Not too long ago North America's natural gas reserves were peaking out and the cost of natural gas began to skyrocket along with petroleum. Then all of a sudden, it seemed, we are being told that we have an almost endless supply of natural gas lying under much of the continent and that natural gas is the answer to our energy future. What we're not being told is that the unconventional process being used to extract this gas—called hydrofracturing—may potentially contaminate a wide swath of watersheds and drinking water systems across the country. One of the watersheds being threatened is the Delaware River, which provides drinking water to many municipalities in the northeast, including New York City.
This week on Locus Focus our guest is Tracy Carluccio, deputy director of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, an advocacy group that works to protect the longest undammed river east of the Mississippi from a growing barrage of assaults from development projects that contribute to sprawl, the aggressive extraction of resources, floodplain, habitat and wetlands destruction, new and increased pollution discharges, damming, dredging, dumping and spills.
For more information about the impact of fracking on human lives, water quality and natural resources, you can check out Josh Fox's new documentary Gasland.
- KBOO