Paul Fitzgerald and Don Seigel are on oppositie sides of the proverbial dike. The disagreement surrounds Hydrofracking. Hydraulic Fracturing, or Hydrofracking, is the collection of natural gas from sequestered rocks in the Marcellus Shale deep underground. Companies drill – usually past 5,000ft below the earth – and inject salt-water to acccelerate the collection of the gas.
One SU Geologists has own ideas
It’s a hot topic in Central New York because, as Fitzgerald claims, it could lead to contaminated water. 
“I’m worried about our water supply and the environment,” he said. “People just don’t understand the consequences.”
The injections can include up to five-million gallons of salt-water that includes 17,000 gallons of additives. Those additives are often full of carcinogens and toxins and if the water leaked to the surface could have major ecological impacts.
“As we have seen with BP, things do go wrong,” Fitzgerald said.
Down hall, different story
An exaggeration, Seigel said. Because drilling is over a mile below any aquifers it is rare that contaminates would cause any issues. The withdrawl of water from hydrofracking will not be larger enough to affect any water local water supplies unless the state allows the excess to be drained to local ponds or streams.
A scenario that Seigel called: “Hardly likely.”
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