Can fracking threaten the Great Lakes?

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News and analysis by Dan Telvock, Investigative Post's environmental reporter

It is against the law to drill for natural gas under the Great Lakes, but that doesn’t mean they are safe.

Lois Gibbs, an environmental activist famous for leading the charge to clean up the Love Canal in Niagara Falls, points out that it is still legal to drill for natural gas underneath rivers, streams and creeks that feed into the Great Lakes.

Gibbs says the natural gas industry is already starting hydrofracking around the Great Lakes.

“This is insane,” she wrote.

“It’s unbelievable, hundreds of chemicals injected all around our fresh water lakes that both the U.S. and Canada have worked for decades to clean up.”

This apparent loophole in the law could reverse all of the hard work to restore the Great Lakes, she worries.

Read Gibbs’ entire post here.

Dan Telvock