Dear Editor – Ban Fracking

To the Editor:

It’s time to ban fracking in Culver City! Passing a resolution requesting a moratorium is simply not enough.

We residents need to speak up and be heard! And the time to do that is this coming Monday, July 2, at 7 p.m. at City Hall.

Our city councilpersons need to hear from us. They need to know how terribly worried we are about the consequences of fracking. Residents might think that the widely publicized June 12 forum, where dozens of speakers expressed their grave concerns about fracking, gave our elected officials more than enough information and perspective. But it wasn’t enough. They need to hear from us again.

Mayor Weissman and the other city councilpersons, as well-intentioned as they are, could very well believe a moratorium is sufficient–when it’s not.

“Fracking,” the common term for hydraulic fracturing, is a highly controversial process in which a mixture of water, sand and chemicals is injected under enormous pressure into the earth for the ultimate purpose of extracting natural gas andoil. The pressure causes shale rock formations to fracture, releasing the oil and gas.

We’re talking about the giant oil company PXP fracking for oil under the homes and streets of Culver City. And under the homes and streets of communities near Culver City, such Baldwin Hills.

We talking about PXP and other oil companies:

planning to build hundreds of wells in the area
using tremendous amounts of water that could otherwise be used for drinking and irrigation in this thirsty state
lacing this water with chemicals–some known to be toxins, others not even identified but listed as “trade secrets”
shooting great volumes of this water horizontally under or near our city, causing vibrations serious enough to damage houses and other buildings
shooting this water at such enormous pressure that were it to hit a person, it would slice him or her in half
shooting this water near, and possibly through local earthquake faults
increasing the possibility of earthquakes in the area–where we’re already in danger of a 7.4 temblor
using dangerous chemicals that could easily pollute our precious ground water
allowing methane to be released into our air, adding to global warming

Haven’t we as a society already endangered people and animals enough? Let’s not allow fracking!

We must demand a ban–next Monday evening.

Rebecca Rona-Tuttle

The Actors' Gang

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