Jason Deardorff’s comments suggest that he buys the documentaries and local news reports on the ills of hydrofracking. Fracking is an old technique, begun several decades before he was born. Basically, it is pumping fluids and proppants down a cased hole and into adjacent selected zones to enhance permeability. Is he concerned about the disposal of flow-back waters contaminating surface water? That could happen. The risk of contaminating fresh groundwater, however, is low. It is hard to pump fracturing fluids through two strings of casing into fresh water zones, which only extend to depths of a few hundred feet in most areas – most hydrofracking takes place at a depth of several thousand feet. For these reasons, I don’t think we need the EPA regulating hydrofracking under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The process is already policed by state agencies. Have I missed something here?

Jim Classen ’57