a stand against the
practices of the industry. Ultimately grass roots activism is needed to push
the Texan government to regulate existing air and water quality laws, and of
course this goes for other states as well.
Radioactive waste has also
been a growing problem, and this has especially been noted in North Dakota,
which is now the second largest oil and gas producing state after Texas. To
capture the solid waste from the waste water used in fracking, a large net
called a filter sock is used. Literally dozens of tons of these waste sock
filters are produced as garbage to be tossed daily. The landfills in North
Dakota have installed Geiger counters and will not let anything be dumped that
registers over 5 picocuries of radioactivity, and current state law levies a
$1,000 per sock fine on the radioactive filter socks. Individually, socks have
registered degrees of radioactivity clocking in from above 5 picocuries to over
1,000 picocuries. As North Dakota has absolutely no formal rules or way for
companies to dispose of these radioactive filter socks, they’ve been getting
dumped illegally. Just last month, tons of this waste was found dumped
illegally at Indian reservations in McKenzie County. Around the same time,
outside the small town of Noonan with a population of 102, an abandoned 4,000
square foot gasoline station was found to be packed solidly with deadly
radioactive filter socks. As usual, the theme is ‘we have to get the oil out of
the ground as soon as possible” and anything else takes a back seat, including
any possible oversight and regulation.
Apparently, the oil
companies would prefer to control the politics that would allow for meaningful
regulation that would prevent dangerous pollution.
In the 1990s, Royal Dutch
Shell was heavily drilling around the Nigerian Delta unleashing lots of
damaging pollution which resulted in massive protest by activists that lived in
the region. The oil operations resulted in numerous spills and fires in the Ogoni
region. The Nigerian Mobile Police Force or MOPOL, the paramilitary wing of the
Nigerian police force, essentially allowed itself to be bought as mercenaries
by Shell oil and actively shot at peaceful protest and demonstrations. It’s
known that when acting as guardians of oil operations, members of MOPOL even
were wearing Shell patches on their uniforms. In 1995 well known play writer
who was also an activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, was captured by MOPOL and hung to
death.
Members of the Kiobel family
related to murdered victims brought a case against Royal Dutch Shell in the US
claiming the corporation violated the alien tort act, by providing material
support to deadly military squads from the Nigerian army and police that
attacked and murdered several Ogonis in the early 1990s. Royal Dutch Shell and
several multinational corporations were handed victory by the US Supreme Court
which affirmed the September 2010 decision of the US Court of Appeals for the
second circuit relating to the case of Ogoni nationals affected by Shell’s oil
connivance with the Nigerian military.
So, essentially, if a
multinational corporation kills and tortures people in another country who
protest extreme environmental damage, they can do so if it’s along the normal
lines of business. This unfortunate 2013 Supreme Court decision should not be
too much of a surprise, as this is the same U.S. Supreme Court that effectively
declared corporations are have the same rights as people in the Citizens United
vs. Federal Election Commission case in 2010.
It is fully apparent that
multinational corporations have the ability to corrupt the government to serve
their interests in the name of short term profits. Strong grassroots activism
will be required to challenge the current institutions in power.
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