This letter to the editor by Austin Babrow appeared in the Athens News March 8th, 2018.
Do you remember in fall of 2011, when the fracking landmen came to town offering bonuses for signed mineral-rights leases, when they were caught on tape claiming that chemical-laden fracking water was essentially Dawn dishwashing liquid? Where were the governmental protections? They’d already been sold – not leased but sold – to the O&G industry. The rights of corporations to profit turned out to be our only protection; our geology didn’t support fracking. That’s the only reason we don’t see fracking pads covering our hills like a swarm of malaria-infected mosquitoes, sucking our blood and poisoning us for the trouble. MORE…