When people get killed by shale gas industrialization, it’s time to ditch the euphemisms. Toxic radioactive flowback are not just “NORMs” (an industry euphemism for radioactive material = Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material) The only “un-natural” radioactive material is power plant and bomb grade refined uranium and plutonium. The kind Iran is sanctioned for.

Frackwaste is only a NORM when it’s left in the shale. It’s not natural to bring it to surface, truck it around in tanker convoys, dump it into trout streams or spread it on streets as de-icer. Because the level of natural radioactivity in frackwaste can sicken and kill you. Naturally.

Norm was the guy on the TV show “Cheers.” Toxic radioactive flowback is just that. No need to prettify it with a euphemism. Likewise, well flowback is not “brine” - which is what the DEC calls it. Brine is what you buy sardines in. It’s what you pickle cucumbers in to make pickles. Calling flowback “brine” makes it sound harmless, it’s classic Orwellian DoubleSpeak.

Flowback is toxic radioactive contaminated water - loaded with natural gas, frack fluid, oils, you name it. It’ll make you sick or worse. The gas in the flowback will burn. If contained, it will explode.

An explosion at a West Virginia well pad took the life of a worker.

“Dangers are inherent in the well drilling process for those who work in the industry. Damage can also occur on the property of neighboring landowners. Not only are there risks for the workers employed in extracting the gas, but property owners who have signed mineral right leases and those with property near gas wells may also suffer damage.

“A representative for the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association said that he was not aware that brine could explode.”

Maybe the “West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association” should write the man’s next of kin a letter and tell them they were awful sorry that the man was killed by fracking brine.

http://world.einnews.com/247pr/335076

Injury and property damage risks from Marcellus Shale drilling

An explosion at a West Virginia well pad recently took the life of one worker. Dangers are inherent in the well drilling process for those who work in the industry. Damage can also occur on the property of neighboring landowners. A recent West Virginia accident at a well pad highlights some of the dangers for those who work in the gas well drilling field.

The rural Taylor County accident happened early in the morning hours. An explosion killed one worker as he was trying to transfer wastewater from a tank into a truck. The Department of Environmental Protection is investigating, but acknowledges that some chemicals in the waste water might be flammable. The accident happened at a producing well site, which indicates that dangers exist even when the drilling is finished.

Not only are there risks for the workers employed in extracting the gas, but property owners who have signed mineral right leases and those with property near gas wells may also suffer damage.

The company operating the well pad called the fatality an “industrial accident.” A representative for the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association said that he was not aware that brine could explode.

A representative of the West Virginia Surface Owners’ Rights Organization explained that volatile organic compounds used in fracking fluids have vapors that can be explosive. People living near the well pads worry that compounds vented from wastewater storage may even harm air quality.

Accidental brine spills or runoff are a serious problem and can contaminate surface water especially in hilly or mountainous areas where runoff can easily flow onto neighboring property. Worries persist that fracking liquid injected into the shale could possibly contaminate the water table and affect wells and drinking water.

The worker that got killed might have been a lot like Norm. The fracking shills may pretend that the man was killed by “brine” but we know they lie.