Fracking Causes Rancid Black Water To Pour From Faucets In California
One of a homeowner’s biggest fears is finding out your tap water isn’t safe to drink. Worse yet is finding out the entire water supply has been contaminated by some force outside your control. That’s exactly what happened to one California family Monday morning. Diane Morita was shocked to turn on her faucet and find foul-smelling black water pouring out.
Diane described it as “black sludge and sediment” coming straight from her tap, according to KTLA. She was so alarmed by the sight that she filmed a video of the black water and posted it straight to YouTube. Diane also filmed herself flushing the toilet, which turned from clear, pure water to ink black gunk as the bowl refilled.
The Morita family spoke to KTLA about the black water and showed them a jar full of the vile liquid. Even when the water wasn’t black, there was still a sewage odor coming from it.
“It’s disgusting,” Diane said. “It looks like there’s charcoal in the water… I don’t think anyone would drink this water.”
Addicting Info suggests the black water could be the result of fracking in the area. Fracking is described as the process of mining natural gas by blasting pressurized water, chemicals, and sand into the ground to fracture rocks and release gasses. Recent studies have shown that fracking not only pollutes groundwater, but also poisons the air.
One Texas study showed that arsenic levels were substantially higher in drinking water sources closer to fracking sites. Nine fracking wells were recently shut down for illegally polluting aquifers protected by the Safe Drinking Water Act.
“The wastewater entered the aquifers through at least nine injection disposal wells used by the oil industry to dispose of waste contaminated with fracking fluids and other pollutants.”
It’s hard to be certain at this point if fracking is causing the black sludge in California drinking water, but the Morita family weren’t the only ones who complained. One resident, Charlotte Lynch, reported that “light brown, gooey, gobby, spiderweb stuff” was coming from her tap. Another, Emy Sebastian, claimed her water stank and had small stones in it. An anonymous resident provided KTLA with a photo of her bathtub filled with black liquid.
The worst part of all is that these residents are concerned the black water may have caused their families serious health problems. Diane says her dog has cancer and her daughter has skin issues. The anonymous resident also claimed her daughter had developed skin rashes.
Do you think fracking is to blame for the black water?
For more disturbing news about rancid, contaminated water, read about the apartment complex in Mexico that noticed a strange taste in their water, only to learn a body had been rotting in the cistern for months.
[Images courtesy of KTLA]
