To all who did not have the opportunity to see the HBO documentary Gasland” premiered last evening, June 21, I recommend going to the Diane Rehm interview of June 21 of Josh Fox on NPR.com. Mr. Fox, the maker of the documentary gave a brief synopsis of what he reported in the documentary regarding the adverse impacts of Hydraulic Fracking, the technique used to extract gas from the Utica and Collingwood Shale, located about two miles below the surface.   For those who viewed the documentary, I presume you are as disturbed as I am about both the industry and governmental denial that there are any problems, although faced with countless denial individual circumstances in such far ranging locations as Pennsylvania, New York, Wyoming, Colorado, Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana.  The documentary showed several instances where gas and associated chemicals had invaded underground aquifiers that had been providing fresh water, resulting in instances where water from kitchen faucets could be ignited with a match.  Similarly, the documentary showed water seeps which could also be ignited.  The documentary discussed the total absence of Federal oversight due to the congressional exemption of the oil industry from essentially all of the Federal environmental laws including the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act as well as the wholesale surrendering of public lands to oil and gas developers without regard to the adverse impact on both people and wildlife.

If any reader has further information on the foregoing, input would be welcomed.