An out-of-control gas well shot natural gas and polluted drilling water 75 feet into the air in Pennfield, Pa., on June 3.
The well spewed fracking solution and gas for about 16 hours before it was brought under control.
State officials worried the gas might explode before the well could be controlled. Luckily, the well never caught fire and no injuries were reported.
The same cannot be said for Monday's accident in West Virginia's Northern Panhandle.
Seven workers were burned when a crew drilling a natural gas well hit a pocket of methane gas that ignited, triggering an explosion.
Later Monday, a natural gas pipeline exploded in Cleburne, Texas.
A utility worker was killed when he accidentally hit a gas line, sending a fireball into the air.
Last month, Otsego County Rep. Richard Murphy, D-Oneonta, introduced a resolution calling for the state to enact a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracking.
That resolution was not passed.
Hydrofracking occurs when large quantities of water, sand and chemicals are pumped deep into the ground under high pressure to shatter the rock that holds the natural gas.
The practice is used on vertical and horizontal gas wells.
With numerous reports of exploding wells, migrating gas and polluted drinking water, how can we afford to not have a moratorium?
We spend our whole lives trying to avoid things that could be dangerous or harmful to us.
If we are unsure of the danger of a certain activity, we don't do it or we research it further to decide if it's worth doing.
That is called common sense.
Let's say you were told to mix water, sand and chemicals and pump them underground under high pressure to shatter shale beds that hold natural gas. Would you feel safe doing this?
First, you might want to know what chemicals are being used.
Well, gas-drilling companies aren't telling what chemicals are being used and no one is making them tell.
And since this mixture is under enough pressure to shatter rock thousands of feet underground, you might wonder if this solution will find its way into our wells, surface water and aquifers.
An Aug. 3, 2009, report by ProPublica.org said that there were 52 cases of methane migration in Pennsylvania since 2004, including a leak that killed three people when it blew up a house.
Sure, there is money to be made from natural gas drilling. But dollars and cents shouldn't contaminate our common sense.
A moratorium on natural gas drilling is needed in New York state.
Opinion
Drilling moratorium needed
- Opinion
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Letters to the Editor: February 22, 2012
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Letters to the Editor: February 22, 2012
