What is happening to our pets?

One group that is affected by tracking just as much, if not more, than humans is the animals. No matter how bad people are effected by it the animals suffer more. They do not have a voice to file law suits, or call 1-800 numbers. They can't drive to stores to buy water. They drink out of the streams, the streams they have been drinking out of with no problem since the beginning of time. Humans are taking those animals rights; wild and domesticated. Another issue for the animals is that although many people might do their best to supply clean water to their pets they may not be able too. The water tanks that many people buy to import clean water can cost thousands of dollars, dollars they may not be able to spend on their pets rather than themselves.

In the documentary one family struggled to take care of their cat who was projectile vomiting and losing hair. When the family reported that to the oil company they said the cat probably just got into some chemicals or something else outside that had nothing to do with them. Their cat has never gone outside.

When the farmer in the documentary raised livestock for a living. He said all the cows coats were matted and were losing their hair quickly. The female cows were not mating as much as they had in the past which is mostly caused by a hormonal change due to the toxins in the water. The calves they were having were weaker and smaller than ever before. This all started after the wells were put in and poisoning the water. A study by two Cornell University researchers indicates the process of hydraulic fracturing deep shale to release natural gas may be linked to shortened lifespan and reduced or mutated reproduction in cattle—and maybe humans. Unfortunately cattle are kept in a confined controlled area on the farmers land which is being fracked left and right. 

Haliburton and BJ Services fracked up

We fracked up

This is an article about how two oil-field companies admit that they had put diesel fuel into their tracking fluid. After reading and researching so much about fracking I have started to understand that anytime something is going into the fracking fluid, it's going into the peoples drinking water. It is hard to understand how any company with humans working at it could knowingly inject diesel fuels into our earth no less peoples drinking water. The article talks about the schemes the companies made up to justify what happened whether it was an "accident" or a mistake of communication of the law throughout the company.

Some fracked up health problems

You never really realize how often you use water until you think about it. The glass of water when you first wake up, for your coffee, to rinse your fork off, to shower, to brush your teeth, the water bottle you have with lunch, they all seem so unimportant. Now imagine knowing every time you were going to do one of those things your water was going to have methane and ethylbenzene and a bunch of other unpronouncable's. Even if you knew your water was dangerous would you still do it if you had no other way of getting water? Well, many have to because of fracking.

In the documentary several health concerns were talked about by the families that were interviewed. One big thing that was talked about was that most people who drink the water get headaches. These are not just the once in a while headache, a common effect is developing Chronic Migraine Syndrome. The basis for CMS is having 15 or more migraines per month that last 4 or more hours. Everyone gets headaches but half of your life being controlled by your migraines can really take a toll.

Another health issue experienced after drinking the water in the marcellus region is Neropathy. Neropathy is weakness, numbness, and pain from nerve damage, usually in the hands and feet. It causes a great deal of pain from tingling and numbness that typically occurs in your joints and appendages. It also causes weakness of muscles making you feel weak and not want to do physical activity.


A Human Ecological Risk evaluation was done and research found that 75% of the chemicals could affect the skin, eyes,and other sensory organs. Also at risk are the respiratory and gastrointestinal systems. Approximately 40–50% could affect the brain/nervous system, immune and cardiovascular systems, and the kidneys; 37% could affect the endocrine system; and 25% could cause cancer and mutations.


Although there is not any one common illness caused by being around tracking stations there is a common factor that people who did not have these health problems before, got them after the drilling. Below is a list of over 7500 people who have reported health impacts since being around the drilling sights and drinking the water in their area after the earth has been tracked.

A list of the harmed.

What the frack is in there?

Chemical disclosure registry

Oil companies claim that there is only sand and water used to pressurize through the 8,000 feet of rock, well the people who can light their water on fire beg to differ.

There have been over 596 reported chemicals found in water that comes from the areas wells are put. 350 of these chemicals are reported toxic. Most oil companies claim to any challenger of their dangerous operations that their water is polluted all on it's own and that it has nothing to do with their equipment. They say their equipment is all safe and no dangerous chemicals are put into the ground. Apparently the steel  tube that is put into the ground to collect the oil is there to barricade any and all fluids from escaping into the earth and is completely safe.

The main chemical in fracking fluid is called Ethylbenzene. Ethylbenzene is a colorless liquid that smells like gasoline. IT is a carcinogen that is mostly used in the manufacturing of styrene. The EPA has classified ethylbenzene as a Group D, not classifiable as to human carcinogenicity. This means it is classified as a chemical that can cause cancer in human tissue. 

1.) "Acute (short-term) exposure to ethylbenzene in humans results in respiratory effects, such as throat irritation and chest constriction, irritation of the eyes, and neurological effects such as dizziness.  Chronic (long-term) exposure to ethylbenzene by inhalation in humans has shown conflicting results regarding its effects on the blood." (Environmental Protection Agency, EPA)
2.) "Exposure to ethylbenzene by inhalation resulted in an increased incidence of kidney and testicular tumors in rats, and lung and liver tumors in mice." (National Toxicology Program, NTP)

A nice hot glass of water on a cold day

What fracking does to your water

This is one of the thousands of peoples stories about their highly toxic water. This water is said to be "safe to drink" even though it contains chemicals that are on the poison controls list of toxins to "Seek immediate medical attention upon consumption list". When the people who's water this happens to call the oil companies to try to put an end to this come to the homes, they will not drink the water. Many people have spent large amounts of money to have a specialist take samples of their water and run an analysis and every one comes back as toxic and non-drinkable. You would think that water being set on fire in front of someones eyes would be enough to put a stop to this, or a toxin report from a specialist would be enough to stop it, but it's not. The oil companies are ran by highly powerful people who play large rolls in the american oil politics. They can easily bend laws, find ways to create new ones that go around their work, or plain out bribe government officials to let them do their work.

Who is affected by fracking?

According to a research project by a New York Times journalist at least 15.3 million Americans lived within a mile of a well that has been drilled since 2000. To put that in perspective there are 8.4 million people that live in New York City. 

After watching the amazing documentary by Josh Fox in 2010 I learned about many individual families that have been directly effected by fracking. It is truly a shame how unimportant the health and safety of not only 15.3 million people, but the safety of our own American soil is to the oil companies. The documentary talked to and about 10 families living in the Marcellus shale region who's lives have been completely changed for the worse. 

One story stood out to me in particular. A family who's career, and family legacy, is raising cattle. They lived on a farm which has been owned for 4 generations by their family and means everything to them. They used to love raising livestock for the purpose of being able to produce the best, healthiest, natural meats to their customers. Since the first of the 16 oil wells had been installed on their property they have had highly contaminated water. Their water is not in any way drinkable for them and they buy all their water from a store. Unfortunately it would be entirely too expensive to buy enough water to feed all their livestock and water the grass that all the cows eat. When I watched this film I had never thought that it would effect me because I do not live in that area. After watching the farmers wife speak about the young calves being weak and getting sick from the water I thought wow, every time I eat meat it has to come from someones farm. Although I don't live anywheres near where they do it could happen to anyone. Their family has always loved their career and felt pride in raising healthy strong cows and they feel dishonest and failed having to let their cows drink the contaminated water.

When the first well had been put up their family immediately sued the oil company. The oil company ended up settling for $20,000 and a promise there would be only 1 well put up in that area, which the family took. They also signed a non disclosure message that stopped them from talking about this, which they don't follow. Since then, there has been 15 more oil rigs put up on their land ruining the properties value. All complaints and suits filed are put to rest before going very far due to the companies saying the families sudden black water filled with chemicals that makes their family sick "has nothing to do with their wells".

His wife now has Chronic Migraine Disorder and feels weak most of the time, his cattle have thin coats and lose their hair rapidly, their water is the same color as a dirty penny, and the oil companies take no responsibility. The people affected love their land and their lives and can no longer live the way they have for decades. These are real people, who's lives are being destroyed due to oil company's and the government valuing oil over lives. 

Where is this happening?

The largest natural gas field in the United States is called the Marcellus Shale region. It extends over New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia,Virginia, Ohio and parts of Tennessee. It is not only one of the largest natural gas fields in America, but in the world. The shale goes through the beautiful mountains in New York that many people move to to be away from cities and be able to enjoy nature and peace. In 2002 there was a study done called the Assessment of Undiscovered Oil and Gas Resources of the Appalachian Basin Province that calculated the Marcellus Shale region contained an estimated undiscovered resource of 1.9 trillion cubic feet of gas. As time went on and more research has been done it was estimated in early 2015 that the Marcellus Shale was yielding about 14.4 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day.

Of course to anyone who doesn't have to live with the turmoil digging up this gas causes, this seems like the jackpot. We import oil from other countries at higher prices which costs us financially and politically. The Marcellus is approximately 1.3 miles deep in the ground. Since it is so deep larger and more expensive equipment is needed to do this digging. It can cost over a million dollars for a traditional vertical well and several million dollars for a horizontal well with hydraulic fracturing. Although the price of the millions of gallons of oil can justify the prices of the wells, it entails a tremendous amount of environmental damage to the appalachian areas.