Proposed fracking in national forest meets broad opposition

[unhappycamper]

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-national-forest-fracking-20140123,0,987706.story



The U.S. Forest Service considers allowing hydraulic fracturing for natural gas in George Washington National Forest in Virginia, stirring concern about risks to drinking water in the Washington, D.C., area.

Proposed fracking in national forest meets broad opposition
By Neela Banerjee
January 22, 2014, 7:08 p.m.

BRIDGEWATER, Va. — The headwaters of the Potomac River rise amid the hills and hollows of George Washington National Forest in Virginia. Small creeks dart past oak, white pine and hickory, become streams that nourish farmland and towns, and create a river that courses through two states and the nation's capital.

About 4 million people depend on that water. For decades, the U.S. Forest Service identified preserving its purity as the top priority for the national forest. Now, the agency is considering allowing George Washington to become the first national forest to permit high-volume hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

The million-acre forest sits on the eastern edge of the Marcellus shale formation, whose vast deposits of natural gas have touched off a drilling bonanza in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

All across the country, fracking's risks and rewards have splintered communities. But the potential risk to George Washington National Forest's water has drawn widespread opposition, including from most of the towns and counties nearby, members of Virginia's congressional delegation and Washington's mayor. The oil industry says any natural gas could be extracted with little harm to the national forest and its waters.

[notemason]

1. Then frack 'em all

We have this assurance:
The oil industry says any natural gas could be extracted with little harm to the national forest and its waters.

as the Native American sheds another tear

Looks like it's all up for sale.