Unconventional drilling creates a huge amount of waste, some of which
is being sprayed onto farmer’s fields. A 2005 report from New Zealand
stated cows grazing on “dump farms” have elevated levels of
hydrocarbons. “Cows are allowed to graze on land with high levels of
hydrocarbons without any punishment and their food products are allowed
to go to market without government testing,” a
Green Party MP said
last year. It is happening in Canada too. The field above is northwest
of Calgary. Former energy consultant Jessica Ernst said, “We are eating
& drinking drilling and fracking waste.”
“When they are
drilling deep horizontal wells, they go a great distance and this
produces a lot of drilling waste. It is toxic. There are a lot of
naturally occurring toxics that are brought up. It is often radioactive.
I have documentation that the formations they want to frack are
radioactive. This comes up with metals and BTEX (Benzene, Tolulene,
Ethylbenzyne, Xylenes) carcinogens plus the mystery additives which
companies refuse to disclose,” said Ernst.
The most economical
disposal method is to dump the waste on agricultural land. This includes
the grasslands, where animals graze, and crop lands. “So, essentially,
we will eat the waste coming from the drilling.” Farmers are paid to
let let companies spread what they are told is “good fertilizer” on
their fields.
Ernst said some farmers eventually stop accepting
this fracking waste. Others don’t care and will continue accepting waste
on fields that will be used to plant crops.
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