Laredoan pens scathing view of fracking

From Sunday's Laredo Morning Times  Letters to the Editor

To the editor:

The Mayas could not predict their own doom, much less the end of the world.

Maybe a simple flu or a more serious disease eventually eradicated them.

The Mayas might not have known what the problem was or the cure for it, but in our case, we do know the problem, cause, results and prevention.

I am not a Nostradamus or an Edgar Cayce, but I will predict the obvious.

I predict that the fracking from Webb County to Ft. Worth will be the doom of this area.

The water table, the rivers in between, eventually the Rio Grande, animal and fowl, including cattle, will perish because of contamination to the environment.

It might take ten or twenty years of drinking the water before the results start showing up in humans as cancers and respiratory diseases.

The same will show up in fowl, deer and cattle, which will not be fit for human consumption.

The idea of thousands of jobs coming into the South Texas area sounded very good as a boost to the area economy and salaries of individuals.

I traveled often to Carrizo and Crystal, where I had a 40 acre place, and Uvalde, and more and more eighteen wheeler traffic kept controlling Highway 83 North.

Highway 83 has gotten to the point where it is very dangerous to travel because it is not made to take all the truck traffic coming and going.

I decided to get out of that traffic and started taking 35 North and cutting off at the exit to Eagle Pass for safety’s sake.

According to a study done by scientists at Duke University, there’s a connection between gases from fracking and contamination of home water faucets and wells in other parts of the country.

Those gases will go up in flames if ignited as well as water faucets in homes.

Many people have been drinking the water without realizing that it could be contaminated.

The chemicals used for fracking plus the gases coming out of the ground could contain serious contaminants to the environment.

I believe oil companies are here to make millions without regards to the area.

In my opinion, they spend a hundred million dollars for special interests to lobby for them.

I believe the Environmental Protection Agency is not doing its job.

People are not aware as to the seriousness of contamination, and the fact that it will be too late because it cannot be reversed.

No input of money towards the economy, salaries or personal gain is worth killing the land, rivers, water table, fowls and animals.

The end has already been initiated by our own species for the love of the mighty dollar.

The Mayas have an excuse for their own extinction, since they didn’t have the technology and medicine to combat diseases.

What will be our excuse?

Sincerely,

Jesus Cantu Cadena