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Comment #11:

Stakeholder #2: Environmental Specialist for the Virginia Department of Mines Minerals and Energy (DMME)

Who am I? Who do I represent?

This environmental specialist serves to represent the Virginia State Government. They help to regulate all hydraulic fracturing practices and ensure they are environmentally friendly statewide. They also stay on top of all new developments in the unconventional oil and gas extraction (UOGE) industry to insure that the state government is regulating the industry properly so no damage is done to the environment. This specialist also serves as a resource to citizens of the state to obtain more information about the theoretically environmentally safe practices of the UOGE industry.

What we want?

The top priority of a DMME Environmental Specialist is to ensure that the environment is not harmed by the practices of the state in addition to making improvements to its current state. The DMME is the regulatory authority for statewide gas and oil permitting operations. The department has put in place regulations to allow for safe production of the natural gas resources available in Virginia. The main priority of these regulations is to ensure that energy production does not cause disturbances outside of the production site, have negative effects on the community, or contaminate surface water or groundwater. In addition, they examine the quantities of water that are used in the energy production processes. These environmental specialists work closely with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to be sure that water quality regulations correspond. Specialists from both departments work to regulate the proper disposal of any fluids produces in addition to issuing permits for groundwater and surface water withdrawal. All fracking fluids are disposed of in accordance to regulations, preventing any off-site disturbances. There are often many concerns with disturbances that are caused by pipeline construction. Environmental Specialists govern the construction and operation of all pipelines located in Virginia. This means that all construction sites must be in compliance with all erosion and sediment control, stormwater, and reclamation regulations.

Why our vision is the best?

Gazing into your dog's eyes apparently triggers happy feelings in both parties - suggesting that dogs really may love us back. (This piece originally aired on All Things Considered on April 16, 2015.)

Priorities: It is important to identify priorities of the Board of Supervisors (B.O.S.) in their decision regarding the spectra pipeline. One major priority is protecting the current environment in the area where the pipeline may be constructed. Another priority is that citizens in the county jurisdiction maintain their health. The final priority is that each party involved in the construction is compensated for the construction of the pipeline. These are three top priorities that keep the best interest of the B.O.S. and respective citizens in mind.

Major Arguments: Environmental Issues: There are various environmental concerns that come with pipeline construction. There is risk of fresh water contamination due to the excessive amount of chemicals used in the fracking process. A large amount of freshwater is used as well which could negatively impact local habitats. Air pollution is a concern due to the increased amount of traffic, flaring of gas, and faulty equipment. There is also risk of seismic events taking place due to the injection of harmful chemicals in the ground. There is legislation in place to protect against many of these risks, although the fracking companies are exempt from this legislation.

Human Health: There is concern that the use of hundreds of chemicals in the process has the potential to cause health issues, like those witnessed in GasLand. Many of these threats on human health can be reduced by good field practice, which is regulated by the federal government. In addition, legislation regulating fracking is increasing on a daily basis, so in the future there may be even more protective legislation. The health issues caused in GasLand were attributed to drilling in shallow geological zones that were contaminated with methane.

Compensation: Spectra has offered several methods of compensation for each party involved in the construction of the pipeline. It is unclear what the compensation will be in the long term, though. In addition, many are unaware how Spectra will compensate if any of the above risks do actually take place and the population of Madison County is effected.

No matter what the discipline or area of study, there have always been discrepancies in the definition of truths. While truths are supposed to be the most concrete definition of any one thing, they are often the most disputed. Just like in the field of science, truths have a different meaning in the field of law. While one statement can be true in the scientific field or real world, it can be ruled completely untrue by the law. This is why many citizens and activist become frustrated with the legal system, one of the primary examples being the trial and verdict of the Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman case.

This quote is the process by which the researchers are connecting their observations to their studies. They start off by connecting what they think and what they know. Of that list there is very small portion of observations that they can prove through research. One of the implications is that the things we think and know are two different categories. For instance, we think a significant amount of thoughts a day but only a small part of those thoughts are actually true. It is in the same manner that not everything we know can be proven. In other words, not all we know is scientifically true or can be scientifically researched.

Using the movie as an example, the researchers think that an infection is killing gay men, they know there is an infection killing thousands of people but they are struggle with proving anything in relation to the infection. This implies for the victims of AIDS that it is going to take a long time for any of the theories to be proven. While almost all the researchers have theories regarding the infection, they have no idea how to prove it which translates to next to no scientific information about the infection. As a result, if nothing is known about the infection, there is little hope for finding a cure for it.

Me:

Science has a huge impact on who I am. Because I am an ISAT major, I am surrounded by science on a daily basis. I attend classes where I learn all different fields of science in addition to learning to become innovative. While I am academically surrounded by science, I also use science to complete every-day tasks. Whether it be taking the bus to class or instantly brewing coffee in my dorm room, each of these inventions had to be discovered by scientists and involve scientific research.

My family:

In addition, science is also a large part of my family. I use new technology like video chatting, phone calls, and texting in order to communicate with my family while I am at school. This is an example of how science has made my life easier in regards to my family.

My Community: 

My community at JMU is also impacted by science. For example, the university uses scientific methodology in order to learn more about the student body. They will survey and study students to find out what their interests are and what more they want out of the university.  

My generation:

My generation is heavily involved in technological advancements which is a large part of science these days. My generation does not know what life is like without a television or what it’s like to communicate with someone when you do not have a handheld device. Aside from cellphones, science has aided in the creation of new technology that makes human living easier. My generation is fortunate enough to have cars, air conditioning, and computers which were all discovered through scientific methodology in order to make our lives easier.

My nation:

Science is used to make my nation a better place. With new inventions and scientific research, we can understand more about how the human body works and makes every nation a better place. With innovative scientific research, we can discover new ways to protect citizens in our nation, provide better healthcare for citizens, allow citizens access to technology, just to name a few.

My future:

Science is definitely in my future because I plan to work in the scientific field. I also believe that science will continue to improve in the future. New discoveries will be made and new technologies will ease our every-day lives. I also believe that the increase in technology use will continue at a faster rate in the future, making science an even larger part of my future.