Fracking Up The Future of PennsylvaniaAlex Pietrowski, Contributor Below is a 30-minute video interviewing the makers of a soon-to-be released documentary, Triple Divide, about the oil and gas industrys practice of hydraulic gas fracturing in Pennysylvania. In the video, EcoWatch TVs Stefanie Spear talks with film makers Joshua Pribanic and Melissa Troutman about the film and the consequences of fracking. The filmmakers discuss some of the immediate impacts that fracking is having on the environment in Pennsylvania, of which, water supply contamination is at the top of the list. Contamination occurs through flow-back pollution in containment ponds, trucking accidents, wastewater treatment, illegal dumping, and well blowouts, as well as pollution of private wells. The film focuses on investigating the impact of fracking in a region of Pennsylavia called the Triple Divide. This area, where 80% of residents obtain their drinking water from private wells, has been significantly impacted by numerous fracking sites. In the interviews, Pribanic and Troutman discuss how fracking has affected residents health, lowered their standard of living, and resulted in financial loss as property and investments are ruined and devalued. Ultimate control is clearly in the hands of the oil and gas companies. State regulating departments are ineffective, at best, in enforcing regulations and fighting the expensive legal teams of multi-nationals giants. The press and media are also in collusion with industry, as they do next to nothing to raise awareness of the issue. Sadly, it appears that it is up to landowners and residents around these sites to seek compensation and justice at least the ones who can afford it. Industrial progress resulting in widespread water pollution affects us all, because, we are all connected through our water supply, the oceans, rivers and streams. Pollutants such as microplastics have been traced from your kitchen sink to remote marine environments and stomachs of marine animals. Polluted drinking water close to fracking sites may not affect you today, but the issue may hit closer to home than you think. As the practice of fracking gains momentum worldwide, there is an urgent need to expose and resist this latest industrial nightmare in the making. Alex Pietrowski is an artist and writer concerned with preserving good health and the basic freedom to enjoy a healthy lifestyle. He is a staff writer for WakingTimes.com, and an avid student of Yoga and life. linkwithin_text=Related Articles: 