I wonder why it was necessary for the government to exempt Marcellus Shale drillers from the Clean Air and Water Act.

Called the “Halliburton Act,” it was enacted during the administration of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.

Was this a matter of self-interest? Note, it is Cheney’s Halliburton equipment that is used for the Marcellus fracking process.

As part of that process, chemically treated water must be safely disposed of — not in our wells and rivers.

A Butler Eagle article on May 18 reported on a $1 million fine issued to one of the most active companies in the state’s natural gas drilling boom for contaminating of private water supplies with methane and for a tank fire.

I would like to thank the Butler Eagle for its thorough and continuing coverage of meetings and incidents regarding Marcellus Shale gas drilling. The newspaper’s articles are very informative and much appreciated.

Without such news coverage, the public would remain in the dark about the Marcellus Shale issue.

If the fracking process is so safe, as the drilling companies would have us believe, why was it necessary to enact this type of exemption legislation in the first place?

It almost seems as though it was expected from the beginning that there would be serious side effects.