Raised Awareness After Watching Thunderheart....

Does Mining and Natural Gas Drilling Help or Hurt Us?

     Oil and Gas industries are thought to be different or separate than the Mining Industry, however, I feel that they share some common factors. Both are hazardous to humans and the environment. Leases are required before the company can mine or drill on the land. Both industries believe that they are benefiting the World.

     Mining is the process of taking minerals from the Earth. It can be done above or below the surface. Most of the Worlds mineral production is extracted by surface mining (Mining). In the movie Thunderheart strip mining takes place on Indian reservation without the residents knowing it was being done. Strip mining consists of extracting minerals from a series of successive parallel trenches. Equipment is used for mining for such purposes as blast-hole drilling, blasting, loading, transporting, hoisting, pumping ventilation, storage etc. (Mining).

Mining benefits the World by supplying it with energy (Mining). It provides employment, royalties to land owners, and fees to local, state and national government (NMA). By producing energy, metals, and minerals our quality of life is improved. It is also an important financial asset to our economy.

The negative results due to mining are foul air withing miles of the site. Water hazards in which Thunderheart exposed with the poisonings of the Native Americans on Pine Ridge Reservation from the uranium contamination in their drinking water from the mining on their land. Many were sickened and/or died as a result of the poisoning. Other risks are explosion from leaks of poison gases and chemicals that ignite and exposure to radioactive materials.

     Similar to mining, natural gas drilling is also considered to be a benefit because it is a cleaner source of providing energy. Drilling of natural gas is done both onshore and offshore. After a natural gas deposit is located a drill site is formed. A well is developed to extract the natural gases. There are two forms of onshore drilling, Cable Tool Drilling and Horizontal Drilling (Natural Gas). Cable Tool Drilling has been around for centuries. It consists of repeatedly dropping a heavy metal bit into the ground, punching a hole through the rock then water is added to combine with the drill cutting. These days the Horizontal Drilling method is used. A well is still visible on the surface but beneath the well legs branch out and tap into many different natural gas resources (Natural Gas).

      The disadvantages of natural gas drilling are the risks it poses. Gas leaks present a threat by exposing people to toxins that are invisible to the human eye. Gas leaks can also cause fires or explosions that can potentially cause property damage, personal injury or death. Air pollution is another negative result of natural gas drilling. During drilling excess amounts of carbon dioxide can be released into the air in which we breathe and contaminates the lungs. Water pollution the same factor that posed a threat to the Sioux Indians on the Pine Ridge Reservation where their drinking water was contaminated by Uranium (Thunderheart), poses a threat to all who are close to a natural gas drilling site. The process of hydraulic fracturing injects harmful materials into the ground and contaminates lakes and rivers where the drinking water comes from (Reeves).

     Although both the Mining and Natural Gas Industries offer royalties to land owners, it is a small percentage of what they receive from the materials they retrieve. As a land owner you are given a choice to sign a lease; a legal document giving the company the right to drill on your land. With a signed leases you receive royalties, however, if you chose to turn down the lease but co-tenants; people living in your neighborhood accept, the gas company will pursue drilling and put your royalties into a bank account until you sign a lease. I know this because I leased my plot of land and these were the options I was given. I could either take part or it would be done anyways. An unleased co-tenant is not covered under the operating parties insurance and are open to unlimited liability (Cotten). This could be a huge danger-financially!!

     In closing, I hope I have made you aware that even though we have come along way since the 1970 Pine Ridge Reservation strip mining incident we still face the same obstacles with natural gas drilling in 2011. Land owners have no authority! The power lies in the hands of the natural gas and mining industries.

Do the benefits of drilling and mining outweigh the risks? I hope they do considering even though there are great risks involved we are still forced, sometimes unwillingly, to lease our land to benefit the World by providing it with natural resources that our land contains. For every benefit received from these actions there are also risks that involves our environment and our health. So the question remains, are we helping or hurting our World? You decide.

Works Cited

Abandoned Uranium Mine. N.d. Culture Change. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2011. <http://www.culturechange.org/cms/content/view/336/65/>.

Cable Tool Drilling Rig. N.d. Natural Gas. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2011. <http://www.naturalgas.org/naturalgas/extraction_onshore.asp>.

Contaminated River from Mining. N.d. Science Buzz. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2011. <http://www.sciencebuzz.org/buzz-tags/mining>.

Cotten, Buddy. “Mineral Rights Forum: America’s conversation place for mineral & royalty owners.” Mineral Rights Forum. Kenny DuBose, 2011. Web. 10 Dec. 2011. <http://www.mineralrightsforum.com/forum/topics/what-happens-if-you-dont-lease>.

Gerritsen, Jeff. “Uranium Mining Poisons Native Americans .” Culture Change. Sustainable Energy Institute, 2009. Web. 10 Dec. 2011. <http://www.culturechange.org/cms/content/view/336/65/>.

Horizontal Well. N.d. Natural Gas. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2011. <http://www.naturalgas.org/naturalgas/extraction_onshore.asp>.

“Mining.” Answers.com. Answers Corporation, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2011. <http://www.answers.com/topic/mining>.

National Mining Association. “NMA Sustainable Development Principles.” NMA. National Mining Association, 2011. Web. 10 Dec. 2011. <http://www.nma.org/issues/environment/sustainable_development.asp>.

Natural Gas. “Natural Gas.” NaturalGas.org. Natural Gas Organization, 2011. Web. 10 Dec. 2011. <http://www.naturalgas.org/overview/background.asp>.