There are natural pollutants. Arsenic is fairly common around here. Radon is a common problem. Let's first see the complainers do without every product whose production produces pollution for someone somewhere. That stuff is fine with people, as long as it's somewhere far away. And the jury is still out on the causes of the pollution/problems they cite. Windmill and solar panel production causes pollution also. So does producing food, drink, clothing, building materials, and on and on.
So far all I have read is fear mongering and pushing of political agendas. If groundwater is indeed being polluted it is most likely from the drilling process or the cementing of the casing was done incorrectly which would allow a migration path from the hydrocarbon bearing rock to the aquifer. I think the reason fracturing gets so much publicity is because there is so much equipment mobilized for the job. There are pump trucks, bulk tankers, water trucks and support vehicles that all pull on to a location, make lots of noise and then pull off. Its pretty dramatic and IMO thats why it is getting so much attention.
my opinion and also a guy who works for one of these companies is some do it the right way and some may have mistakes, i guess like any group of companies some will be better than others, they put the fines in my local paper when the companies get cited, one was told to pack up and leave the area, leases and permits would not be allowed for them anymore, i guess they were a bad one
And those trucks are beating the living shit out of our rural roads. Then there's the whole 2.5 to 9 million gallons of water needed to frack a Barnett Shale well. Meanwhile, Texas is in the worst drought in the last century with wells goin' dry, crops die in the field, cattle and horses sold off because they can't be fed and watered.
Yes, I'm familiar with the case. It had nothing to do with any oilfield work. Most likely it had to do with improper disposal by a company that used it in the processing of their product. Exposure Hexavalent chromium is a metal used in industrial processes such as chrome plating (which puts a shiny, anti-corrosive finish on wheels or plumbing fixtures, for example), steel production, metal working, tanning, paint and pigment manufacturing, glassmaking and cement manufacturing. Until recently, chromium compounds, including hex chrome, were widely used as a wood preservative in pressure-treated wood. People can be exposed to hexavalent chromium by breathing contaminated air in or around the workplace or hazardous waste sites, ingesting or inhaling contaminated soils or drinking contaminated tap water (as in the case made famous by Erin Brockovich). In monitoring conducted by the California Department of Public Health, nearly 40 percent of drinking water sources tested in California contained unsafe levels of hex chrome
If one paid attention and actually thought about it for a minute, he could see what was coming down the pike when the Barnett was first starting it's production. First there were all the six inch water lines going to the well sites. These were coming from lakes, ponds and other places and might run for two to five miles down the side of roads. People started asking about them. The press got involved and started asking questions and were given honest answers. As Panther already stated, it takes anywhere from about 2.5 to 11 million gallons of water to fracture "frack" a well bore. Within the Barnett that occurs about 8 to 10 thousand feet down, within, and under, the shale formation. Next came all the hell raising about how much water it required to do this "fracking" especially since, with some of the wells close to town, the water was coming from city water supplies. More hell raised. Next came the questions from the unknowing public: "What is fracking? They got an honest answer. Then the media started speculating about what can go wrong and suggesting that it might damage the aquifers. Next came the private well owners that were picking up hydrogen sulphide gas, and in some cases, methane gas, in their wells, (which has occurred off and on in my well for 30 years because it's a natural occurrance), who then decided that there might be money to be made if they could sue the fracturing companies, the drilling companies, and the well owners. It goes on and on and this is not even considering the noise coming from the pumping stations placed all over the 7 or so counties involved. It makes me want to get up on the house with a bullhorn and yell, "it's money to the area, it's not going away so get used to it or move folks."
+1... if what was portrayed in that documentary was true.. I think I would learn how to make bombs and pay a visit to the local rig....just sayin.
The new thing in the Permian basin is to use the flowback water that comes up with the oil in the drilling and pumping process. I personally think all these environmentalist are supported by OPEC to keep the price of oil high. They have been using hydra frac process since the 1930's.
