Posts Tagged ‘ hydraulic-fracturing-water-contamination-epa-fracking-hydrofracking ’
On Shaky Ground? Fracking Lawsuits, Earthquakes and Bad Water (oh my)
March 7th, 2011. By AbiK
Maybe oil (ok, natural gas) and water (and the earth) don’t mix after all…
So there’s a post over at the Forbes blog today by Dr. Michael Economides defending hydraulic fracking. There’s also a post over at The Motley Fool that shares hydraulic fracturing’s new “problem”: earthquakes. (Actually it isn’t “new”—the notion of fracking contributing to earthquakes has been just below the mainstream media’s lens for a while now).
I had just watched (a bit overdue) the documentary “Flow” last night (clip above), about the threats to our global water supply—worth watching for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet—but it’s actually a good place to begin to understand at a quick glance the reasoning behind the fracking-earthquake connection. Keep in mind, of course, with the creation of water wells and the removal of groundwater, the impact on earth’s subsurface is akin to creating a void—like pulling the rug out from under your feet; with hydraulic fracturing, the issue is more about the injection of pressurized water into the earth and the subsequent collection and disposal of that water into wastewater wells. Note also, we’re not talking straight and pure H20 here—the fracking wastewater also contains any of an assortment of chemicals possibly including methane gas, benzene, tuolene, ethylbenzene and xylenes, hexavalent chromium and hydrochloric acid.
So without being an engineer or scientist, this fracking-earthquake connection sort of makes sense—as you keep undermining or comprising the integrity of the earth’s subsurface, maybe Mother Nature starts to reach her breaking point. Consider—particularly if you’ve seen “Flow— Read the rest of this entry »
Fracking and Flammable Tap Water? NY Says Hell No…for now
December 16th, 2010. By LucyC
New York Governor David Paterson no doubt made New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg a very happy man recently, when he signed an executive order halting the controversial natural gas drilling process called hydraulic fracturing—or fracking—in the state until July 1, 2011.
The fracking process is controversial to say the least because it may be associated with harmful effects on the environment, specifically underground drinking water. Folks in the eastern states of New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia are particularly concerned because they sit on shale formations such as the Marcellus Formation, which are estimated to contain trillions of cubic feet of natural gas.
The governor signed the order to stop horizontal fracking in New York state on Saturday. The ban will remain in place until the state Department of Environmental Conservation completes a comprehensive review to determine what, if any dangers are associated with this process.
But the folks who live in areas where hydraulic fracking is taking place—areas such as the Delaware River Basin in Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, claim they are Read the rest of this entry »
BP Spill, San Bruno Fire, Fracking…Time to Stop Blind Faith in Gas
September 12th, 2010. By AbiK
As I read the accounts of those living in the area affected by the San Bruno gas fire, one phrase keeps coming back to me: “I didn’t know…” While the specifics of each “I didn’t know” or “had I known” vary, they all stem from one thing—we—homeowners and residential gas consumers—don’t really know what the heck we’re sitting on top of when it comes to underground gas lines.
In an odd way, the BP oil spill has been our wake-call—albeit at a terrible price. But, thanks to BP, we now question how gas is obtained and distributed. Sure, the folks living in the heart of the Marcellus Shale region have long been sitting on pins and needles wondering what hydraulic fracking means to their water supply, for example, but that type of regional concern wouldn’t have gotten some of the more national press coverage it has recently received had it not been for BP.
Ditto the San Bruno gas fire. Sure, it would’ve made the headlines, but, as with other localized gas pipe explosions of years gone by, it would’ve been reported as a tragic explosion affecting a very small area in the scheme of things. There may have been a few localized investigative reports—but that would’ve been about it. Now, however, people are starting to question a few things about the US natural gas industry. Things like, just how safe is it? And things like, what happens to San Bruno in the aftermath of the gas line rupture—did any gas leak into the ground? are the remaining pipes in the area safe? what about those reports of a gas smell? and on and on…
I’ve posted about hydraulic fracturing—you can read more about that and the concerns folks have about it from upstate New York to West Virginia here on LawyersAndSettlements.com. It only took a few reports about livestock becoming sick from leaks coming out of nearby fracking operations to make me raise an eyebrow and join the anti-fracking side. Of course, the gas companies continue to tout its safety—and, I suppose when you look at aggregate numbers, it is relatively “safe”—but would you want your kids drinking water that potentially contained chemicals (or gas?) involved with the fracking process? Didn’t think so…
So, back to the “I didn’t know”.
A report the other day in the PressDemocrat.com talks about how we really don’t know Read the rest of this entry »
With Focus on BP, Don’t Lose Sight of Fracking Issues
July 12th, 2010. By AbiK
I’m sure you’ve been hearing about the new oil well cap that’s—possibly—going on the BP well today in the Gulf. It’s been top news all weekend—that, and of course Spain and Lance Armstrong. But crawling around in the background has been a little news story that you most likely missed. About another fossil fuel: natural gas. About Fracking. And, about cattle.
Yes, cattle.
First, some background. I’ve been posting about hydraulic fracturing (aka “fracking“) in the Marcellus Shale region of Pennsylvania, New York and West Virginia and how not everyone is thrilled that they’re living on top of a veritable gold mine of natural gas. Most of those who oppose fracking are concerned about the possibility of contamination of underground sources of drinking water (usdw). The idea behind fracking is that once a well is drilled into reservoir rock, a mixture of water and high viscosity fluid additives (i.e., chemicals) is injected into the rock to force the rock to fracture. A propping agent, like sand, is then pumped into the fractures to keep them open. The fractures then allow the natural gas to flow more freely to the production well that can then bring the gas to the surface.
Sounds simple enough. But then, what about those fractures? The process Read the rest of this entry »
BP Experience Should Have us Catching a Fracking Clue
June 21st, 2010. By AbiK
We’ve posted before about fracking—the hotly debated method of extracting natural gas from the ground, aka “hydraulic fracturing”. It’s a topic that shows up almost daily in newspapers of towns situated in the area of the Marcellus Shale—places in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New York—where new sources of natural gas have been discovered. And it’s being debated because some folks aren’t completely convinced that there is no risk of contamination of underground drinking water sources.
So tuck that thought away for a moment and let’s just recap what’s dominated the news for close to two months now. That would be the BP Oil Spill.And that’s led to some reminiscing about the Exxon Valdez spill. And gee, everyone thought all that was safe, right? Who could’ve predicted any of this? Oh—of course, in hindsight you’ve got folks who say there were “issues” with the Deepwater Horizon and something was “bound to happen”—but clearly, those that voiced such concerns even three or six months ago were poo-pooed.
Fine, we’re a nation built on optimism. Capitalism itself could never thrive with a glass-is-half-empty world view. But, be that as it may, it’s always prudent to plan for the “what ifs”—what if, perchance, the proverbial glass Read the rest of this entry »
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