Governor John Hickenlooper Drank Fracking Fluid

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper drank fracking fluid to prove a point to ecological groups who consistently express their reservations over how safe the fluid is.

They believe that the mixture of water, sand, and lubricants that is forced into the earth to expose natural gas and oil is dangerous to drinking water.

The Washington Times reports that Hickenlooper is a supporter of fracking. This time, he went to extreme lengths to prove how the fluid is safe and will not contaminate drinking water.

Oil giant Halliburton allowed the first-term Democrat to drink a glass of its fracking fluid. The company states that the fluid is made entirely “of ingredients sourced from the food industry,” making it safe to ingest.

Hickenlooper testified in front of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources:

“You can drink it. We did drink it around the table, almost rituallike, in a funny way. It was a demonstration … They’ve invested millions of dollars in what is a benign fluid in every sense.”

The Huffington Post notes that Governor Hickenlooper added that the fracking fluid wasn’t “tasty,” but that he’s “still alive.” Fracking is considered a controversial process. Most companies have said their fracking fluid is completely safe. Despite this, they decline giving out the recipe for the fluid, calling them “trade secrets.”

Hickenlooper is not the first to drink the fluid either. Halliburton Co. CEO Dave Lesar offered up a company executive to drink its new fracking fluid, CleanStim. The executive drank a glass during a keynote speech at a conference in 2011.

While they offered up the demonstration, Halliburton says that “CleanStim fluid system should not be considered edible.” Would you take Governor John Hickenlooper’s lead and drink a glass of fracking fluid?

[Image by World Economic Forum [CC-BY-SA-2.0 or CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons]