We have yet to see a full scale disaster due to improper or lack of floodplain planning in West Virginia but be assured some time in the future a 50 or 100 year flood is going show us all just where the lack of experience, insight and good judgement could claim property and lives.
The major pollution potentials when oil and gas fields become flooded are not only with the drilling rigs and storage tanks themselves. If they are shut down in time the damage can be minimized. It's the open pits that contain the flow back containing carcinogenics, salts and metals that are quickly and easily compromised in a flood by mixing with the flood waters. These open pits in Colorado that have the most potential for harm, likewise in West Virginia with our many known Floodplains. In a major flood, Doddridge county could become a swimming pool of cancer causing chemicals.
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| (Craig F. Walker, The Denver Post) |
Some Interesting News Quotes from Colorado
The water is washing away under pipelines causing them to separate and leak. “Oil drums, tanks and other industrial debris mixed into the swollen river flowing northeast.”
In a statement, Gary Wockner, of Clean Water Action, said “Fracking and operating oil and gas facilities in floodplains is extremely risky. Flood waters can topple facilities and spread oil, gas, and cancer-causing fracking chemicals across vast landscapes making contamination and clean-up efforts exponentially worse and more complicated.” Denver Post
