HopCat’s parent company, Barfly Ventures, hosted groups including Kent County Water Conservation, Clean Water Action, Food and Water Watch, Friends of the Au Gres-Rifle Watershed and respectmyplanet.org as part of a collaborative effort between Michigan breweries and local organizations to raise awareness about hydraulic fracturing.
The event involved a screening of the documentary “Gasland” and featured “clean water beers” from Short’s and New Holland brewing companies.
“We are basically trying to start the conversation in regard to trying to protect our resources, and clean water is one of the most important aspects of our industry,” Barfly Ventures’ sustainability coordinator Autumn Sands said. “Without clean water, we can’t brew beer. And without beer, we don’t have a HopCat.”
While the breweries did not help coordinate the event, Sands and Brian Keeley, who represented Kent County Water Conservation, said the breweries support the clean water initiative, because clean water is crucial to beer making.
“The collaboration with the breweries is really important because, especially in Michigan, we have some of the best breweries in the country,” Keeley said.
Keeley said that fracking is harmful to water resources because all the water used in hydraulic fracturing is completely removed and depleted from the water cycle.
“With hydraulic fracturing, the water’s so badly contaminated that — I wouldn’t say that they can’t purify it and return it back — but they don’t,” he said.
Dave Errickson, a registered nurse who visited HopCat for the screening, said he is more concerned about hydraulic fracturing’s implications for health.
“People will tell you that fracking has been done in Michigan for 60 years, but that’s shallow-well fracking,” he said. “What I’m concerned about is deep-well hydrofracking. The main thing I’m concerned about with it is the chemical disclosure.”
“I am a cardiac ICU nurse, so I work in the hospital,” Errickson said. “When they have an accident ... if I don’t know which chemicals these people have been exposed to, how do I treat them? And how do I protect myself from the dangers of these chemicals they may possess?”
Natural gas industry representatives dispute claims from environmental groups about hydraulic fracturing’s health effects, despite scientific research indicating that chemicals used in the fracturing process can be harmful if they enter underground water tables.
Keeley said the event is a great function to bring to a college town.
“College students don’t shy away from new issues that they may not be familiar with. We see a lot of people who aren’t comfortable talking about fracking because they don’t know what it is,” Keeley said. “(Students) are willing and excited to take action about it and educate others.”
