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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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House Democrats Say Hydraulic-Fracturing Fluids Contain Toxic Ingredients By STEPHEN POWER
WASHINGTON -- The drilling fluids used to recover natural gas and oil from deep shale formations contain substances identified as human carcinogens, or listed as hazardous under federal clean air or water rules, according to a report issued late Saturday by senior House Democrats.
The composition of hydraulic fracturing fluids has become a key point of tension between the oil and gas industry, which has been reluctant to disclose the specific contents of drilling fluids, and those who say such disclosure is necessary to determine whether hydraulic fracturing poses a threat to drinking water.
The gas industry has said it will voluntarily disclose the composition of drilling fluids. The Democratic paper noted that disclosure to this database will be voluntary, and "will not include the chemical identity of products labeled as proprietary."
Citing data submitted by the companies to the House Energy and Commerce Committee in response to requests from the panel's Democratic members, the report says that drilling fluids used by the companies contained 29 chemicals that are known or possible human carcinogens, regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act for their risks to human health, or listed as hazardous air pollutants under the Clean Air Act. Among these substances, according to the report: Methanol, benzene, sulfuric acid and lead.
The report says the substances used by the companies also include generally harmless and common substances, such as salt and citric acid. Some companies also used instant coffee and walnut hulls in their fracturing fluids, the report says.
The Democratic report, says that between 2005 and 2009, more than a dozen leading energy companies have used more than 780 million gallons of drilling fluids containing roughly 750 different chemicals and components.
Hydraulic fracturing and other techniques have unlocked large reserves of shale oil and gas that wasn't previously accessible, leading to a boom of new wells across the country and a sharp decline in natural gas prices.
President Obama has been promoting greater use of natural gas as a way to help the country reduce its reliance on oil. Mr. Obama in a speech last month, touted legislation in Congress to encourage wider use of natural gas as a fuel for vehicles.
But environmentalists and some residents of areas recently opened to development by hydraulic fracturing have said the process can pollute drinking water supplies. The industry has said these fears are unfounded.
The Environmental Protection Agency has been investigating whether hydraulic fracturing poses a threat to ground water. Under current law, most hydraulic fracturing is exempted from regulation by the EPA under the Safe Drinking Water act.
Rep. Henry Waxman (D., Calif.), the top Democrat on the Energy and Commerce committee, had sought data from energy companies last year, while still committee chairman, on the fluids used in their hydraulic fracturing operations.
A spokesman for Energy in Depth -- a Washington-based group that represents oil and gas producers -- said that while fracturing fluids "contain things you would never want to drink ... the only way that'd be relevant in a public-health context is if those materials were somehow finding their way into potable water supplies underground. Naturally, Waxman has no ability to show that, precisely because they aren't, don't, and according to regulators, never have."
A spokesman for America's Natural Gas Alliance added that its member companies "support the disclosure of hydraulic fracturing fluids through the Ground Water Protection Council registry, which is run by state regulators. This registry was launched just last week and is providing information to the public about the hydraulic fracturing process, including the composition of the fluids used."
The report could stir further calls by some lawmakers for federal regulation of hydraulic fracturing, which involves injecting a mixture of water, sand and chemicals underground at high pressures to release oil from hydrocarbon deposits.
"It is deeply disturbing to discover the content and quantity of toxic chemicals, like benzene and lead, being injected into the ground without the knowledge of the communities whose health could be affected," said Rep. Diana DeGette (D., Colo.) who released the report along with Mr. Waxman and Rep. Edward Markey (D., Mass.)
"Of particular concern to me is that we learned that over the four-year period studied, over one and a half million gallons of carcinogens were injected into the ground in Colorado. Many companies were also unable to even identify some of the chemicals they were using in their own activities, unfortunately underscoring that voluntary industry disclosure is not enough to ensure the economic benefits of natural gas production do not come at the cost of our families' health."
Write to Stephen Power at stephen.power@wsj.com
Copyright 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit
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Sun Apr 17, 2011 12:30 pm |
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twotap
F L I N T O I D
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And the replacement for oil and natural gas is?????  |
_________________
"If you like your current healthcare you can keep it, Period"!!
Barack Hussein Obama--- multiple times. |
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Sun Apr 17, 2011 3:53 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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| This is only for for previously inaccessible gas and oil in shale. Are you saying possible contamination of water sources is preferable if it provides gas and oil? |
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Sun Apr 17, 2011 6:50 pm |
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twotap
F L I N T O I D
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| I usually take what the enviromentalists say with some skepticism. Dont forget Algore is one of them. |
_________________
"If you like your current healthcare you can keep it, Period"!!
Barack Hussein Obama--- multiple times. |
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Sun Apr 17, 2011 8:25 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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SARAH EDDINGTON 02/17/11 09:43 PM
Huffington Post
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Jim Sutterfield was briefly puzzled by a thumping sound that seemed to slam the back of his office chair. But when the small-town Arkansas fire chief turned and saw no one was around, he quickly realized it was just an earthquake – again.
"That was only my second time to feel one, but others here have felt them for three or four months now," the Greenbrier chief said after feeling a tremor this week. "Now when it happens, people say, 'Well, there's another one.'"
Several small earthquakes ranging in magnitude from 1.8 to 3.8 have rattled the north-central Arkansas cities of Greenbrier and Guy this week, and the cause is unknown.
The U.S. Geological Survey has reported more than 30 earthquakes in the area since Sunday, including a magnitude 3.8 quake Thursday morning and at least 16 others occurring Wednesday, two of which were magnitude 3.2 and 3.5. More than 700 quakes have occurred in the region over the past six months.
Scott Ausbrooks, geohazards supervisor for the Arkansas Geological Survey, said the quakes are part of what is now called the Guy earthquake swarm – a series of mild earthquakes that have been occurring periodically since 2009. A similar swarm occurred in the early 1980s when a series of quakes hit Enola, Ark.
Ausbrooks said geologists are still trying to discover the exact cause of the recent seismic activity but have identified two possibilities.
"It could just be a naturally occurring swarm like the Enola swarm, or it could be related to ongoing natural gas exploration in the area," he said.
A major source of natural gas in Arkansas is the Fayetteville Shale, an organically-rich rock formation in north-central Arkansas. Drillers free up the gas by using hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" – injecting pressurized water to create fractures deep in the ground.
Ausbrooks said geologists don't believe the production wells are the problem, but rather the injection wells that are used to dispose of "frack" water when it can no longer be re-used. The wastewater is pressurized and injected into the ground.
Story continues below
"We see no correlation between natural gas production wells and earthquakes, but we haven't ruled out injection wells," he said, adding that if production wells were the cause, the earthquakes would be scattered all over the region underlain by the Fayetteville Shale formation and not in just one area.
Ausbrooks said the earthquakes are occurring in the vicinity of several injection wells.
Guy Police Chief Dave Martini said the locals continue to blame the gas companies for the quakes.
"We have a disposal well here just outside of the city," Martini said. "People are suspecting that to be causing it, even though there isn't any proof of that."
Martini said the earthquakes started increasing in frequency over the past week and that the disposal well has seen an increase in use recently.
Lawrence Bengal, director of the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission, said a six-month moratorium was established in January on new injection wells in the area. He said four companies are operating already-drilled injection wells: SEECO Inc., Chesapeake Operating Inc., Clarita Operating LLC and Deep-Six Water Disposal Services LLC.
The moratorium, which is expected to end in July, is intended to allow time to study the relationship – if any – between the injection wells and earthquakes in the area.
The largest quake of the Guy Earthquake Swarm was a magnitude 4.0, which occurred in October, Ausbrooks said. The region could possibly see quakes reaching as high as 5.0, but he said anything above 6.0 is unlikely.
The magnitude scale for earthquakes is logarithmic, meaning a magnitude 3 earthquake would produce waves with amplitudes 10 times greater than a magnitude 2 and 100 times greater than a magnitude 1. Geologists say quakes of magnitude 2.5 to 3.0 are generally the smallest felt by humans.
"These periods of high activity are not uncommon. I don't think it's anything to be overly concerned about," Ausbrooks said. "We always encourage people to keep tuned in to what's going on and to always have an all-hazards disaster preparedness kit."
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Mon May 02, 2011 9:00 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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SARAH EDDINGTON 02/17/11 09:43 PM
Huffington Post
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Jim Sutterfield was briefly puzzled by a thumping sound that seemed to slam the back of his office chair. But when the small-town Arkansas fire chief turned and saw no one was around, he quickly realized it was just an earthquake – again.
"That was only my second time to feel one, but others here have felt them for three or four months now," the Greenbrier chief said after feeling a tremor this week. "Now when it happens, people say, 'Well, there's another one.'"
Several small earthquakes ranging in magnitude from 1.8 to 3.8 have rattled the north-central Arkansas cities of Greenbrier and Guy this week, and the cause is unknown.
The U.S. Geological Survey has reported more than 30 earthquakes in the area since Sunday, including a magnitude 3.8 quake Thursday morning and at least 16 others occurring Wednesday, two of which were magnitude 3.2 and 3.5. More than 700 quakes have occurred in the region over the past six months.
Scott Ausbrooks, geohazards supervisor for the Arkansas Geological Survey, said the quakes are part of what is now called the Guy earthquake swarm – a series of mild earthquakes that have been occurring periodically since 2009. A similar swarm occurred in the early 1980s when a series of quakes hit Enola, Ark.
Ausbrooks said geologists are still trying to discover the exact cause of the recent seismic activity but have identified two possibilities.
"It could just be a naturally occurring swarm like the Enola swarm, or it could be related to ongoing natural gas exploration in the area," he said.
A major source of natural gas in Arkansas is the Fayetteville Shale, an organically-rich rock formation in north-central Arkansas. Drillers free up the gas by using hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" – injecting pressurized water to create fractures deep in the ground.
Ausbrooks said geologists don't believe the production wells are the problem, but rather the injection wells that are used to dispose of "frack" water when it can no longer be re-used. The wastewater is pressurized and injected into the ground.
Story continues below
"We see no correlation between natural gas production wells and earthquakes, but we haven't ruled out injection wells," he said, adding that if production wells were the cause, the earthquakes would be scattered all over the region underlain by the Fayetteville Shale formation and not in just one area.
Ausbrooks said the earthquakes are occurring in the vicinity of several injection wells.
Guy Police Chief Dave Martini said the locals continue to blame the gas companies for the quakes.
"We have a disposal well here just outside of the city," Martini said. "People are suspecting that to be causing it, even though there isn't any proof of that."
Martini said the earthquakes started increasing in frequency over the past week and that the disposal well has seen an increase in use recently.
Lawrence Bengal, director of the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission, said a six-month moratorium was established in January on new injection wells in the area. He said four companies are operating already-drilled injection wells: SEECO Inc., Chesapeake Operating Inc., Clarita Operating LLC and Deep-Six Water Disposal Services LLC.
The moratorium, which is expected to end in July, is intended to allow time to study the relationship – if any – between the injection wells and earthquakes in the area.
The largest quake of the Guy Earthquake Swarm was a magnitude 4.0, which occurred in October, Ausbrooks said. The region could possibly see quakes reaching as high as 5.0, but he said anything above 6.0 is unlikely.
The magnitude scale for earthquakes is logarithmic, meaning a magnitude 3 earthquake would produce waves with amplitudes 10 times greater than a magnitude 2 and 100 times greater than a magnitude 1. Geologists say quakes of magnitude 2.5 to 3.0 are generally the smallest felt by humans.
"These periods of high activity are not uncommon. I don't think it's anything to be overly concerned about," Ausbrooks said. "We always encourage people to keep tuned in to what's going on and to always have an all-hazards disaster preparedness kit."
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Mon May 02, 2011 9:00 am |
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