We have a potential very serious issue facing Mesquite and much of Clark County called Fracking.  On Nov. 12th, 2019, the Nevada BLM will hold a lease sale for 574,075 acres of land in the Ely District.  Over 100,000 of those acres are in the East Mormon Mountains and the Tule Desert.  The land is just north of Mesquite and will threaten the water that we rely on including Mesquite, Henderson, Las Vegas, the Moapa Band of Paiutes and Clark County as a whole.

On Friday, Nov. 8th, at 11:30 am, I will be, in conjunction with the Moapa Band of Piutes, and the Sierra Club, along with others, will host a press conference outside city hall to denounce the BLM plans to allow gas and oil development in our local Southern Nevada community waters.

I have done considerable research on Oil and Gas development and will give you a brief explanation of why we must stop this now.  To begin with it is an ecological disaster to the land.  Heavy machinery, trucks, other building and equipment will turn pristine and scenic areas into industrial zones.  Frequently the method used to obtain the desired gas and oil is done by Hydraulic fracturing of the earth by injecting millions of gallons of water, plus chemicals and sand underground at very high pressure in order to create fractures in the underlying geology to allow natural gas to escape. 90 percent of oil and gas wellS use this method.  Hydraulic fracturing fluids contain a variety of toxic chemicals such as diesel fuel, acids and acetone.  In addition, hydraulic fracturing can release hazardous substances that are naturally occurring into the environment, such as arsenic, mercury, and radioactive materials.  All of these substances present risks to our underground sources of drinking water.  Our water!  Hydraulic fracturing is exempted from the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act.  State regulations are, if any, weak and uninforced.

This is just a brief over view of Fracking.  It gets worse as you research it, and I encourage everyone who cares about our community to do just that.  I will be attempting to meet with the Governor in a few days and seek his help, as well as other officials that represent our city and surrounding communities.