Fracking

[Warph]

Janet, they include benzene, hydrochloric acid, formaldehyde, toluene and methanol for starters.

California has introduced... "A bill forcing oil and gas companies to reveal what chemicals they use when using hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," to extract natural gas in California passed the California Senate Natural Resources Committee earlier this month and is set to go before the Environmental Quality Committee next week."

Source:  http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2011/06/fracking-hyraulic-fracturing-california-oil-natural-gas-shale-wieckowski.html

[Ross]

There was a piece on 60 minutes tonight.
Here is a link to the preview and I feel certain they will put up the full piece soon.
http://www.cbs.com/primetime/60_minutes/video/?pid=DZryeh5SXaMn_rI9cG6VTmHyhb9D_gVi&vs=homepage&play=true

excuse the advertisements.

[Ross]

APNewsBreak: EPA implicates hydraulic fracturing in groundwater pollution at Wyoming gas field


By Associated Press, Updated: Thursday, December 8, 1:12 PM

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday for the first time that fracking — a controversial method of improving the productivity of oil and gas wells — may be to blame for causing groundwater pollution.

The draft finding could have a chilling effect in states trying to determine how to regulate the process.

The practice is called hydraulic fracturing and involves pumping pressurized water, sand and chemicals underground to open fissures and improve the flow of oil or gas to the surface.

The EPA's found that compounds likely associated with fracking chemicals had been detected in the groundwater beneath a Wyoming community where residents say their well water reeks of chemicals.

Health officials advised them not to drink their water after the EPA found hydrocarbons in their wells.

The EPA announcement has major implications for the vast increase in gas drilling in the U.S. in recent years. Fracking has played a large role in opening up many reserves.

The industry has long contended that fracking is safe, but environmentalists and some residents who live near drilling sites say it has poisoned groundwater.

The EPA said its announcement is the first step in a process of opening up its findings for review by the public and other scientists.

"EPA's highest priority remains ensuring that Pavillion residents have access to safe drinking water," said Jim Martin, EPA regional administrator in Denver. "We look forward to having these findings in the draft report informed by a transparent and public review process."

The EPA also emphasized that the findings are specific to the Pavillion area. The agency said the fracking that occurred in Pavillion differed from fracking methods used elsewhere in regions with different geological characteristics.

The fracking occurred below the level of the drinking water aquifer and close to water wells, the EPA said. Elsewhere, drilling is more remote and fracking occurs much deeper than the level of groundwater that anybody would use.

In Colorado, regulators are considering requiring oil and gas companies to publicly disclose the chemicals used in fracking

The public and industry representatives packed an 11-hour hearing on the issue on Monday. They all generally supported the proposal but the sticking point is whether trade secrets would have to be disclosed and how quickly the information would have be turned over.

Industry representatives say Colorado and Texas are the only states to have moved to consider disclosing all fracking chemicals, not just those considered hazardous by workplace regulators.

______

Associated Press writer Colleen Slevin contributed to this report from Denver.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/apnewsbreak-epa-implicates-hydraulic-fracturing-in-groundwater-pollution-at-wyoming-gas-field/2011/12/08/gIQA1iNafO_story.html

[Mom70x7]

There have also been comments around the edges that fracking contributed to the recent Oklahoma earthquakes.

[Ross]

You know that was my thought about the earth quakes.
So it doesn't surprise me.

[Ross]

Here is some New info about fracking I hope interest some of you.


Headlnes of stories at the link below the headlines:

For Pennsylvania's Doctors, a Gag Order on Fracking Chemicals

Docs on PA Gag Order: No Fracking Way!

Fracking: It's All About the Water

There are also a couple of other headlines.

https://motherjones.com/search/apachesolr_search/For%20Pennsylvania%E2%80%99s%20doctors%2C%20a%20gag%20order%20on%20fracking%20chemicals

[Warph]

             

"Fracking" is the name given to the process of injecting high pressure fluids into the ground to increase the release of natural gas. The problem is that such practices often contaminate ground water and put entire communities at risk. The energy industry, of course, ignores any environmental concerns since that might cut into their profit margin. But do people really want to save a dollar on their utility bill at the cost of having no water to drink?

Okay, so what excuse will they come up with this time to justify polluting our water? Because if they keep this up, a clean water supply is going to be scarcer than oil:

For the first time, a scientific study has linked natural gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing with a pattern of drinking water contamination so severe that some faucets can be lit on fire.

The peer-reviewed study, published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, stands to shape the contentious debate over whether drilling is safe and begins to fill an information gap that has made it difficult for lawmakers and the public tounderstand the risks.

The research was conducted by four scientists at Duke University. They found that levels of flammable methane gas in drinking water wells increased to dangerous levels when those water supplies were close to natural gas wells. They also found that the type of gas detected at high levels in the water was the same type of gas that energy companies were extracting from thousands of feet underground, strongly implying that the gas may be seeping underground through natural or manmade faults and fractures, or coming from cracks in the well structure itself.

[redcliffsw]

Warph, it seems more like scare tactics.  They've been fracing for years.  Where's the proof?

Is this another attempt to expand the Federal government?  Sure looks like it.

[Ross]

Like Fracking? You'll Love 'Super Fracking'

About the fifth paragraph down in the Bloomberg Business article.

Baker Hughes has set its sights on creating "super cracks," a method of blasting deeper into dense rock to create wider channels. The aim of the technology, branded as DirectConnect, is to better concentrate the pressure of fracking fluids to reach oil or gas farther from the well bore, which existing methods fail to do as effectively.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-01-19/like-fracking-youll-love-super-fracking

[Ross]

This is one long article that reads more like a horror story.
I guess I can say it was good reading but not enjoyagle reading.

http://www.hcn.org/issues/43.11/hydrofracked-one-mans-quest-for-answers-about-natural-gas-drilling/print_view