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Author	Topic: Fracking vs. beer: Does natural gas exploration threaten America's breweries?	Post a Reply Back to Topics

hybridaholic Champion Author Appleton Posts:8,375 Points:1,558,515 Joined:Dec 2008	Message Posted: Feb 8, 2013 12:52:39 PM Ignore hybridaholic Report Abuse You can't make beer without clean water, but now some breweries are afraid that fracking will threaten the very water supplies they depend upon. "It's all about the quality of the water," Simon Thorpe, CEO of the Ommegang Brewery in Cooperstown, N.Y., told NBC's "Rock Center with Brian Williams" this week. The brewers say their equipment can filter sediment from water and adjust pH levels, but they do not have the equipment to filter out some of the potential toxic chemicals that could enter the water supply via fracking, including benzene, methane and even diesel fuel. If the water becomes polluted, the company may need to truck in water, move or shut down the brewery altogether. Visit http://www.mnn.com/food/beverages/stories/fracking-vs-beer-does-natural-gas-exploration-threaten-ame for full article

hybridaholic

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Appleton

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Message Posted: Feb 8, 2013 12:52:39 PM

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You can't make beer without clean water, but now some breweries are afraid that fracking will threaten the very water supplies they depend upon.
"It's all about the quality of the water," Simon Thorpe, CEO of the Ommegang Brewery in Cooperstown, N.Y., told NBC's "Rock Center with Brian Williams" this week.
The brewers say their equipment can filter sediment from water and adjust pH levels, but they do not have the equipment to filter out some of the potential toxic chemicals that could enter the water supply via fracking, including benzene, methane and even diesel fuel. If the water becomes polluted, the company may need to truck in water, move or shut down the brewery altogether.
Visit http://www.mnn.com/food/beverages/stories/fracking-vs-beer-does-natural-gas-exploration-threaten-ame for full article

REPLIES (newest first)Ignore Short Messages

LetemEatCake Champion Author Oklahoma City Posts:5,609 Points:1,207,330 Joined:Mar 2008	Message Posted: Feb 10, 2013 12:05:10 AM Ignore LetemEatCake Report Abuse If 'Truth really Matters'...you must not be a Beer drinker. Water makes a huge difference in taste. It is not difficult to tell the difference between the same brand brewed in the US or Mexico (the land of brand origin). The Mexican brew is by far better! If you have done any traveling, you will agree there is a difference. I would imagine that the micro brewers in many parts of this country are concerned too about a change in taste!
TruthMatters Champion Author New Jersey Posts:2,525 Points:535,710 Joined:Oct 2011	Message Posted: Feb 9, 2013 5:28:00 PM Ignore TruthMatters Report Abuse Ridiculous!
JLSindy Champion Author Cleveland Posts:3,501 Points:675,215 Joined:Aug 2005	Message Posted: Feb 9, 2013 4:35:42 PM Ignore JLSindy Report Abuse Glad I am a wine drinker!
DanMtz Champion Author Oakland Posts:3,365 Points:1,245,375 Joined:Oct 2009	Message Posted: Feb 9, 2013 3:31:54 PM Ignore DanMtz Report Abuse Don't mess with the beer supply.
endymion All-Star Author New York Posts:843 Points:174,630 Joined:Nov 2012	Message Posted: Feb 9, 2013 12:40:03 PM Ignore endymion Report Abuse Fresh water is critical to beer production. That's why they are concerned, as we all should be.
drpepperTX Champion Author Texas Posts:8,953 Points:754,120 Joined:Apr 2011	Message Posted: Feb 9, 2013 12:04:23 PM Ignore drpepperTX Report Abuse Looks like we have to add some beer breweries to the list of which hunters! AND THE WITCH HUNTS CONTINUE: Regulation of oil and gas activity should remain squarely under individual state supervision. There is no reason the Feds should be involved in issues the states have already stringently set. All the information is available at the site www.fracfocus.org. As more and more SCIENTIFIC studies are added to a growing list of studies showing the safety of hydraulic fracturing, the science denial crowd will overlook the science and continue to promote fear. Yelling "the water's on fire etc.". They'll continue to chant the thoroughly debunked claims of Josh Fox "Gasland" propaganda. No disclosure of fracturing fluid?? WRONG again... Just take at look around the site www.fracfocus.org, it's ALL right there for the world to see. And the latest from the purveyors of fear? Insurance!!! Aha, this will be the nail in the trackers coffin! Oh wait...."Fracking-related losses have never been a covered loss under personal or commercial lines policies." - Nationwide Insurance Co. So now it's water use eh? As each aspect of the witch hunt against oil and gas production is knocked down by science these yahoos will come up with something else out of the blue. Show me one state where oil and gas comapanies use more than a tiny fraction (far less than 1%) of the total water usage. While your at it show me a state that doesn't allow golf courses to use hundreds of times more water than drilling. You cannot, case closed. You see, there is a huge amount of deceiving information spouted out to the public about hydraulic fracturing, a decades-old technology. Those who spread this misinformation are mostly preying on the public's fears, with an ultimate goal of forcing state governments to succumb to that fear and prevent or even ban hydraulic fracturing. We need to make sure that the discussion is productive, and that any rules are legitimately conceived. Fact must be sEPArated from fiction. The most common claim talking point is that hydraulic fracturing contaminates ground water. This is baseless. Have you ever noticed that the critics who make that claim never provide concrete evidence? The reason for their omission? It is obvious why. After being used more than 1.2 million times there have been no confirmed cases of hydraulic fracturing contaminating water. None. Never. Ever. As EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said in April of 2012, "In no case have we made a definitive determination that the fracking process has caused chemicals to enter groundwater." The three "smoking gun" cases that the anti-shale zealots were sinking their teeth into have proven false or based on very poor science. See Pavillion WY, Dimoch, PA, and Parker County, TX. The latest fear mongering is "climate change" thru methane emission from hydraulic fracturing. Once again SCIENTIFIC investigation has shown the EPA using numbers that are overblown by 50%. Oh and the "evil Halliburton Loophole" talking point! LOL, what a joke. This is the errant claim born out of the yellow journalism of "gasland", a proven fraudulent film by Josh Fox, that hydraulic fracturing is "exempt" from the Safe Drinking Water Act, thanks to an energy bill passed by Congress in 2005. The truth??? SDWA has been the law of the land for nearly 40 years, and at no point has it ever covered hydraulic fracturing. Why??? States already tightly and effectively regulate the process. How can an industry be exempt from something that never covered you in the first place? But you hear this falsehood talking point most every time the subject comes up. It is important to rely on facts and the science, not fear-mongering talking points. The shale gas and oil boom is the result of U.S. business innovation and risk-taking. If we let the fear of undocumented pollution kill this boom, we will deserve our fate as a second-class industrial power.
hybridaholic Champion Author Appleton Posts:8,375 Points:1,558,515 Joined:Dec 2008	Message Posted: Feb 9, 2013 3:35:05 AM Ignore hybridaholic Report Abuse Most of Wisconsin breweries use well water, including Leinenkugel's (Chippewa Falls)and Point Brewery (Stevens Point). Clear, cold, pure, and refreshing.
quasar502 Champion Author Lansing Posts:3,593 Points:803,300 Joined:Jan 2011	Message Posted: Feb 9, 2013 2:19:38 AM Ignore quasar502 Report Abuse I believe it's a real concern.
DrGasPain Veteran Author Dallas Posts:362 Points:459,700 Joined:Mar 2011	Message Posted: Feb 9, 2013 12:32:33 AM Ignore DrGasPain Report Abuse Seriously? You gotta ge kidding me!
TomT2Lee Champion Author Cincinnati Posts:5,358 Points:1,599,575 Joined:Sep 2005	Message Posted: Feb 8, 2013 11:16:58 PM Ignore TomT2Lee Report Abuse if it is bad for beer, one can only hope all the fracking water is drunk by our professional politicians.
drobbbb Champion Author Maryland Posts:3,485 Points:813,435 Joined:Dec 2010	Message Posted: Feb 8, 2013 8:24:23 PM Ignore drobbbb Report Abuse interesting
dbellie Veteran Author Twin Cities Posts:308 Points:45,690 Joined:Nov 2010	Message Posted: Feb 8, 2013 8:05:54 PM Ignore dbellie Report Abuse holy barley malt, batman
Pramodsharma Champion Author Richmond Posts:1,974 Points:388,140 Joined:Feb 2012	Message Posted: Feb 8, 2013 6:46:02 PM Ignore Pramodsharma Report Abuse Let them explore oil and bring down gas prices, we will send flood of beers from other placed.
md11capt Champion Author Denver Posts:3,558 Points:711,630 Joined:Mar 2011	Message Posted: Feb 8, 2013 6:41:03 PM Ignore md11capt Report Abuse Will the beer ignite when you open a can?
ktbaeohana Champion Author Las Vegas Posts:2,311 Points:422,975 Joined:Mar 2010	Message Posted: Feb 8, 2013 5:50:41 PM Ignore ktbaeohana Report Abuse watch and see/
YumaFellow Champion Author Arizona Posts:1,300 Points:624,545 Joined:Jan 2011	Message Posted: Feb 8, 2013 5:47:00 PM Ignore YumaFellow Report Abuse I still think fracking is a big gamble and that we don't have enough data yet to declare it safe.
mike56MI Champion Author Michigan Posts:1,230 Points:310,290 Joined:Aug 2011	Message Posted: Feb 8, 2013 5:28:19 PM Ignore mike56MI Report Abuse Say it's not so.
mpg611 Champion Author Cleveland Posts:2,345 Points:571,795 Joined:Apr 2011	Message Posted: Feb 8, 2013 4:39:07 PM Ignore mpg611 Report Abuse Fracking Pale Ale.
hrtdi All-Star Author Vermont Posts:777 Points:153,540 Joined:Dec 2012	Message Posted: Feb 8, 2013 4:22:03 PM Ignore hrtdi Report Abuse I've never think that breweries use water from wells. I know some that treat water already treated by their municipality. Some other have their own water treatment facilities and they pump their water directly from a river.
CocoPaz Champion Author Santa Barbara Posts:2,385 Points:325,345 Joined:Jun 2012	Message Posted: Feb 8, 2013 4:01:36 PM Ignore CocoPaz Report Abuse "...shut down the brewery" That would be, burp, terrible. We are praying for the safe capture of the cop killer in Calif. Am I the only one who smells a movie deal out of this?
BUSMAN1105 Champion Author Atlanta Posts:2,167 Points:1,172,870 Joined:Aug 2008	Message Posted: Feb 8, 2013 3:21:20 PM Ignore BUSMAN1105 Report Abuse YES, BECAUSE IT USE UP OUR WATER RESOURCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
qwerty17 Champion Author New Jersey Posts:3,660 Points:1,119,625 Joined:Oct 2009	Message Posted: Feb 8, 2013 2:40:59 PM Ignore qwerty17 Report Abuse get the gas. keep the water clean. if you can't do both, don't do it. (now beer is riding on it. time for extra-vigilance.)
drpepperTX Champion Author Texas Posts:8,953 Points:754,120 Joined:Apr 2011	Message Posted: Feb 8, 2013 2:39:37 PM Ignore drpepperTX Report Abuse "If you actually get water from a well sign below" 1)drpeppertx - from 4 water wells 2) 3) 4) 5) [Edited by: drpepperTX at 2/8/2013 2:40:07 PM EST]
bar1035 Champion Author Charlotte Posts:9,172 Points:1,300,170 Joined:Aug 2006	Message Posted: Feb 8, 2013 2:31:24 PM Ignore bar1035 Report Abuse I seriously doubt that any brewery has a well drilled where they get all their water from. Just like all the bad water freaks on gasbuddy likely don't have wells. We live in the country yet even we have county water. If you actually get water from a well sign below 1) 2) 3) 4) 5)
drpepperTX Champion Author Texas Posts:8,953 Points:754,120 Joined:Apr 2011	Message Posted: Feb 8, 2013 2:08:27 PM Ignore drpepperTX Report Abuse NHLiveFree " No industry deserves or needs a paid exemption to our Clean Water Act." Actually NHLiveFree, the shame is the complete misinformation you just spread. The Clean Water Act? Oh dear, what a tangled web we weave... The entire process, every step, of hydraulic fracturing is absolutely regulated under the CWA. You really should go back and read your talking points memos more closely! Furthermore, every step in the process of drilling and fraccing is covered at some point by the following Acts: CWA: Clean Water Act • OSHA: Occupational Safety and Health Administration • SDWA: Safe Drinking Water Act • EPRCA: Community “Right to Know” Act And seriously, the mother nature network??? LOL. [Edited by: drpepperTX at 2/8/2013 2:10:59 PM EST]
whatif81 All-Star Author San Antonio Posts:675 Points:206,145 Joined:Jan 2012	Message Posted: Feb 8, 2013 1:50:44 PM Ignore whatif81 Report Abuse ok
NHLiveFree Champion Author New Hampshire Posts:11,105 Points:1,624,380 Joined:Jun 2008	Message Posted: Feb 8, 2013 1:48:17 PM Ignore NHLiveFree Report Abuse This is a real blow right to the gut of the drilling industry! Brewers and distillers are validly concerned and worried about the threat to everyone's right to pure clean water. No industry deserves or needs a paid exemption to our Clean Water Act. It is a shame our Congress is so easily swayed by the oil and drilling industry lobbyists. It is time to level the playing field and eliminate exemptions for any company or industry no matter how much they contribute to Congressional coffers, meals, trips, and vacations. Oh, did I forget the high paying jobs for relatives and friends of our legislators?
HorizonChaser Champion Author Montgomery Posts:1,989 Points:457,235 Joined:Dec 2011	Message Posted: Feb 8, 2013 1:44:09 PM Ignore HorizonChaser Report Abuse Oh no! Not beer! It's liquid bread. Think of the children!
DrivingFool2 Champion Author Appleton Posts:8,597 Points:1,607,815 Joined:Apr 2005	Message Posted: Feb 8, 2013 1:34:17 PM Ignore DrivingFool2 Report Abuse Is nothing sacred? This is barbarism beyond human limitations. The lights are dimming as we go silently into the night, dying of dehydration and lack of human dignity. I would do anything for beer, but I won't do that. [Edited by: DrivingFool2 at 2/8/2013 1:38:21 PM EST]
mitt4prez Champion Author Tacoma Posts:1,757 Points:1,248,150 Joined:Nov 2007	Message Posted: Feb 8, 2013 1:04:58 PM Ignore mitt4prez Report Abuse The brewers will be hauled out in front to howl until fracking isdefeated. Then MADD will give them the works.
Discovery02 Champion Author Colorado Springs Posts:2,580 Points:312,615 Joined:May 2012	Message Posted: Feb 8, 2013 12:58:14 PM Ignore Discovery02 Report Abuse Fracking killed animals and plants and caused tap water to ignite and no response. Now it's threatening BEER!! Have they no decency? Have they no mercy? Don't threaten our beer too!