Letter shows 'fear mongering, false claims'

To the Editor:

The letter from Jenna Pedrin dated June 5 is an excellent example of fear mongering at its worst.

She claims that hydraulic fracturing “could” endanger Michigan’s water supply. She fails to note that Michigan has never had a single case of water contamination due to hydraulic fracturing, and we have been doing this for more than 40 years.

If her claims were true, with more than 60,000 wells already hydraulically fractured, there should be plenty of evidence to point to as examples of the danger posed by this process. Unfortunately, she has not a single example to prove her alarmist claims.

She goes on to claim that oil and gas companies refuse to disclose chemicals used during the well completion. This is false. Every chemical used is identified in material safety data sheet documents on site and submitted to the Department of Environmental Quality.

Activists continue to make false claims like these to cause fear and alarm among our fellow citizens, but the issue deserves factual information, not what Pedrin spreads in her letter.

John Simaz

Director, Energy in Depth

Michigan Chapter