Community Peace Radio - Andy Feldman, Oil and Natural Gas Extraction
Community Peace Radio Show #61
Date: 9 January 2010
Topic: Oil and Natural Gas Extraction
Participant: Andy Feldman (city councilor, community college instructor)
Co-Hosts: Pat Leahan, Curtis Sollohub
Summary: One goal of this show is to help our listeners prepare for the upcoming San Miguel County, NM Commissioners monthly meeting, scheduled for 1:30 PM on January 12th. On the agenda for that meeting is a proposed ordinance calling for a 12-month moratorium on oil and gas drilling in our county. As part of the meeting, there will be a public hearing, so we want our community to be informed so they can participate in the hearing. Andy utilizes his geology and hydrology background to discuss the various issues around oil and gas extraction in San Miguel County. We discuss the risks and hazards of hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon extraction. We play an excerpt of a Mora County resident's 2009 testimony at a Mora County Commission Oil and Gas hearing about how the industry destroyed her husband's health. The hydraulic fracturing process, invented by Halliburton Corporation in the 1940s, is discussed. The fracking process involves injecting hundreds of toxic chemicals into the ground, and utilizes millions of gallons of fresh water.
We also play an audio clip of Bob Gallagher, President of the NM Oil and Gas Association, claiming that not one drop of water delivered to a consumer has ever been contaminated in NM by the Oil and Gas Industry. Yet the NM Oil Conservation Division lists 35 pages, many hundreds of examples, of water contamination throughout NM caused by the drilling industry.
The propaganda put out by the Oil and Gas Industry, including the myth that it brings economic development, is rightly challenged. We are all reminded that education is key. We need to educate ourselves and our community so we can prepare to take on an industry that is exempt from portions of the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Safe Water Drinking Act, Community Right to Know Act, and more. Genuine green energy, a green economy, and conservation of energy are also noted as important to bring forth.
