An environmental protestor in Australia lit fire to a river this week to protest fracking in the area. That wouldn’t be a huge deal if, you know, rivers weren’t supposed to be able to get set on fire. Usually crazy things that happen in Australian rivers have more to do with weird animals, drunk people, or both. The Queensland river is within spitting distance of multiple fracking sites and is flammable due to leaking methane through the ground and into the water. An MP in an Australian party that supports fracking restrictions circulated the footage through his website in order to shine a spotlight on the mess that the oil and gas business cause for the environment.
As if a river lighting up with the click of a lighter isn’t enough of a surprise, the fire burned for over an hour at full strength. Some structural fires don’t even burn that long! There’s no way this river water is even close to safe enough to swim in, nonetheless drink from. Of course, the gas company is going with the reasoning that the gas seeping into the water supply is from natural sources. Which sort of makes sense, in absurd businessman speak. There have been rumors of such safety issues for years now in the area, so good on Buckingham for finally bringing the issues to light in as crazy and attention-getting as possible. Of course, Australia is way behind on the “river on fire” trend seeing as America had a river catch fire in 1969 when the Cuyahoga was set ablaze. Is this like how the 80’s didn’t get to Canada until 1994?
(via RT)