Note from CrisisBalochistan: The below announcement by Pakistan's Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources, Dr. Asim Hussain, regarding the planned drilling of tight gas in Balochistan, raises extraordinary concerns regarding the environment. Tight gas is often extracted through a highly controversial method known as fracking. According to Rigzone.com, 'tight gas refers to natural gas reservoirs locked in extraordinarily impermeable, hard rock, making the underground formation extremely "tight."' One method employed to extract tight gas is fracturing or "fracing" which involves 'breaking the rocks in the formation apart. Performed after the well has been drilled and completed, hydraulic fracturing is achieved by pumping the well full of frac fluids under high pressure to break the rocks in the reservoir apart and improve permeability, or the ability of the gas to flow through the formation.' Frac fluids are "typically a slurry of water, proppants, and chemical additives. Additionally, gels, foams, and compressed gases, including nitrogen, carbon dioxide and air can be injected . . . The potential costs associated with possible environmental clean-up processes, loss of land value and human and animal health concerns are proven facts.

Below are several links that describe the environmental problems associated with fracking. This practice "has come under scrutiny internationally due to concerns about environmental and health safety, and has been suspended or banned in some countries."

Pakistan's Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources must explain to the citizens of Balochistan what method of extraction is to be used. He must also prove that necessary environmental studies have been completed and that they show this method of extraction, if chosen, can be employed without jeopardizing groundwater supplies and the environment. As one reader noted, 'if fracking methods are employed where "chemicals" are pumped into the bored holes, ground water and the Indus may be polluted with carcinogens.'

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Reposted from Natural Gas for Asia | October 3, 2011 | Minister Confirms Pakistan Tight Gas Prospects

Pakistan's Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Dr. Asim Hussain, has said the country had more than one hundred trillion cubic feet of shallow and tight gas reserves.

Source: The International News

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Fracking accidents:

Pennsylvania Fracking Accident: What Went Wrong

Gas Drilling Emergency in Bradford County

http://www.workers.org/2010/us/fracking_1209/

Chemical pollution hazards faced in Fracking:

Fracking chemicals: Just how harmful can 1 percent be?

Unpacking health hazards in fracking's chemical cocktail

Fracking Chemicals Cited in Congressional Report Stay Underground

From the above link: "The list includes 29 chemicals that are either known or possible carcinogens or are regulated by the federal government because of other risks to human health. As we reported more than a year ago, most of the fluids now used in hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," are left underground when drilling ends.

The report notes that while the fate of these fluids "is not entirely predictable," in most cases, "the permanent underground injection of chemicals used for hydraulic fracturing is not regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency."

The amount of fluid that remains in a well varies depending on local geology. But in some states, including Texas and Pennsylvania, regulators do not know precisely how much of the fluid returns to the surface for each well. In many cases, particularly in the Marcellus Shale in the Northeast, FOR MORE VISIT:

Fracking Chemicals Cited in Congressional Report Stay Underground

Fracking Videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wj_7kt51iJc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R30ZCafvqWg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEB_Wwe-uBM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEB_Wwe-uBM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNl6sx059bE

Videos of Fracking accidents:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KqFsR4HQpk&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PL00B2BD22EBB48AE9

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmAwkYLEV80

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmAwkYLEV80

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmAwkYLEV80

France is leading the light by banning fracking and we should follow:

France Vote Outlaws "˜Fracking' Shale for Natural Gas, Oil Extraction

France Bans Fracking for Shale Gas

France Bans Fracking; New York Set to Un-Ban It