NYT Corrects 'Fracking' Story: 'Few' Cases of Water Contamination, Not 'Numerous'
People who approach an issue with certain beliefs are generally less likely to check claims that comport with those beliefs. It's called confirmation bias. Observe: Tuesday's New York Times carried this correction, highlighted by John Hinderaker at Powerline:
An article on May 7 about the Obama administration's appointment of a panel of experts to find ways to make hydraulic fracturing safer misstated the prevalence of cases in which fluids from the gas drilling process have been proven to have contaminated drinking water. There are few documented cases, not numerous ones, although federal and state investigations into reports of such incidents are continuing.
In other words, hydraulic fracturing is not, by and large, a danger to drinking water supplies. Since potential dangers to drinking water are integral to virtually every argument mounted against the practice, the incidence of contamination is crucial to the debate.
While it's nice to see the Times correct the record, this information is not hard to come by, and so this correction really should not have been necessary. The mistake seems to point to a classic instance of confirmation bias: layers of Times editors didn't think to check the claim, probably because it aligned with preconceived notions on the dangers of hydraulic fracturing.
It's also worth noting that given the large economic impact of expanded natural gas drilling, the fact that the dangers of "fracking" are exactly the opposite of what the Times initially reported, a small, little-read correction item will not do much to fix the damage done from the misinformation put out by the initial false report.
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Comments
Few? Still wrong? I don't think so...
Submitted by MaximusBraveheart on Wed, 05/18/2011 - 1:08pm.
A "few" may still be wrong. I don't think there has been a few documented cases. Anyone know on this? If there has been one or two or zero, that does not even make a few. Those cases where there is gas in people's water; that was proven to be natural and zero relation to gas drilling. Proven! Federal Agency was proven wrong here in Texas. Feds confirm contaminated and State proved it was natural. Fed lies. Rights and economy dies.
-- Maximusbraveheart -- Is TRUTH knowable? Moral Relativism is the abandonment of Truth. Truth is knowable. Truth conforms to Reality. Reality is observable by evidence & witness in this day & from history. Relativism is Sesame Street play land.
I am not aware of any confirmed contamination ....
Submitted by NL207 on Wed, 05/18/2011 - 1:36pm.
cases that resulted from hydraulic fracking itself.
I did a literature search on this topic a few months ago. Every reported and confirmed groundwater contamination case I have found involving fracking was caused by improper materials handling. i.e., the well management company SPILLED the fracking solution at the surface and contaminated water supplies with the run-off. This is no different than a careless excavator spilling diesel fuel at a construction site. That kind of pollution is easy to trace to the polluter and prevent.
Nor am I.
Submitted by The Vet on Thu, 05/19/2011 - 12:41am.
The sources of natural gas in fracking processes are not near underground water sources. Don't forget, water filters down from the soil to the level it reaches. Natural gas is trapped in impermeable layers well below the water level. If natural gas could somehow seep to the water layer, it would have done so long ago I believe.
I saw something about this recently
Submitted by bkeyser on Wed, 05/18/2011 - 1:18pm.
and it seems to me that the cases were few at best, and have since been eliminated due to lessons learned and a change in materials and methods.
A NYT Count Down Three, Two, One, Few
Submitted by Avitar on Wed, 05/18/2011 - 2:03pm.
Engineers have mathematically rigorous definitions for frequency of occurrences. As far as I know there has not been enough drilling and cracking to define a statistical universe.
Fracking stopped in Arkansas
Submitted by Kingfish17 on Wed, 05/18/2011 - 2:04pm.
Fracking was stopped entirely at one site in Arkansas because of the occurrence of a bunch of mini earthquakes. Mini earthquake "swarms" are not uncommon in Arkansas or other areas of the United States. But because some of these quakes happened after fracking was started, the cry went up for the fracking to cease.
This is going to be the way that fracking is stopped in the rest of the country. "We can't be too careful you know. Even though these earthquakes have occurred in the past, naturally, before fracking, these new ones might be the result of fracking."
"You can’t go take a trip to Las Vegas...on the taxpayer’s dime." Barack Obama
I live in an area that will
Submitted by tobiasdog on Wed, 05/18/2011 - 2:05pm.
I live in an area that will benefit economically from this process, and the local media is already using the term "controversial" to describe this method of drilling. I predict it will be a cold day in hades before we ever see any drilling around here thanks to the eco-nazis and their water-carriers in the press.
If the automobile was invented today....
Submitted by Kingfish17 on Wed, 05/18/2011 - 2:20pm.
I heard this a while back, but it still applies. If the car was invented today, there is no way the government would allow it to be produced. They would site the numerous possibilities for mayhem, injury, and death for allowing the production of a two-ton vehicle that was able to go 40 mph while traveling literally within feet of hapless pedestrians who line the byways.
"You can’t go take a trip to Las Vegas...on the taxpayer’s dime." Barack Obama
The environmental weenies would put a stop to the auto.
Submitted by Red Jeep on Wed, 05/18/2011 - 4:56pm.
Man, Henry Ford wouldn't have a chance today.
Same with sugar
Submitted by CO2Maker on Thu, 05/19/2011 - 9:27am.
For FDA trials: refined crop exudation that increases heart rate, produces jitters and distracts attention, alters mood, may lead to rapid drowsiness, and prolonged use may lead to diabetes. Also known to the state of California as a potential carcinogen and acts as a drug to increase the sale of food to children.
They are fracking under my
Submitted by Dan The Man 2 on Wed, 05/18/2011 - 3:35pm.
They are fracking under my house as I post. In fact I think I might get my royalties in the next week or so. I hope its a bonanza.
Have yall seen this one?
Submitted by Dan The Man 2 on Wed, 05/18/2011 - 3:39pm.
Have yall seen this one? http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20110510/hl_time/08599207053300
the incidence of contamination is crucial to the debate.
Submitted by upcountrywater on Wed, 05/18/2011 - 4:37pm.
Yes it is....dirty water ... Never ,ever 100% pure.
Time to put some numbers on the contamination.
Sensor collecting data to One 1/10th. part per trillion, there will be many incidences of Frackophobia.
The separate additives that go into the fracking fluid, (which operate to 35,000 psi) already have EPA listings on the Acid,detergents,and secret stuff, that already go into the fluid. Those ratings are millions of times less sensitive, typically in PPM range.
You Didn't Build That.
That word
Submitted by jon_torlin on Wed, 05/18/2011 - 4:43pm.
I know fracking is a real word used to describe a process for oil and etc, but sometimes it's funny, because I watched all 4 seasons and the spinoffs/movies of the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica which made liberal use of the word "Frack" which was an expletive of the F-word.
It'll take a while to get used to the real world version, but I keep chuckling every time I see headlines with that word like "Fracking banned in Arkansas" and I think "how are they going to enforce that?" Or as you put it above with "frackophobia" and I think "gee, someone's afraid of sex?"
Yeah, scifi can be a little weird like that.
-Jon
Did I say that?
Submitted by CO2Maker on Thu, 05/19/2011 - 9:34am.
NYT: There are few documented cases, not numerous cases.
Little Red Riding Hood to "Granny": Did I say you have big teeth? I meant small!
Bubba: Did I say I did not have sex with that woman? I meant I sort of did.
Whoopi: Did I say it's not "rape-rape"? I meant it is rape-rape.
Run-down Rick Sanchez: Did I say "How much is that in English?" I meant, in Spanish!
AlGorithm: Did I say the oceans would rise by 10 meters? I meant 10 centimeters.