Fracking
Whaaat?... what is it?.... That's what I said when I heard this word for the first time. A teacher from the school I work at was helping me out by giving me ideas on themes for my blog, and she told me that recently on the news there was something about "Fracking" in Texas. So I told her that I was going to look into it and maybe make it a blog.
Let me start by the definition, until now I hadn't hear that word before.
Hydraulic Fracturing: In some shale deposits. there are significant reserves of natural gas that cannot naturally leave because of the rock's low permeability. The practice of hydraulic fracturing (often called "fracking") shatters the shale, opening up cracks through which the natural gas can flow into wells and then be brought to the surface. The fracturing of the shale is initiated by pumping fluids into the rock at very high pressures. The fluid is mostly water but also includes other chemicals that aid in the fracturing process. Some of this chemicals may be toxic, and there are concerns about fracking fluid leaking into aquifers that supply people with freshwater. The injection fluid also includes sand , so once fractures open up in the shale, the sand grains can keep the m propped open and permit the gas to continue to flow. Once the fracture has been accomplished, the fracking fluid is brought back to the surface. This wastewater is then injected into deep disposal wells. In some locations, these injections appear to trigger numerous minor earthquakes. (Tarbuck, p. 786)
New Research on surface Spills in Fracking Industry
The fracking industry has created many concerns about potential safety and environmental effects of the process, including possible groundwater contamination. To better understand gas extraction through hydraulic fracturing, health scientist Heather Avens and colleagues researched surface spills caused by fracking. Their research examined data between July1 2010, and July 2, 2011, from the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission and addressed potential contamination from benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX).
At the 2013 American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Expo in Montreal, Quebec, Avens shared these key findings:
* Seventy seven surface spills that affected groundwater were recorded in Weld County, where 18,000 wells were active.
*Surface spills were experienced at about 0.4% of active wells
*An average of seven barrels of hydraulic fracturing water was spilled during each incident.
*The average area of spill was 197 cubic meters and the average depth was 2m.
*Tank battery systems represented a major point of origin for spills.
* Spills were most often caused by equipment failure.
* BTEX concentration were significantly lower outside the excavation area than within the excavated area and decreased rapidly as the distance from a spill increased.
Besides general regulations covering oil and gas operations that happen to include fracking, a wave of fracking-specific laws and regulations have swept the nation over the last four years or so. Four key areas where the regulations of the states have had an impact on fracking operations are: (a) control of the acquisition and use of water for fracking; (b) disclosure of chemicals used in fracking fluid; (c) flow back water disposal requirements; and (d) requirements for casing, cementing, drilling, and completion. An additional emerging issue is the promulgation of surface use limitations, either by local governments or at the state level.
New Research on surface Spills in Fracking Industry
The fracking industry has created many concerns about potential safety and environmental effects of the process, including possible groundwater contamination. To better understand gas extraction through hydraulic fracturing, health scientist Heather Avens and colleagues researched surface spills caused by fracking. Their research examined data between July1 2010, and July 2, 2011, from the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission and addressed potential contamination from benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX).
At the 2013 American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Expo in Montreal, Quebec, Avens shared these key findings:
* Seventy seven surface spills that affected groundwater were recorded in Weld County, where 18,000 wells were active.
*Surface spills were experienced at about 0.4% of active wells
*An average of seven barrels of hydraulic fracturing water was spilled during each incident.
*The average area of spill was 197 cubic meters and the average depth was 2m.
*Tank battery systems represented a major point of origin for spills.
* Spills were most often caused by equipment failure.
* BTEX concentration were significantly lower outside the excavation area than within the excavated area and decreased rapidly as the distance from a spill increased.
Besides general regulations covering oil and gas operations that happen to include fracking, a wave of fracking-specific laws and regulations have swept the nation over the last four years or so. Four key areas where the regulations of the states have had an impact on fracking operations are: (a) control of the acquisition and use of water for fracking; (b) disclosure of chemicals used in fracking fluid; (c) flow back water disposal requirements; and (d) requirements for casing, cementing, drilling, and completion. An additional emerging issue is the promulgation of surface use limitations, either by local governments or at the state level.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
In recent news, fracking has had negative consequences in society like the case of Texas.
The people of West Texas are literally praying for rain. The region has experienced heavy droughts in recent years. Despite the droughts, however, Texas is famous for denying the science behind things like climate change and evolution, and also for voting over and over to de-regulate the oil and the gas companies that are consuming the area's water supply with fracking.
People are concern because they are running out of water. "Despite those prayers, however, Texas has suffered years of sustained drought. On top of that, the oil and gas industry's demand for water used in fracking are running down reservoirs and aquifers, and contaminating whatever's left. Rapidly-increasing climate change is working against Texas' cattle industry, as well making things even worse for the people of West Texas towns like Barnhart, and any other towns in Briscoe, Burnet, or Comal counties." (Clean Technica)
In order to alleviate the negative impact of fracking on society, many researchers suggest the following recommendations:
1)Well operators should conduct comprehensive chemical risk analyses to better understand surface spills.
2) Water table depth and other factors should be carefully considered.
3) Equipment safety systems should be examined and enhanced as needed, especially for sties where human attendants are not consistently present.
4)Well operators must effectively communicate safety procedures and risks.
References:
Tarbuck, E.D, Lutgens, F. 2011. Earth an Introduction to Physical Geology. 11th Edition.
Saefety Matters. Retrieved October 2013 from http://goo.gll/qJdmq.
Clean Technica. Fracking update: These are the Texas towns running out of water. October 2013
Schumacher, J. Texas Review of Law & Politics. Spring2013, Vol. 17 Issue 2, p239-303. 65p.
No comments:
Post a Comment