“A decade into North America’s fracking boom, the impact on wildlife and the environment remains largely unknown, according to a new study.
“We’re conducting a giant experiment without even collecting the important data on the water, air, land or wildlife impacts,” said Sara Souther, an ecologist at the University of Wisconsin, one of the co-authors of the peer-reviewed research examining the environmental impacts of shale gas development in the US and Canada.
“Although the technique of hydraulic fracturing shale has been used for at least 20 years, there is “surprisingly little research” on impacts, found the study, published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.”
Source: www.theguardian.com
GR: When the U. S. Bureau of Land Management, U. S. Forest Service, and most State land management agencies permit fracking, they are required to assess effects. However, these agencies tend to ignore or make only feeble attempts to monitor the consequences of their decisions. This is despite the fact that most agencies have adopted the principles of Adaptive Management that call for monitoring so that future actions can be improved. Adequate monitoring would often indicate the need for major changes that would not be approved by special interests outside the government. This is why the millions of acres of public land in the U. S. are in such poor condition.
