What the Frack?!

We have a dilemma on our hands.  No one wants to see ever higher gasoline prices or for the US to be at the mercy of unfriendly Middle East nations.  One of the “solutions” to our energy predicament has been our country’s abundant natural gas supplies, but there is a shocking, even scandalous byproduct of the search for new sources of natural gas called “fracking” – the wastewater from this process is so polluted with heavy metals (known carcinogens) that most states require drillers to get rid of the stuff by injecting it down shafts thousands of feet deep.

Not in our neighboring Pennsylvania, one of the states at the center of the gas rush and fracking debate.

In PA, the waste liquid is partially treated for potentially harmful substances, but then it’s dumped into rivers and streams from which communities get their drinking water.

There has been huge fracking activity in the rock formation known as the Marcellus Shale and Pennsylvania has been the only state allowing waterways to serve as the primary disposal place for the huge amounts of wastewater produced from fracking.

Hydraulic fracturing or fracking is a means of natural gas extraction employed in deep natural gas well drilling.  Once a well is drilled, unbelievable amounts of water, sand and chemicals are injected, under high pressure, into a well. The pressure fractures the shale and props open fissures that enable natural gas to flow more freely out of the well, thereby accessing shale deposits containing natural gas that were previously inaccessible by conventional drilling. Each horizontal fracking uses a mixture of some 600 chemicals and millions of gallons of water. This water then becomes contaminated and must be cleaned and disposed of.

In 2005, the Bush/ Cheney Energy Bill exempted natural gas drilling from the Safe Drinking Water Act. It exempts companies from disclosing the chemicals used during hydraulic fracturing.  It is now commonly referred to as the Halliburton Loophole.

A natural gas expert friend of mine explained that “horizontal drilling and multi-stage fracturing are the innovations that will likely change the face of North American energy policy for the next one hundred years. The environmental bearing of fracturing, particularly with regard to fracturing fluids and their impact on drinking water, will be debated for years.” Indeed, the recent debate surrounding runoff into the Delaware River is getting
national press.

Industrial accidents like those by Chesapeake Energy and Range Resources, and Chief Oil & Gas haven't helped the oil and gas industries' argument.

It’s probable that the federal government has too much on its plate to enact a sweeping piece of legislation and near-term decisions will likely and perhaps most prudently be settled by the states.

Historically, states have sued neighboring states to compel action. It should not come as a surprise if the states surrounding the lower Delaware River ultimately sue Pennsylvania (and possibly West Virginia) to force them to enact tighter restrictions on the use of fracturing fluids.

Because this is an emotional NIMBY (Not in My Back Yard) issue, in some people's minds this argument will likely never be settled.  As yet, there is not a definitive study on the matter.  It’s a classic industry vs. environmentalist issue.  On the one hand, it is a national goal to achieve energy independence using America’s natural resources and on the other hand, we have serious potential environmental and health risks.  I for one believe in American ingenuity.  That is, the healthy tension between safety and progress will create a workable solution. 

Stay tuned.

www.hydraulicfracturing.com/Process

http://frack.mixplex.com/

http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/drinkingwater/sourcewater/protection/citizeninvolvementinsourcewaterprotection.cfm