Is hydraulic fracturing the solution to energy independence, or is it fraught with environmental hazards? There appear to be as many pros as there are cons to the controversial drilling practice known as "fracking."
The League of Women Voters of Southwest Santa Clara Valley, a local nonpartisan political organization, is inviting members of the West Valley community to bring their questions and insights to a discussion on the topic at the Campbell Community Center on Sept. 14.
"It's really a hot issue and the league always tries to look at things that the government can take action on," said Marge Bunyard, the league's program vice president. "We try to raise the public's interest and concern about things that are of concern for our future."
Added Bunyard, "We're just going to present the idea and let people think about it."
The "idea" will be presented not just in a group discussion but also in the form of a 2010 documentary film, titled Gasland. Directed by Josh Fox and nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary in 2011, the film focuses on communities in the United States that are affected by natural gas drilling and, specifically, a method of horizontal drilling into shale formations.
Fracking is a technique in which a mixture of water, sand and chemicals is injected at high pressure into a wellbore to create small fractures to induce oil or gas release to the well.
Proponents point to the economic benefits from the vast amounts of formerly inaccessible hydrocarbons the process can extract. They claim the massive increase in supply could result in much lower prices and a reduced need to import natural gas.
Environmentalists, however, have raised concerns about potential environmental impacts, including contamination of groundwater, depletion of fresh water, risks to air quality, noise pollution, the migration of gases and hydraulic fracturing chemicals to the surface, surface contamination from spills and flowback, and the health effects of these. Last month, a coalition of more than 100 activist groups called on Gov. Jerry Brown to order an immediate halt to the practice.
"It's become such an issue in other states and now it's coming to California," Bunyard said. "Of course we're an agricultural state and we don't want to ruin our agriculture."
League president Eleanor Yick will lead the Sept. 14 discussion, slated to take place from 9 a.m. to noon in Room C35 at the Campbell Community Center, 1 W. Campbell Ave. in Campbell.
For more information, visit www.lwv-sw-santaclara-valley.org.