Fracking is claimed by many to be a process that doesn't negatively impact the environment. How is this the case when there are hydrocarbons, chemical-laden water, hydraulic fracturing fluids and other substances that spilled into the environment? Each year this happens to 2%-16% of hydraulically fractured oil and gas wells.
Still from a video uploaded on YouTube by user@Jacob haughney / YouTube
A study published Feb. 21st in the journal Environmental Science & Technology identified 6,648 spills throughout the four states Colorado, New Mexico, North Dakota and Pennsylvania between 2005 and 2014. The study looked at 31,481 wells, and helps to show the frequency, volume and cause of spells. Different states have different requirements for reporting skills, making it more difficult to collect data.
The state with the highest spill rate was North Dakota with 4,453 incidents, with Pennsylvania, Colorado and New Mexico at 1,293, 476 and 426 respectively.
Source: Credit: Science for Nature and People Partnership
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had previously calculated 457 spills for 8 states between 2006 and 2012. The reason this new study exceeded that number is because the EPA's analysis only looked at spells during the hydraulic fracturing stage, rather than the full cycle of fracking.
Of the over 6,600 spills identified in this recent study, 50% were due to storage and moving fluids through pipelines. The specific causes were not known in each case due to different state requirements to explicitly report the cause or describe it as a narrative. The first three years had the highest risk of a spill when drilling, fracturing and production volumes were highest. A significant amount of spills occurred at sites that already experienced one spill, as 26% of well spill in Colorado and 53% in North Dakota were recurring at the same sites.
Kate Konschnik, director of the Harvard Law School's Environmental Policy Initiative and lead author of the study, said:
"Analyses like this one are so important, to define and mitigate risk to water supplies and human health."
A few months ago I covered another study that identifed fracking as a factor in fault activation or earthquake generation. I also keep talking about how we are posioning our environment and ourselves with all the waste, toxins, pollutants, and bad chemicals we funnel into the earth, water and air.
We ignorantly believe claims about how "safe" anything we do is, from not understanding the long-term effects. Then it takes so long to change and stop doing harmful things even after it becomes obvious there is a problem. Why? Money. People are making money, so who cares if people have poisoned water or more negative effects on the environment are created. Just keep denying until it's proved in court. That's what the tobacco industry, big pharma, and chemical manufactures have done for decades.
Tell me, is your drinking water safe when you can light it up on fire?
References:
- 6,600 spills from fracking in just four states
- Patterson, K. Konschnik, H. Wiseman, et. al. Unconventional Oil and Gas Spills: Risks, Mitigation Priorities and States Reporting Requirements. Environmental Science & Technology, 2017 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.05749
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2017-02-22, 12pm
Great to see you posting this @krnel. There are still many in denial of what is in front of our faces!
I wrote this a while back, same theme, different approach: Fresh Water and why Fracking will put us in the Darwin Awards as a Species. Pls ignore the stupid conversation beneath - someone tried to ruin my post (and did so, though I could have handled it much better).
Namaste!
my country is one of the world's oil pengekpor managed by exxon company car. the impact of drilling oil and natural gas is very pronounced. the area around the gas field becomes barren, water pollution due to industrial waste. but this time the north Aceh post kindling leaving only the old iron
Aaaaargh!!! Once again, the all mighty dollar over the value of life. It's amazing how many people are in denial of the ill affects of these actions. We are too close to fracking in Texas and knowing the true possibilities of devastation puts people on the edge. Perhaps that's all part of the bigger picture! :( Thanks for sharing the truth @krnel.
Really? You can light it up? That is criminal! Upvoted
Try this: Fresh Water and why Fracking will put us in the Darwin Awards as a Species
Pls ignore the stupid conversation beneath - someone tried to ruin my post (and did so, though I could have handled it much better).
How is possible such a thing!? I can't believe it even if I saw it, it's really absurd! I feel sorry for those people who live there. Thanks for sharing it @krnel!
Solution: Nuclear energy
Agreed, in many respects but we need to be a bit cleverer about it!
@krnel thank you for continuing to bring awareness to these important issues here on Steemit. I'm excited to find someone laying it out on the table and raising the tough issues that people really need to look at if life in any form is to continue. If we don't change our ways to more sustainable options, the earth will become uninhabitable for humans, then once we are all gone, she will repair herself to a natural, thriving state. It's time to WAKE UP! Thank you for helping to set the alarm.
i feel so sorry for the children. they are our future. how can any human being in an authority position let this happen? the water is on fire!
Twenty or so years ago, before fracking was even heard of; I remember seeing this very same scene. People were lighting fires from their faucets due to methane being released into the water system. It was unclear how the methane was getting into the system but it caused quite a scare as methane is odorless and can be deadly. That being said, I question the validity of the first pics as support for a campaign against fracking. I do agree that there is a valid concern regarding fracking and I do not trust pro-fracking groups that say there is no harm in it. I also believe that removing billions of gallons of oil per day is not good for the environment either. Sure they say they replace the oil with water, but they are to different elements, and there is no way to be certain the water is staying there.
The methane is from shallow coal seams, which outgas methane, it is NOT from fracking, which has been done in much deeper formations that wont communicate with ground water.
Thanks for the informative post!
So in terms of safety, how does this compare to other methods of getting oil? What constitutes a spill? A drop, a gallon, a thousand gallons, more or less? How many of these spills caused significant environmental damage? This study was done between 2005 and 2014, how much has safety improved throughout those years and since? I'm not saying there are not concerns with fracking but there are environmental concerns with almost every form of energy production (even solar). I tend to think that fracking is safer than detractors think but not as safe as proponents make it out to be. I don't think the solution is to end fracking but to fix the problems (at least until technology finally replaces fossil fuels in a significant enough way to stop using them).
Downvoted in disagreement with rewards due to concentrated whale voting
There need to be more at stake for the companies spilling. In the Bakker they are fracking at 9 to 11000 feet they are not hurting the water table. In Oklahoma that is a different story. The are fracking right in to the water table. Gillette wyomings coal beds are close to the water table. I remember gas in there water long before fracking though. Nice write up.
It's very important to write articles like this one to inform as many people as possible. Good work!
By the way in my personal opinion also nuclear energy (as suggested in some comments) is not the solution of our energy problem, for example because so far we neither found nor created one single save place on earth for the enormous amount of radioactive waste we produce every single day. This atomic waste will cause problems for all future generations to come - in my eyes that's just irresponsible.
I think we simply have to rely on "renewable" energy sources (wind, solar energy, geothermal energy, hydropower, ...) as soon as possible an simultaneously have to enhance our capabilities to store electricity.
https://steemit.com/business/@chrisaiki/solar-coach-marketing-tool-1-20-second-pitch
https://steemit.com/business/@chrisaiki/solar-coach-mission-statement
Fracking has been going on since the 50's or so. Before that people would just put dynamite down the hole to perforate the formation.
Difference with hydrofracing now is volume. Only thing to worry about are surfactants and solvents in the fracking fluid and if they are spilled on the surface.