Fracking Mess

Many of you, if not all of you, have heard me talking about "fracking" and the effect it's having on our state, and now our very own neighborhood.  If you don't know what fracking is, drop me a note and I'll tell you.  The latest in the great debacle is our local school board is considering leasing school property for fracking purposes.  Yes, this means that, even if they have a "non-surface" agreement (no drill pads can be placed on school property), a drill pad could be placed within mere yards/feet of our son's school (on a neighboring leased property).  Doesn't that sound delightful?  Wouldn't you like to study/play next to a massive drill pad, along with a containment pond, truck loads of fracking brine water, along with the thousands of tankers bringing the fracking materials and all the noise and chemicals they put off?  Yes, fracking has come to our area and it's here.  I get that - there's no getting around it.  But just because "it's already here", does that mean that you have to put it right next to our kids' school?!  Don't sign the lease(s) and that puts the closest possible pads about 1 - 1 1/2 miles away!  Is that great?  No.  But, it's a whole heck of a lot better than right next to the slides!  All this to the tune of $185,000 up front and 18% royalties.  I'm sorry, our children's health is worth a hell of a lot more than that!  One of the board members even has kids that go to our school!  Sir: I know you love your children, but if you want to poison your kids - then do it on your land.  You have no right to poison mine!

Parents around here are sick about this.  It really feels like people are signing leases willy-nilly, without thinking about the effects it will take on our lands, air, water and ourselves.  I know the economy sucks, believe me.  Would I like $185,000? You bet.  Would I risk our lives for it?  No.  I'm sorry.

Someone, who I know is anti-fracking, asked me this: You grew up in Northern Virginia and you want to move back there.  The crime rate  there was/is certainly higher than where we are and what it could potentially be here once the fracking people start coming in.  The air pollution there warrants O-zone warning days.  Why are you so bent out of shape about this?  I'll tell you: 1) Here, I have an expectation of safety (I'm still vigilant, because that's my nature, but I've tried to relax a bit) and I like that expectation.  And 2) because the chemicals are different, and the effects would be concentrated right over our little town and right next to our son's school.  Tributaries aren't contaminated by fracking brine in NoVa.  I can't tell you any more than that.  It's a gut feeling thing.  A protective mother thing.  It's just something that, right now, I can't explain.