Protect Arches and Canyonlands national parks from fracking. Dear Melissa, The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is on the verge of opening over 80,000 acres of land just miles from Arches and Canyonlands national parks to the dangerous new method of oil and gas drilling called fracking. Despite the clear danger to these precious national treasures, and serious concerns over nearby Moab's drinking water, BLM is moving forward with a February oil and gas lease auction without even preparing an environmental impact statement to determine the full consequences.1 BLM should be protecting precious places like Arches and Canyonlands, not blindly paving the way for oil and gas companies to endanger them. Tell the Bureau of Land Management: Don't frack near Arches National Park. Submit a public comment to the BLM now. This lease sale would open the area to fracking, a radical new method of oil and gas drilling that involves injecting huge amounts of water, chemicals, and sand deep underground to fracture rocks. Fracking contaminates groundwater, pollutes the air, and generates millions of gallons of toxic, radioactive wastewater.2 If this lease sale moves forward, Arches and Canyonlands could forever be transformed by this invasive practice. Fracking requires the full-scale industrialization of the entire surrounding region, including a vast transport network of pipelines and compressor stations venting toxic air pollution, and open pits to store poisonous wastewater. Each fracking well also requires thousands of visits by diesel trucks hauling water, sand and toxic chemicals. And it isn't just the national parks that are at risk. Moab's geology makes it uniquely susceptible to water contamination, and Congress never completed a comprehensive groundwater study of Moab's aquifer, so the frackers would be drilling blind.3 An invasion by the fracking industry could poison Moab's water, and will transform unique, precious desert landscapes. Two of America's great natural beauties would be spoiled by an industry that leaves ruin its wake. Tell the Bureau of Land Management: Don't frack near Arches National Park. Submit a public comment to the BLM now. http://act.credoaction.com/r/?r=6949872&p=arches_fracking&id=47011-4888946-MNVFh_x&t=7 Thanks for fighting for our national treasures. Zack Malitz, Campaign Manager CREDO Action from Working Assets 1. Christopher Smart, "Potential for 'fracking' near Moab raises drinking water concerns," The Salt Lake Tribune, August 30, 2012 2. "Hydraulic Fracturing 101," Earthworks 3. Kristin Mills, "Oil and gas parcels raise water Qs," Moab Sun News, August 29, 2012 |