Verdict is in! Fracking on Trial in Texas

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So far Denton, TX fracking ban seems to be holding. It's causing a bit of a power struggle, though, as citizens' rights and land rights are coming up against the state's very oil-friendly regulators.

And...here's a look into the nature of the state's industry "watchdog" - the Texas Railroad Commission:

http://books.insideclimatenews.org/fired
In a rebuttal to that evaluation, Wright described how one of his bosses had renewed a permit for a “land farm” over Wright’s objections. A land farm is the term used for a commercial operation where waste from oil and gas extraction is spread on top of the ground.

Wright said the permit should have been denied because samples of the contaminated waste that was to be spread on the land “exceeded the level that would classify the material as hazardous waste,” making it “ineligible for land farming.”
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Well, so much for Democracy and private property rights.

The Texas governor (the same idio..er..executive that deployed the state guard to 'protect' us from a joint US military exercise...) just signed a law denying towns the ability to regulate fracking in their borders.

https://www.texastribune.org/2015/05/18/abbott-signs-denton-fracking-bill/

Saying Texas needs to avoid a “patchwork of local regulations” that threaten oil and gas production, Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday signed legislation that would pre-empt local efforts to regulate a wide variety of drilling-related activities.

“This bill is so incredibly important,” the Republican said at a state Capitol ceremony. Flanked by the measure's sponsors, he said House Bill 40 does a “profound job of protecting private property rights.”
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Texas is a 'split estate' state - surface property rights are separate from mineral rights. The governor has protected the 'private property rights' of the Morlocks while simultaneously throwing the Eloi under the bus.
 
Texas has a long history into the 19th century that regulating the stuff underground is the bailiwick of state government, at least as far as state created entities like cities are concerned. The Texas Constitution is clear. Regardless of the specific stuff underground, it will not cede that prerogative. Remember when Texas and other states tried to impose additional immigration regulations. The answer was immigration was the prerogative of Federal Government.

Different levels of government will preserve constitutionally specified jurisdictions. If a city/state does not like it, they can sue.
 
mjblazin said:
Texas has a long history into the 19th century that regulating the stuff underground is the bailiwick of state government, at least as far as state created entities like cities are concerned. The Texas Constitution is clear. Regardless of the specific stuff underground, it will not cede that prerogative. Remember when Texas and other states tried to impose additional immigration regulations. The answer was immigration was the prerogative of Federal Government.

Different levels of government will preserve constitutionally specified jurisdictions. If a city/state does not like it, they can sue.
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That the state has a history that extends more than 100 years might be true. The state also has the longest, most convoluted, and most amended constitution as well.

I suspect that the groundswell of people validly concerned about their health and well being that's continuing to grow will result in yet another set of tweaks in the way this state is run. I personally think it's long past time that politician's 'property rights' meme in turned right-side up so that it's back to protecting the rights of surface owners and voters.
 
The real import of HB 40 is that it puts the industry in charge of determining whether a local law is valid. HB 40 “expressly pre-empts” municipal ordinances unless they can pass a new test: They must be “commercially reasonable.”

So it’s not just that HB 40 prevents cities from regulating things they formerly could, like earthquake-inducing injection wells.
More than that: For the first time, local ordinances will be judged solely by the extent to which they might interfere with the oil and gas industry and its bottom line.

HB 40 will erase a tradition of 80 years. Since 1935, Texas courts have applied a different kind of reasonableness standard to local ordinances: not “commercially reasonable,” but what we might call “community reasonable.”
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http://www.dentonrc.com/opinion/columns-headlines/20150519-adam-briggle-guest-column.ece
http://www.texasstandard.org/stories/texas-standard-for-march-21-2015/
 
Via GCC:
EPA draft assessment finds no widespread, systemic impacts to drinking water resources from fracking
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http://www.greencarcongress.com/2015/06/20150605-frac.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Part:
The assessment followed the water used for hydraulic fracturing from water acquisition; chemical mixing at the well pad site; well injection of fracking fluids; the collection of hydraulic fracturing wastewater (including flowback and produced water); and wastewater treatment and disposal. The assessment also identified potential vulnerabilities in the water lifecycle—some of which are not unique to hydraulic fracturing—that could impact drinking water.

Although EPA’s review of data sources available to the agency found specific instances where well integrity and waste water management related to hydraulic fracturing activities did impact drinking water resources, these were small compared to the large number of hydraulically fractured wells across the country.

The report did not address other concerns raised about hydraulic fracturing specifically or about oil and gas exploration and production activities more generally, including acquisition and transport of constituents of hydraulic fracturing fluids besides water (e.g., sand mining and chemical production) outside of the stated water cycle; site selection and well pad development; other infrastructure development (e.g., roads, pipelines, compressor stations); site reclamation; and well closure.

Nor was the report a human health risk assessment. It did not identify populations exposed to chemicals; estimate the extent of exposure; or estimate the incidence of human health impacts.

The assessment reviewed relevant scientific literature and data; no new field work was performed. Literature evaluated included articles published in science and engineering journals; federal and state government reports; non-governmental organization (NGO) reports; and industry publications. Data sources examined included federal- and state-collected data sets; databases maintained by federal and state government agencies; other publicly-available data and information, and data, including confidential and non-confidential business information, submitted by industry to the EPA.
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GRA said:
Via GCC:
EPA draft assessment finds no widespread, systemic impacts to drinking water resources from fracking
Click to expand...
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2015/06/20150605-frac.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Part:
The assessment followed the water used for hydraulic fracturing from water acquisition; chemical mixing at the well pad site; well injection of fracking fluids; the collection of hydraulic fracturing wastewater (including flowback and produced water); and wastewater treatment and disposal. The assessment also identified potential vulnerabilities in the water lifecycle—some of which are not unique to hydraulic fracturing—that could impact drinking water.

Although EPA’s review of data sources available to the agency found specific instances where well integrity and waste water management related to hydraulic fracturing activities did impact drinking water resources, these were small compared to the large number of hydraulically fractured wells across the country.
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I did quite a bit of research on this topic during the Shale Gas course that I took in February. Regardless of the whether or not the fracking chemicals pumped into the wells are safe or not (and it seems they are unsafe in the US and safe in Britain), the REAL issue is well integrity. The chemicals occurring naturally in these fields are TOXIC and the risks imposed by hydraulic fracturing are extremely high: MUCH higher than conventional natural gas development. Here are some numbers:

- Approximate ratio of the number of wells drilled in a shale gas field to produce the same amount of gas as a conventional natural gas field: 50:1
- Approximate ratio of well integrity failure of shale gas wells to conventional gas wells: 4:1

Overall, shale gas wells are 200X times more likely than conventional gas wells to cause water pollution per unit of gas produced. So, is that a large amount of contamination? Yes. Expect about 50% of these wells to fail over their lifetime.

Here is an excellent video by one of the leading experts who has researched this issue very extensively:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmr_ETzjGCA[/youtube]
 
There are some things El Nino's rain can't green up.

http://insideclimatenews.org/news/2...nes-texas-neighborhood-already-weary-fracking
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/...il-well-explosion-families-still-cant-go-home

Weeks After Texas Oil Well Explosion, Families Still Can't Go Home

Three weeks after well explosion, families are still waiting and worrying as Canadian oil company Encana decontaminates their homes in Karnes County.
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wellpadexplosion1.jpg


Shepherd, a retired Navy veteran, estimates the well lies a quarter-mile from her South Texas home. She's worried about the contamination on her property, which she said has already plummeted in value because of the nearby drilling, and on her neighbors' land. Three of the landowners closest to the well own cattle, she said, so it could harm the livestock and their drinking water.

Lucas Jasso is one of those landowners. He has three cows and two bulls. "I don't know at this point if my animals are still alive or not," he said on Thursday afternoon. Jasso, a Vietnam War veteran, was in Corpus Christi when the well erupted.
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GRA said:
Via GCC:
EPA draft assessment finds no widespread, systemic impacts to drinking water resources from fracking
Click to expand...
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2015/06/20150605-frac.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Part:
The assessment followed the water used for hydraulic fracturing from water acquisition; chemical mixing at the well pad site; well injection of fracking fluids; the collection of hydraulic fracturing wastewater (including flowback and produced water); and wastewater treatment and disposal. The assessment also identified potential vulnerabilities in the water lifecycle—some of which are not unique to hydraulic fracturing—that could impact drinking water.

Although EPA’s review of data sources available to the agency found specific instances where well integrity and waste water management related to hydraulic fracturing activities did impact drinking water resources, these were small compared to the large number of hydraulically fractured wells across the country.

The report did not address other concerns raised about hydraulic fracturing specifically or about oil and gas exploration and production activities more generally, including acquisition and transport of constituents of hydraulic fracturing fluids besides water (e.g., sand mining and chemical production) outside of the stated water cycle; site selection and well pad development; other infrastructure development (e.g., roads, pipelines, compressor stations); site reclamation; and well closure.

Nor was the report a human health risk assessment. It did not identify populations exposed to chemicals; estimate the extent of exposure; or estimate the incidence of human health impacts.

The assessment reviewed relevant scientific literature and data; no new field work was performed. Literature evaluated included articles published in science and engineering journals; federal and state government reports; non-governmental organization (NGO) reports; and industry publications. Data sources examined included federal- and state-collected data sets; databases maintained by federal and state government agencies; other publicly-available data and information, and data, including confidential and non-confidential business information, submitted by industry to the EPA.
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"systemic" "widespread" ya, figures that is all the study would concentrate on.


any study on the effects of fracking not done on a case by case basis is smoke and mirrors
 
In contrast to the widely-spun non-message from the EPA study that relied upon industry data, we have a survey of actual water conditions in N Texas in the Barnett Shale.

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.5b01526
https://www.dropbox.com/s/kvvpn06mwjz18ee/Zac - Barnett Shale.pdf?dl=0

analysis of 550 groundwater samples collected from private and public supply water wells drawing from aquifers overlying the Barnett shale formation of Texas.

multiple volatile organic carbon compounds throughout the region, including various 61 alcohols, the BTEX family of compounds, and several chlorinated compounds.

elevated levels of 10 different metals and the presence of 117 different chemical compounds, including benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene and xylene (BTEX).

350 samples came from private wells serving residential purposes

59 samples came from agricultural water wells

141 samples came from 152 municipal or public water supply wells servicing communities throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

methanol and/or ethanol were detected in 35 and 240 wells respectively. Methanol and ethanol both are used extensively in unconventional drilling as anti-corrosive agents and gelling agents.

Dichloromethane (DCM) was detected in 122 samples. [DCM is an industrial solvent that has been detected in air samples and flowback in fracking areas.]

“At least one of the BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene) class of compounds was detected in 381 of 550 collected samples, and 10 wells had detectable amounts of all four BTEX compounds.”

“Toluene, ethylbenzene, and three xylene isomers were also found to be prevalent throughout the Trinity and Woodbine aquifers.”

“Cyclohexane was also detected in 221 of the 550 collected samples”
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A number of these compounds are fat-soluble - they'll pass through skin and be stored in the body. Not only is it not safe to drink at least 20% of the water but folks shouldn't shower with it either.
 
AndyH said:
Not only is it not safe to drink at least 20% of the water but folks shouldn't shower with it either.
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...and how many of the cattle and other livestock that are drinking this water are getting to market? I doubt the effects one would expect from a lifetime (the animal's) of drinking the water are within the realm of what is normally tested.
 
kikngas said:
AndyH said:
Not only is it not safe to drink at least 20% of the water but folks shouldn't shower with it either.
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...and how many of the cattle and other livestock that are drinking this water are getting to market? I doubt the effects one would expect from a lifetime (the animal's) of drinking the water are within the realm of what is normally tested.
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It appears many of the critters drinking the water die well before they get to market. That's the first problem.

I'd like to see a source that supports your suggestion that those animals that get to market are tested for consumption of fracking-related chemicals...especially since most are not listed due to trade secret rulings. Thanks in advance.
 
I'm so fed up with fracking!

Fortunately the economy has been holding back new development, but we've been downwind of frac pads several times and had wastewater injection wells drilled nearby. There are several nearby gas flares, which are infuriating, and a big wellpad nearby has a diesel generator or compressor running almost all the time--no more quiet nights! We definitely can't afford the way the practice takes colossal amounts of water, contaminates it, and then removes it from the water cycle by injecting it into "confined" formations. The area keeps becoming more developed, and we already don't have enough water, even being so close to the rocky mountains. What are those downstream supposed to do?

We've had new fracked gas pipelines installed along two property lines. The construction processes were obnoxious, and we're holding our breath wondering when they'll start to leak (there are older pipelines there too).

There isn't enough money in the world to justify that &$*# !!
 
I'm in Boulder and while we're not close to the wells, we get the off-gassing from them up against the mountains. There were quite a few days this summer I didn't want to ride my bike to work due to high ozone levels. Good thing I have a Leaf.

At some point, we'll either have to just 'leave it in the ground' or not. I'm not optimistic but we're running out of planets...
 
Yes good thing we all drive leafs that rely on natural gas power plants...

Every tanker worth of Finished gasoline saved by us leaf drivers just gets exported...
 
goldbrick said:
I'm in Boulder and while we're not close to the wells, we get the off-gassing from them up against the mountains. There were quite a few days this summer I didn't want to ride my bike to work due to high ozone levels. Good thing I have a Leaf.

At some point, we'll either have to just 'leave it in the ground' or not. I'm not optimistic but we're running out of planets...
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It's crazy how far into the mountains the ozone reaches. We used to think the air was clean in the mountains. :cry:

It was so upsetting when the one air monitoring project for petroleum development contamination in Boulder was shut down. The sponsor professor was let go from CU Boulder, and the Daily Camera reporter who covered the story was sent packing. The dirty fingers of the petroleum industry have far too much reach.
 
I did hear something about that but I didn't follow it closely. Lately, I've been using this: https://www.bouldair.com/boulder.htm
 
LeftieBiker said:
Stop trolling, Oilpan.
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I didn't know stating facts was trolling.

Is there really any debate to which is worse, a coal fired power plant that operates at around 35% efficiency or a natural gas combine cycle plant that can extract over 60% of the energy from natural gas?
With out hydraulic fracturing the United States would still be getting over half of our electricity from coal.

Years ago I had read an article about how off gassed CO2 from Colorado oil and gas wells was going to be captured, piped to Texas and sequestered in old nonproducing west Texas oil wells. But the people of Colorado blocked the pipeline, because all pipelines are always bad. It was likely going to be the first commercially viable CO2 sequencing project in the world.
So enjoy that off gassed well waste you're choking on, you earned it.

If I was going to troll I would say I bought 1,600 pounds of coal from tractor supply and towed it home with my leaf.
 

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