Brewers say that contaminated groundwater would ruin a centuries-old tradition and industry.
"When the Bavarian Purity Law was first declared in 1487, not a single European had stepped on the land above the Marcellus Shale in the Eastern United States. The First Nations of Canada weren’t fighting natural gas pipelines, because as far as natural resources go, the Alberta tar sands were centuries away from being in the picture—as was the internal combustion engine.
"Yet the law, the Reinheitsgebot, which strictly dictates the ingredients that can be used in making beer, is giving the powerful German brewing industry historic ammunition against the creeping potential for new natural gas exploration.
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Via Garry Rogers
In the United States, people have begun recycling their urine. How can the beer makers complain about using filthy water; the issue has been discussed ever since indoor toilets were invented.