Reply With Quote
Did head and his Halliburton friends know something when they got fracking exempted from the Clean Water Act?
It would seem the methane, a by-product created in large quan ies by the process, is percolating up and into water tables.
The chemicals used in the process stay deep underground, but the methane gas is not so restricted.
Data is preliminary and needs to be followed up on, to get a more solid set of data, and a more scientifically rigorous study.
Worries Over Water As Natural Gas Fracking Expands
by Christopher Joyce NPR Aug 2011
"I wonder how much it will cost to treat well water contaminated in this way.What we found was people living near a natural gas well had a much greater chance of having high methane concentrations in their water," he says.
Dangerously high, in some cases. And it's methane that appears to come from the same deep gas deposits that gas companies are drilling. Deep methane has its own chemical signature — a unique mix of isotopes accompanied by other gases like ethane and propane. Methane from the surface, where microbes make it in the soil, looks different.
Jackson used the same testing technique that's common in the gas industry. And when he published his findings, it caused a big stir. Critics said he focused on methane trouble spots and should have sampled randomly. They said the methane could be natural seepage that was there before fracking. And Jackson agrees he needs more baseline data on water wells before drillers move in, and from more places.
...
So far, Jackson's results are consistent: What's in peoples' wells is deep gas, created in high heat with its own chemical signature. It's not like the methane in this old seep.
Enlarge
Christopher Joyce/NPR
Steve Miller agreed to have his water tested. Researchers are looking for methane, drilling fluids or chemicals in his well water.
Steve Miller agreed to have his water tested. Researchers are looking for methane, drilling fluids or chemicals in his well water.
So if water wells are contaminated with deep methane from a mile down, how is it getting there? It might be seeping up through underground cracks opened up by fracking. Or, says Jackson, it could be the cement casing around gas wells that sometimes leaks. That has happened before.
"Think of a garden hose with a pinhole leak," Jackson says. "That water spurts out and if you don't fix that leak, over time it gets bigger."
Jackson says there actually are data about water wells and methane taken before fracking. The gas industry has them. The state has some of that data too. But Jackson says they aren't sharing that data with him. He says he understands why the industry might be defensive.
"My first job out of college, I was a chemical engineer, so I understand what it's like to be accused of something you didn't do," he says.
Jackson says he has offered to work with industry and with the state, but so far no one has taken him up.
But people are paying attention: A special commission set up by Pennsylvania's governor now says environmental protections should be tougher. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is planning a water study. And the U.S. Department of Energy has asked experts to weigh in on the environmental effects of fracking. Penn State University is testing wells, too.
I would also imagine that the process of removing it would actually yield methane that could be used as a fuel. Not sure if that process would be a net energy gain.
Given the natural gas boom driven by fracking, we will get to find out either way. If I were an enterprising chemist or hydrologist, I would start a company or lookin into starting a company that makes such treatment systems. Ka-ching.
Did head and his Halliburton friends know something when they got fracking exempted from the Clean Water Act?
what a deal. Take a small portion of the money that you have made on your mineral leases, install this filter into your well system to clean the methane out of your water, use that methane to power your home and save money on your electricity bill.
On a related note, fracking is building a new steel mill in Youngtown
Is new steel plant for Rust Belt city latest sign of manufacturing revival?
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/...154914096.html
Is it still causing earthquakes?
His critics have a fair argument. It'd be nice to see where he chose to sample and their proximity to the wells and targeted area. It wouldn't surprise me if it was a consequence of drilling, but fracking is another thing.
EDIT: Also, who is backing up all this anti-fracking propaganda? The people who want cleaner alternative energy or people who are just straight up tree huggers? It seems like the "greener" people should love all the fracking going on.
"seems like the "greener" people should love all the fracking going on."
It's still carbon, it pollutes above ground, and it obviously has serious ground water and surface water pollution problems.
But it's still a step in the right direction isn't it? Cleaner burning fuel at significant quan ies. Also, I wouldn't consider those problems to be as serious you think. People need to lower their expectations if they assume that there is a better cost efficient, cleaner form of energy that is right around the corner.
Methane and the other ---thanes don't clean up with just a filter. It's not a simple process.
Does Fracking cause earthquakes? I would say very very unlikely.
Does fracking cause methane release? Probably so, but the heavier fluids should act as a stop leak.
Do earthquakes cause methane release? yes. They are possibly the cause of all these deep gasses being detected.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
