If water is valued, fracking not worth it

Quentin Wagenfield's Sept. 14 column “Fracking - blessing or curse?” appears to set up the question of whether to pursue hydraulic fracturing for gas and oil or not. In reality, it comes off as saying criticism is false or overblown for so much valued amounts of energy.

Humans need a certain amount of water every three days or they die. That is the fact that all commercial use of water should be decided on.

If we put a value on water equal to its value to all life, then fracking would be way too expensive to pursue. Of course, we know that corporations operations are well regulated and accidents never happen, don't we? Ask the people in Pennsylvania; the EPA isn't investigating imaginations.

My insurance company resiliently added a section to my home policy that said it will not pay any claims for gas in my water or any damages caused by gas or oil drilling on or near my home. You know how clever insurance companies are in avoiding any payments on things that may happen.

Wagenfield uses the term environmentalists, intentionally or not, as if they were a special interest group with interest different from the rest of us. Humans have lived several thousand of years without natural gas, but we all need water every day. Clean water is worth more than someone's profit.

Dean E. Owens

Palo