According to a long feature in the Ithaca Journal, people are wondering about just what’s in the waste liquid that results from horizontal high-pressure hydro-fracture drilling, and what’s the best way to handle it. As full-scale horizontal development of Marcellus Shale gas kicks in, the quantity of waste fluid will increase because horizontal wells require more of the fluid than vertical wells. The high volume of waste fluid will need to be dealt with. But because the industry is exempt from the federal rules that require full disclosure, no one is really sure about what threat the fluid poses to workers or groundwater. The DEC hasn’t issued any permits yet for full-scale development with horizontal hydro-fracture wells in the Marcellus because it is reviewing environmental impact statements, but it has already allowed the technology to be used in traditional vertical wells there. (Read more)
Natural gas, not so sustainable by John Guerrerio, Energy Examiner, brings up some public health issues: “It makes no sense to expand these adverse health effects nationally, especially in light of skyrocketing healthcare costs. Denial of coverage based upon proximity to drill sites may become a possibility.”
He also asks, “Do we really have the luxury of poisoning this much of our freshwater suply in the name of natural gas development? The question needs to be asked again: What do we value more, energy to run our machines or water to sustain human life?” (Read more)
An enhanced video showing invisible fumes released when natural gas is burned. They may be invisible, but as this video shows, they are definitely there. Natural gas doesn’t look quite so clean anymore…
Made with footage from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
When no state agency would take responsibility for determining the cause of death of the cows, Prator concluded that chemicals in the spill killed the cows.
The regional DEQ office found elevated chlorides, a salt, as well as oil and grease and some organic compounds in soil and water tests. Potassium chloride can be added to the fluids used during stages of the hydraulic fracturing process used to reach natural gas trapped in underground shale.
The Safety of Fracturing Fluids – A Quantitative Assessment by Steve Coffman, member of the Committee to Preserve the Finger Lakes –
August 4, 2009
In response to a FOIL request to New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation, the Committee to Preserve the Finger Lakes received a list of 48 toxic substances (as defined by the DEC or EPA) permitted for use in hydraulic fracture drilling of gas wells in the Marcellus Shale formation in Yates, Schuyler, Steuben, Broome and Cortland Counties. The received materials came in the form of documents submitted by the drilling companies themselves: Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) and Company Drilling Data Sheets. Continue reading The Safety of Fracturing Fluids – A Quantitative Assessment
The rich natural gas deposits beneath Central New York present a rare opportunity for large-scale economic development. They also present the specter of environmental degradation across a wide swath of the region… It’s a technology fraught with potential problems — noise, water pollution, increases in truck traffic, road deterioration, a scarred landscape and the disposal of millions of gallons of hazardous wastewater. If not done right, the search for natural gas could become a man-made disaster in Central New York.
Ithaca Democratic Socialists of America Presents #407: “What the Frack?” Marty Luster asks Ken Zeserson and Judy Abrams about “fracking” – a new method for extracting natural gas from much deeper underground than in conventional drilling. Contracts for such extraction are being signed all over Tompkins County. The environmental threats are severe, and the process is very weakly regulated. Recorded July 22, 2009.
Watch it on Channel 13, on Friday, July 31, 11:30 am-noon.
This week’s program will be available Tuesday in the Alternatives Library in Anabel Taylor Hall on the Cornell Campus. Now on DVD.
If you would like to help out with Ithaca Democratic Socialists’ community access cable television series, call Theresa Alt at 273-3009 or email talt at igc dot org.
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