Worst Places to Live with Minimal Building Codes: Fracking, Oil, Mining Regions

We have a whole series of articles about the best places to live with few or no building codes in the US. The other day I came across a video about oil shale fracking called Shale Cowboys. Then I remembered that the current Administration is pushing for US energy independence using oil shale and coal deposits. These areas would be among some of the worst places to establish a sustainable homestead in my opinion. Once the water table is polluted then the area is basically uninhabitable for the foreseeable future.

Map of US oil shale deposits
Map of US oil shale deposits

Image source: https://wryheat.wordpress.com/tag/shale-oil/

7 thoughts on “Worst Places to Live with Minimal Building Codes: Fracking, Oil, Mining Regions”

  1. Here’s the link to the Gasland documentary. I encourage readers to watch it and make up their own minds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xvz_m5uPV4s

    Here’s another documentary called Exposing the Real Price of the US Fracking Industry https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ux42tSLALf4
    This video is by Journeyman Pictures, a well known documentary film company. This one helped me realize the problems with fracking are even worse than I’d suspected. Maybe I’ll do some more stories on this topic.

    Reply
  2. The only water tables that ‘ may ‘ be polluted are the deep ones , you can still dig a shallow well 30-40 feet in most parts of Appalachia and get clean usable drinking water , you may not be able to shower for an hour or run three loads of laundry a day or wash the car regularly pressure wash the deck or wash the camper and boat with a shallow well . Nearly 100% of Appalachia lived with a shallow water well less than 100 years ago . These fracking theatrics and fear mongers usually have vested interest in coal , solar or wind energy . Fracking has been done since the 1800’s and deep well fracking at least since the 1970’s . The main changes are in the types of lubricants that are used to force the gas/oil out of the ground . States just need to closely monitor these activities and all should be fine .

    Reply
    • Oh sure, like I’m supposed to believe it’s perfectly fine to pump millions of barrels of toxic chemicals into the ground and it will never leak. Ever. Never ever. Don’t worry.

      Reply
      • What is pumped in, is not toxic. When it’t pumped back up it brings radioactive substances with it. Which are down there to begin with. I agree it still sounds sketchy.

        Reply
        • I’ve heard they pump dozens or hundreds of different chemicals to fracture the shale rock. Water from nearby home faucets is sometimes so polluted it’s actually flammable as shown in the Gasland documentary. Water coming out of the faucet bursts into flames. Now, I admit I don’t know how common this is but obviously it’s a concern when millions of barrels of these chemicals are pumped into the ground. And now Trump wants to expand this drilling program in an effort to boost the economy. I’m all for boosting the economy, just not at the expense of polluting the groundwater on millions of acres for the next few thousand years.

          Reply
          • The fact that you do not know how often this happens and quote about circumstances from the “Gasland” documentary which even admits to being a one sided propaganda film says volumes. Try doing your own research instead of wiping all responsibility away with “I’ve heard”.

          • I’m a professional researcher who spends about 12 hours a day searching a whole range of topics. I quoted one documentary, one source. Did what they portrayed in that video really happen? You don’t say. You just dismiss it as propaganda with no proof.

            For our long term readers: Every industry now employs a team of trolls to help sway public discussion on Facebook, blogs and forums. This is a well known fact and here we get to see them in action. They’re doing a pretty pathetic job if you ask me.

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