Carcinogens injected into gas wells, report says

Carcinogens injected into gas wells, report says

www.msnbc.msn.com

Millions of gallons of potentially hazardous chemicals and known carcinogens were injected into wells by leading oil and gas service companies from 2005 to 2009, a report by three House Democrats said Saturday.

The report said 29 of the chemicals injected were known or suspected human carcinogens. They either were regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act as risks to human health or listed as hazardous air pollutants under the Clean Air Act.

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
www.cbsnews.com

I am going to hazard a guess here and suggest this may be another case of corporate economics vs public safety.

The growing use of hydraulic fracturing has allowed natural gas production in the United States to reach levels not achieved since the early 1970s.

However, the process requires large quantities of water and fluids, injected underground at high volumes and pressure. The composition of these fluids ranges from a simple mixture of water and sand to more complex mixtures with chemical additives.

The argument in favor of the practice of using "proprietary" or "trade secret" carcinogenic pollutants to achieve this is the payoff for all the consumers of the end product. To me that payoff sounds a bit more akin to borrowing on credit because ultimately there is that payment with interest due somewhere down the the way.

The report specifies these practices were in use from years 2005 - 2009. Did someone wake-up to the idea this might be a bad idea?



www.msnbc.msn.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

(double post)

Anyone that has done any research into fracking definitely knows about all of this already.

The question is.. if they got it in front of congress and gave out the info to the public, what are they going to do about it?

We're left with water that will be unusable forever, while the amount of fresh drinking water is diminishing at an insane pace and soon enough we all die of thirst.

All for oil and gas

To be sane in an insane world is crazy in itself lol

Yep they are replacing carcinogenic material with...wait "other carcinogenic material". WTF do they think they are doing?

You guys have to smarten-up and learn some facts before you get all hysterical. The first thing they mention in the article is Methanol. It is injected to stop the well from freezing up during colder temperatures. Do you whiners use natural gas for heat or to cook your food in your daily life?

I hate everyone who is clueless to the oil and gas industry who whines about the environment when they are oblivious to the thousands of uses of oil and gas that they are using without even knowing. Tree-huggers are just whining cause they think oil only goes to make petroleum that fills the tank on their Toyota [SNIP] that they drive to work so they feel they're doing the planet a favour.

About 90% of they products that everyone uses in a day had to get transported by air, boat, rail, and especially highway transport.... (not to mention all the plastics, rubbers, etc. also created in the industry).

So Jethro, better hurry up with that car that runs on water !!! Or stop living in the modern world and go back to the cave !!!! Yes, that would mean no computer to post your rants !!!

Mod Note: Profanity/Circumvention Of Censors – Please Review This Link.

Originally posted by irolands
You guys have to smarten-up and learn some facts before you get all hysterical. The first thing they mention in the article is Methanol. It is injected to stop the well from freezing up during colder temperatures.

Not one of the "trade secret" or "proprietary" chemicals, obviously. Should there not be a disclosure at least to the EPA what those might be? I suppose not, that might make the industry less "competitive" if other companies knew what those might be. Good information you posted about that, informative.

I hate everyone who is clueless to the oil and gas industry who whines about the environment when they are oblivious to the thousands of uses of oil and gas that they are using without even knowing.

Yes, it shows.

About 90% of they products that everyone uses in a day had to get transported by air, boat, rail, and especially highway transport.... (not to mention all the plastics, rubbers, etc. also created in the industry).

I think most have a clue about that.

So Jethro, better hurry up with that car that runs on water !!! Or stop living in the modern world and go back to the cave !!!! Yes, that would mean no computer to post your rants !!!

Ten "screamers" (journalistic term for exclamation points) used in two lines. That is likely no record here. Not sure they help make your case but I suppose they are somewhat obligatory to create a good rant.

Thanks for your post.

Double post again. Sorry.

I have a bit of the grippa from the weather change and two excruciating hours in the dentist chair that zapped my resistance that is clouding my head. I'm apparently carelessly hitting the "Quote" key instead of "Edit" to create these doubles.

reply to post by Erongaricuaro


The fluid is injected far below any water table, so water contamination from the fracturing is generally not the problem unless a casing fails. The problem lies in the produced water which contains the fluid [reused if possible in the next wells] and a brine. The brine is the water present in the shale that should be treated before disposal. What happens is that holding ponds for the brine leak or fail and the water runs into the surface supplies. The big gripe about the brine is that it contains radioisotopes such as Radium and Uranium. Before anyone starts raving about the evils of nuclear power, note that all of these are naturally occcurring and have been there for a long time. For those of you that assume all natural things are good, this shouldn't be a problem. For those with discretionary powers, treatment of such waters before disposal in our rivers may seem like a good idea. This will be the next bone of contention. Drilling mud and fracking fluid are non-issues, in my opinion, and are being used to lead the argument away from the radioisotope problems. The NYT had some pieces on this not long ago. If I find them again, I'll post a link.

Originally posted by irolands
You guys have to smarten-up and learn some facts before you get all hysterical. The first thing they mention in the article is Methanol. It is injected to stop the well from freezing up during colder temperatures. Do you whiners use natural gas for heat or to cook your food in your daily life?

Whoa back the truck up. Careful Cowboy you are scaring the horses. (Back at cha with ccondescending attitude) Here is a brief overview of "Fracking" highlighting the movie GASLAND. If anyone wants to truly understand the false promises of "clean / safe" Natural gas the movie is a MUST WATCH. Tap water IGNITES !



But nice try from the T. Boone Pickens PR firm.

ETA: It's reassuring to realize the GOP has just defunded the EPA who monitors this process. /sarcasm

RELATED TO T. BOONE'S WATER PLAN

THANKS OP for exposing this ruse. Star and Flag!

reply to post by kinda kurious
Yes I've read about fracking before. Based on the small amount of research I've done so far it seems to have no ill effects in many places where the water isn't coming from wells or other underground sources, but it apparently has had effects on well water, in some places.

What caught my attention was the end of that clip, when they said the Dept of Homeland Security was taking the names of people that attended the screening of that documentary...what the heck were they doing that for?

wp.me... sorry for the rant and the "screamers" (like that?)

Thanks, for listening Eron, thanks for the facts pteridine.

I don't like things out of context, Methanol was the onlt chemical used in the article, then it jumps into frac fluid.

As for the video of the tap water, do believe everything you see on the internet?

Yes, i work in the industry, it's not that i'm defending it, just we need it.

Plus i've dealt with those who cry wolf when their homework should have been done.. they've actually been crying coyote....

Carcinogens..!

Didn't they fight the Spartans?

Originally posted by Arbitrageur
reply to post by kinda kurious

 

Yes I've read about fracking before. Based on the small amount of research I've done so far it seems to have no ill effects in many places where the water isn't coming from wells or other underground sources, but it apparently has had effects on well water, in some places.

Unfortunately the ill side effects ARE NOT simply limited to private wells. It intrudes into surrounding aquifers and encroaches into natural bodies of water in addition to other unintentional geological effects. I encourage you to do more research, here's a start my friend.

The Delaware is now the most endangered river in the country, according to the conservation group American Rivers....That’s because large swaths of land—private and public—in the watershed have been leased to energy companies eager to drill for natural gas here using a controversial, poorly understood technique called hydraulic fracturing.

The real shock that Dimock has undergone, however, is in the aquifer that residents rely on for their fresh water. Dimock is now known as the place where, over the past two years, people’s water started turning brown and making them sick, one woman’s water well spontaneously combusted, and horses and pets mysteriously began to lose their hair.

www.vanityfair.com...

Are Arkansas Earthquakes Related to Fracking?

“The Arkansas Oil and Gas commission says there is likely a link between the wells and the earthquakes,” Sarah Eddington of The Seattle Times writes. “There have been more than 800 quakes in the area in the past six months. with a magnitude 4.7 quake, the strongest in Arkansas in 35 years, hit there Sunday.”

cleantechnica.com...

'Fracking' for natural gas also splits towns and families

Cancer-causing benzene, sometimes in levels considered dangerous to human health, were reported last year by Texas environmental regulators who took air tests in the Dish area. Residents believe at least one domestic water well was contaminated and that gas operations killed horses on a ranch not far from the compressor — a claim the gas companies dispute

www.usatoday.com...

reply to post by Erongaricuaro

I am going to hazard a guess here and suggest this may be another case of corporate economics vs public safety.

...Important post. Thanks. And great back-up kinda kurious.

S&F&

Fracking in New York State is currently under heated debate. I understand that where they are fracking is 5,000 ft to 20,000 ft underground. Thank you OP for bringing up the carcinogens that are used in fracking. I know that arsenic is one. Thank you Pterdine for bringing up the the brine that's in holding ponds that leak that contaminate the surroundings.

I live on one of the cleanest lakes in the world and have a well for my water. They now want to start fracking around the lake. As a pure science I am not against the idea of fracking. However, after reading stories of people out in Buffalo, NY that can now set their water on FIRE its obvious this whole method needs to be rehashed.

In upstate NY we don't need to worry much about earthquakes, but I have nothing but sympathy for the people of Arkansas. Up until March, when they called a halt to fracking until more research was done, they were having up to 50 earthquakes a day. Can you imagine tremors every half hour? So yeah. "They" should be working more on steam power!

Good thread

Originally posted by irolands
You guys have to smarten-up and learn some facts before you get all hysterical. The first thing they mention in the article is Methanol. It is injected to stop the well from freezing up during colder temperatures. Do you whiners use natural gas for heat or to cook your food in your daily life?

I hate everyone who is clueless to the oil and gas industry who whines about the environment when they are oblivious to the thousands of uses of oil and gas that they are using without even knowing. Tree-huggers are just whining cause they think oil only goes to make petroleum that fills the tank on their Toyota sh*t-mobile that they drive to work so they feel they're doing the planet a favour.

About 90% of they products that everyone uses in a day had to get transported by air, boat, rail, and especially highway transport.... (not to mention all the plastics, rubbers, etc. also created in the industry).

So Jethro, better hurry up with that car that runs on water !!! Or stop living in the modern world and go back to the cave !!!! Yes, that would mean no computer to post your rants !!!

Oh, I feel so much better now...except...this is water they are destroying. Insidious, like a radiation cloud, the stuff spreads unbeknownst to ma and pa taking a drink when they find out the hard way that their well or tap is polluted, irreversibly. I'll wager that when they FRACK the shale that they waste, or fail to capture, much more than half of the gas they 'liberated' from the ground. To my mind, being the stupid layman that I am, they are deliberately wasting the resources as to help tptw gain more terror leverage. And if this is true-IF-then where does all thet methane go? Does Father Al Gore enter the added methane in the sky to his 'manmade global warming' strike column? Seeing as scientists have conspired in this matter to hide the truth, I really don't wonder about this at all.

As for that car that runs on water....well, that is assuming that water doesn't surpass gas in price. At the rate it's being destroyed, poisoned, depleted, buried in the ground and mixed with ground water tables, I'd say that's possible. Reckless mining has it's consequences. A few pols get fabulously wealthy, and the world suffers, in silence. Crime of the century!

reply to post by starless and bible black

As for that car that runs on water....well, that is assuming that water doesn't surpass gas in price. At the rate it's being destroyed, poisoned, depleted, buried in the ground and mixed with ground water tables, I'd say that's possible. Reckless mining has it's consequences. A few pols get fabulously wealthy, and the world suffers, in silence. Crime of the century!

Excellent point: Water could every well surpass gas in price. In fact, if you buy bottled water - it already does.

Nothing is sacred. Not air, water, soil, food - and forget genetic integrity or any other such foolishness.

So glad you bring this up i wanted to bump some of the older threads on Fracking,
This form of coal seam mining has to stop

www.youtube.com...

Hope that link worked a segment from 60 minutes on Coal seam Fracking and Land Grabs in Queensland Australia.

Fracking has to stop



S/F

Originally posted by kinda kurious
I encourage you to do more research, here's a start my friend.

I plan to when I have the time.

Thanks for the tips to get me started my friend.

From what you posted it sounds like it needs better regulation.

Just like we learned from the deepwater horizon disaster, there's a right way to do something, and a wrong way to do it. That accident was completely preventable had they done things the right way. It's possible that some things aren't being done the right way with fracking too.

That doesn't necessarily mean we should ban all deep water drilling, or ban all fracking, but it does mean that stricter regulation is needed for both, and companies need to be held strictly liable for damages they cause to ground water. If they messed up my well, I'd expect them to make me whole like I was before they damaged it, which might mean spending an exorbitant amount of money to pipe in city water to my remote location, and to pay my water bill every month for the water since I was previously getting my well water for free. When companies are making decisions based on economics, you have to hit them hard in the wallet when they screw up. Better regulation should help too.

I'm looking forward to the EPA report being released to see what they recommend.