|
|
By arimoore, on January 12th, 2010%
What happens when millions of gallons of toxic hydrofracking waste gush back up out of the earth after being injected? Where does it go after sitting around in pits for a while? Let’s look to Pennsylvania to see what’s happening there: Gas wells’ leftovers may wash into Ohio
By arimoore, on August 26th, 2009%
Gas shale drilling tech under scrutiny (Alaska Dispatch):
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)
By arimoore, on August 26th, 2009%
The Big Takeover by Peter Gorman for Fort Worth Weekly:
It’s been a tough spring and summer for the gas drilling industry’s public image.
In Caddo Parish in Louisiana’s northwest corner, 17 head of cattle died in late April after drinking “frac” water that entered their pasture. During the last several months, earthquakes in Johnson County and at D/FW International Airport caused gas companies to shut down injection wells thought to be responsible. And then a couple of week ago, a film showing invisible poisonous hydrocarbons escaping into the air at gas well sites in North Texas appeared on YouTube. Closest to home, 14 new wells are planned for a Fort Worth park within 600 feet of a proposed elementary school and community center. Oh, and a gas industry lobbying group has been given the right to put a class in a Fort Worth public high school, with full control of the curriculum.
“Sounds like the apocalypse when you just rattle them off like that,” said Don Young, founder of Fort Worth CanDo and a consistent voice against urban gas drilling. The seemingly endless horror stories have activists like Young shaking their heads in disbelief. “Just when you think you’ve seen it all, something else happens to shock you again,” he said. (Read more)
By arimoore, on August 25th, 2009%
Read Ithaca council raises natural gas-drilling concerns by Krisy Gashler:
Raising concerns about drinking water, roads and safety for emergency responders, Ithaca’s Common Council is getting involved in the discussion about gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale.
The majority of the city’s watershed for its Six Mile Creek drinking water source is outside the city in the Towns of Ithaca and Caroline. Roughly 38 percent of the total land area in Tompkins County has already been leased for oil and gas drilling, including 12 percent in the Town of Ithaca and 49 percent in Caroline, according to gas lease deed information compiled by the citizen’s action group Shaleshock.
Common Council Planning Committee Chairwoman Jennifer Dotson, I-1st, said city officials have concerns in four major areas: water use and wastewater disposal; impact on roads and infrastructure; safety, especially for firefighters who may have to respond to fires or accidents at drilling sites; and the tax structure for oil and gas revenue.
The planning committee this week discussed strategies they could use to protect the city, including identifying critical natural areas, adopting road preservation laws, and demanding disclosure of all chemicals in hydro-fracturing (fracking) fluid before considering whether to accept it at the wastewater treatment plant, which discharges into Cayuga Lake. (Read more)
By arimoore, on August 17th, 2009%
Read Gas-drilling companies keep chemical formulas a secret by Tom Wilber:
They have catchy names like Flomax 50, SandWedge WF and Bio Clear, but you won’t find them at the drug store, in the pro shop or among your household cleaners.
They are, in fact, trade names for caustic and flammable industrial agents used by crews drilling for natural gas. Mixed with millions of gallons of water and blasted into the ground under high pressure, they fracture bedrock and stimulate the flow of natural gas.
The process, called hydro-fracturing, is at the center of a debate over environmental risks associated with tapping the Marcellus Shale, a massive gas field running beneath the Southern Tier and throughout the Appalachian Basin.
Read the rest
By arimoore, on August 17th, 2009%
Read Jennifer Tomsey’s Family dilemma: To drill or not to drill:
My family has heard the offers to drill. I know these deals can be difficult to refuse, especially in tough economic times. But as an environmental science and policy major, I have studied natural gas drilling and have reservations about it.
Read the rest
By shirari, on July 15th, 2009%
 Experts question treated gas-drilling fluid: Problems noted in Pennsylvania by Krisy Gashler:
The consultant overseeing testing at the Ithaca Area Wastewater Treatment Plant cautioned plant operators Wednesday to think carefully before accepting gas drilling fracking fluid, saying some Pennsylvania plants that have accepted the material have created problems for downstream drinking water plants. One plant also reportedly discovered radioactivity in the fracking waste, said Jimmie Joe Carl, an engineer with Pennfield-based MRB Group.
Read more…
|
About Us Shaleshock is an information hub connecting people to regional groups and projects working to stop exploitative drilling in the Marcellus Shale.(more)
2009 Signs of Sustainability
|
Recent Comments