3 Billion Gallons of Fracking Wastewater 'Accidentally' Pumped Into California Aquifer

Where does the letter say it was accidental?

Am I the only one who sees the single quotation marks on the word 'accidentally' in the thread title ?

Double quotation generally signifies verbatim speech, whereas single quotations generally signify ironic/hypocritical speech.

In the linked source headliner they put in double quotations: "Errors Were Made" meaning verbatim speech quoted from the source of the statement.

Errors generally mean boo boos, mistakes, accidents. Another words, unintentional happenings.


The OP is signifying that their so-called "errors" are most likely not unintentional at all, but purposefully done... hence the single quotation marks indicating an ironic/hypocritical 'accident'.

a reply to: CranialSponge

whereas single quotations generally signify ironic/hypocritical speech.

That's a new one on me. I thought single quotes were used to denote a quotation within a quotation.

The OP is signifying that their so-called "errors" are most likely not unintentional at all, but purposefully done.

So was I.

a reply to: Phage

Yes, they can be used that way as well.

But generally speaking the single/double is used to indicate irony or verbatim.

a reply to: CranialSponge

In the linked source headliner they put in double quotations: "Errors Were Made" meaning verbatim speech quoted from the source of the statement.

I don't see that in the letter or in a statement from an official.

originally posted by: elementalgrove
Wow!

At a certain point I do believe that the last straw will break the camels back!

I mean honestly this should result in far more than simple outrage in California.

You would not have thought that TPTB could have found a quicker way to destroying our natural environment than pesticides/herbicides yet somehow they have been able to get away with FRACKING, causing earthquakes and destroying water supplies!

I do not believe this will stand for much longer, we are becoming far to aware of the reality that is being created, the propaganda simply does not work any longer!

Destruction of the environment will one day be a crime that carries with it a heavy punishment, this day is quickly approaching, the only sad thing is that it takes these kind of events to get us there.

The criminals responsible for allowing this to happened should be manufactured into Soylent Green wafers.

a reply to: Phage

Well, the double quotations indicate that Zero Hedge is quoting verbatim... from somewhere... supposedly.

Whether or not they actually invented the boo boo factor up themselves, I have no idea.

Either way, it's an ugly scenario.

originally posted by: DYepes
just out of curiosity, is it possible to pump this contaminated water (before being pimped into pristine healthy aquifers of course) into giant tanks where it can be boiled/distilled leaving behind the contaminants?? or will the contaminants simply boil away into the atmosphere as well? it just may be a theory I am willing to put to the test.

Thats not exactly the process I would use but I would assume that there has to be at least some viable option to remove contaminants.

I run an industrial waste water treatment system thats treats chemicals used in the chrome plating process and we are able to remove most chemicals and almost all organic matter from the water before we discharge to the public treatment plant.

Now a WWT system is a very pricey thing and can keep alot of great ideas from fruition because of the massive overhead.

a reply to: Chickensalad
Here's a system that shows some promise. But the cost effectiveness has a way to go.
www.alleghenyfront.org...

Probably better to leave the oil and gas in the ground, but until the cost effectiveness of alternatives increases...a lot...not gonna happen.

originally posted by: CranialSponge
Am I the only one who sees the single quotation marks on the word 'accidentally' in the thread title ?

Double quotation generally signifies verbatim speech, whereas single quotations generally signify ironic/hypocritical speech.

In the linked source headliner they put in double quotations: "Errors Were Made" meaning verbatim speech quoted from the source of the statement.

Errors generally mean boo boos, mistakes, accidents. Another words, unintentional happenings.


The OP is signifying that their so-called "errors" are most likely not unintentional at all, but purposefully done... hence the single quotation marks indicating an ironic/hypocritical 'accident'.

Nice catch.


Translation: "We got caught so uh... it was an 'accident.' Cheryl, run that by Legal, see if they think it'll work. If not, I'm sure we can come up with more lies."

calif has the strongest water quality laws in the US.

someone on the Central Valley RWQCB (5F) had to have taken a lot of money to allow this to happen.

i have had to deal with two of these boards when running mines.
the Lahontan RWQCB (6V) and the Central Valley RWQCB (5S)

they were complete A**h**es.
in both cases we had to get special permits and do water testing when we were not even discharging water from our mines.
one in the Panamint mountains in the calif desert they were claiming we would contaminate the salt flats in the Panamint valley with drinkable water from our mine because there was a trace of arsenic in the water that we removed with a store bought water filter to make it safe to drink.
The salt flat had a arsenic level that was 10,000 times higher then our water but they claimed we would pollute it.
we only used about 100 gal a day and we were 5 miles up on the side of the Panamint mountains and none of our water ever reached the valley floor.

The mine in northern calif i just buried leach line pipeing from inside the mine along the hill side so no water was seen coming out the portal of the mine.
No water SEEN coming out no permit needed.
A few weeks later we were inspected by the US forest service and the first thing there environmental inspector went looking for was the water that had been coming out of the mine for the last 50 years.
The inspector asked what happened to the water and i told him i just plugged up water coming in some upper working of the mine from the outside and that stopped the water coming out. he believed me, dumb#$%@.

calif has the strongest water quality laws in the US.

someone on the Central Valley RWQCB (5F) had to have taken a lot of money to allow this to happen.

i have had to deal with two of these boards when running mines.
the Lahontan RWQCB (6V) and the Central Valley RWQCB (5S)

they were complete A**h**es.
in both cases we had to get special permits and do water testing when we were not even discharging water from our mines.
one in the Panamint mountains in the calif desert they were claiming we would contaminate the salt flats in the Panamint valley with drinkable water from our mine because there was a trace of arsenic in the water that we removed with a store bought water filter to make it safe to drink.
The salt flat had a arsenic level that was 10,000 times higher then our water but they claimed we would pollute it.
we only used about 100 gal a day and we were 5 miles up on the side of the Panamint mountains and none of our water ever reached the valley floor.

The mine in northern calif i just buried leach line pipeing from inside the mine along the hill side so no water was seen coming out the portal of the mine.
No water SEEN coming out no permit needed.
A few weeks later we were inspected by the US forest service and the first thing there environmental inspector went looking for was the water that had been coming out of the mine for the last 50 years.
The inspector asked what happened to the water and i told him i just plugged up water coming in some upper working of the mine from the outside and that stopped the water coming out. he believed me, dumb#$%@.

a reply to: signalfire

I'm sorry but "billions" of anything and "accident" will never go hand in hand in my eyes... Maybe negligence, but not accident.... When they say "accident" they are announcing to the world they are trying to cover someone or some groups ass...... And like California doesn't have enough water problems to worry about...sigh

You guys wanna know what we do with th really nasty stuff...drilling mud?

We take it to farms and dump it unto the farmer's fields...they say it makes
excellent fertilizer

"Errors Were Made" State Admits

Probably bribe money got deposited into the wrong bank accounts.

originally posted by: Phage
Where does the letter say it was accidental?

Yes, single quotes in this instance signify irony with implied lies.

I thought everyone knew that. If you had read the accompanying article at ZeroHedge, you would have understood that there were permitted places for the water to go, and unpermitted and that either errors were made in the interpretation of those rules, or they've stopped giving a damn because they've got so much water to get rid of and lots of money is changing hands.

Are you trying to derail the thread? Why are you seemingly the only one reading the headline who didn't understand the meaning?

originally posted by: DYepes
just out of curiosity, is it possible to pump this contaminated water (before being pimped into pristine healthy aquifers of course) into giant tanks where it can be boiled/distilled leaving behind the contaminants?? or will the contaminants simply boil away into the atmosphere as well? it just may be a theory I am willing to put to the test.

The contaminants are liquids themselves; there are antibiotics (to stop slime growing off the oil), lubricants (to stop metal from overheating), sand (to fill space), water (to make the sand act as liquid).

When you consider that 1 barrel of oil = 30 gallons, and that there are billions of gallons poured into the aquifer, that isn't someone accidentally dumping a container load of oil down an old mine. Holes had to be drilled, capped, pipes and valves installed, and roads built.

Looks like someone looks to profit from California's shortage of fresh water. Just in the same way that Enron attempted to profit from California's energy "shortage" which involved shutting down power stations during times of peak demand.

This is f'n ridiculous. Companies get away with this bs all the time with nothing more than a slap on the wrist and small fine. Save millions/billions that they would have spent to PROPERLY dispose of it. And pay a fraction of the price in a fine.

I wish my expenses worked that way

a reply to: CB328

That is what drives me crazy. No one wants to hold the businesses accountable for criminal activity. Blame the government, defund the government, gridlock the government. But it is the government, the taxpayer who pays the bill because the businesses file bankruptcy, darn near every time. Or go the BP way and spend millions on courts costs instead of doing the right and moral thing. I thought corporations were people too, so they should be held to the same standards and laws as individuals.

a reply to: signalfire

This is why the EPA is a pointless agency.