Natural Gas glut may edge out coal for Electricity Generation
Natural Gas a Bridge to a Lower Carbon Future?
California plans Regulations on Toxic Chemicals
PBDE (a common fire retardant) linked to infertility & developmental problems in children!
States Sue EPA Regarding Greenhouse Gas Regulations
U.S. Green Tech Investment Declines in Third Quarter
From Kermit to Kathy: Herbicide Exposure Causes Gender Switch in Frogs
Oil Industry Ignored Real Risks of Deepwater Oil Drilling
Clean-Tech Is A Bright Spot For Job Seekers
Geothermal Energy Keeps Oregon Town Toasty
Shell Oil Company Sues BP For Loss of Production/Profit due to Oil Spill
KONE Sees Drop in Hydraulic Elevator Installations as EcoDisc Technology Gains
BP Oil Spill Changes Lives of Gulf Residents
US and Brazil ranked Worst Environmental Impact Offenders
Is That Product Green? Eric Corey Freed Tells Us How to Find Out
Hydraulic Fracturing Environmental Concerns
Hydraulic Fracturing is put under the microscope as we examine in detail various environmental concerns associated with the natural gas extraction process.
Renee McClure of Hudson, Colorado can light her tap water on fire. While this disconcerting flammability might surprise some Americans, many residents of New York, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, and other states encounter this problem regularly (follow the links for personal stories). In some parts of Texas, once clean wells now produce gray, fizzy water, and some homes have exploded due to methane evaporated from well water.
These scattered situations have one common denominator: all of these wells are situated near recent natural gas drilling sites. Natural gas companies use horizontal drilling combined with hydraulic fracturing (also known as “hydrofracking”) to extract natural gas from shale.
Gas industry experts and water analysts previously assumed that an impenetrable barrier of rock existed between shallow water tables and the much deeper geologic region drilled for natural gas. However, citizens and politicians of states sitting on huge shale fields have begun to question whether hydrofracking could be endangering water supplies.
Chemicals found in solutions used to facilitate hydrofracking might be causing more health problems than the natural gas in water supplies. Oil and gas companies are not required to disclose these chemicals publically yet, but the EPA subpoenaed Halliburton for the information this November.
So what chemicals are in fracking fluids? A 2004 EPA Report on fluids used in hydraulic fracturing reported “no unequivocal evidence” of health risks. Recently released documents, however, show that gas oil companies negotiated directly with the EPA before the release of the 2004 Sierra Club West Virginia study.
Several independent scientists suspected dangerous chemicals in fracking solution and conducted independent research. Sixty-five of the estimated 300-odd chemicals used in hydrofracking are listed by the federal government as hazardous to humans. One such chemical called “2-BE,” a known component of Gunnison Energy Corporation’s hydraulic solution in Colorado, causes hemolysis (the breakdown of red blood cells).
In a 2002 Memo to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, endocrine specialist Dr. Theo Colborn cited 2-BE as a cause of bloody stool, kidney damage, spleen failure, numbness in extremities, and anemia. The EPA also classified 2-BE ias a possible human carcinogen in a 2010 toxicity report on 2-BE.
Dr. Colborn’s studies correspond eerily to health effects that a few Colorado residents have experienced since gas wells went up near their homes. Chris and Steve Mobaldi in Rifle County, Colorado experienced headaches, red eyes, odors, and sandy water with an oil film when an oil and gas company drilled across the street (with horizontal drilling, pipes can stretch over 2,000 feet from the bore hole). Their dogs developed tumors and their horses died of respiratory illnesses. Chris developed a speech impediment and her gallbladder swelled to the size of a pineapple, with adhesions and a tail.
Laura Amos, also a resident of Rife County, Colorado, did not own mineral rights beneath her property and therefore could not prevent drilling that extended beneath her land. (To understand this legal issue better, please refer to the excellent documentary entitled Split Estate that examines the difficulty land owners have in keeping gas companies off their property.)
Within a few years after gas companies came in, Amos developed hyperaldosteronism, a rare endocrine disruption caused by the same 2-BE about which Dr. Colborn wrote.
In DISH, Texas, private well water became gray and fizzy shortly after hydrofracking began. Texas Railroad Company tested the water of the well of Amber Smith and found arsenic at 7.5 times federal regulations, lead 21 times the EPA standard, and chromium two times the legal limit. A 2009 survey of DISH County residents showed that 71% contracted respiratory ailments, while 16 chemicals were found in concernations above Texas’ legal limits in DISH’s air.
Problems from this air pollution included red eyes, burning eyes, nausea, headaches, runny nose, sore throat, asthma, sinus problems, hypertension, chronic sinus infections, and bronchitis.(Wolf Eagle Environmental, “Town of DISH, Texas Ambient Air Monitoring Analysis; Final Report,” September 15, 2009.) Other Texas residents have experienced radiation poisoning that scientists link to gas drilling in their region.
Gas companies continue to maintain that impermeable shale precludes natural gas and hydrofracking chemicals from seeping into water supplies. Health effects felt by residents in gas-producing states suggest a correlation between hydraulic fracturing and a contaminated water supply. The EPA commissioned a two-year report to examine the environmental effects of hydraulic fracturing, due finished in 2012. Until the federal government steps in to regulate gas companies, most affected citizens are forced to drink their flammable, gray, and often toxic water until they can afford to move away from their contaminated water supplies.
Recommended for Further Reading:
- Natural Gas glut may edge out coal for Electricity Generation
- Natural Gas a Bridge to a Lower Carbon Future?
- California plans Regulations on Toxic Chemicals
- PBDE (a common fire retardant) linked to infertility & developmental problems in children!
- States Sue EPA Regarding Greenhouse Gas Regulations
- U.S. Green Tech Investment Declines in Third Quarter
- From Kermit to Kathy: Herbicide Exposure Causes Gender Switch in Frogs
- Oil Industry Ignored Real Risks of Deepwater Oil Drilling
- Clean-Tech Is A Bright Spot For Job Seekers
- Geothermal Energy Keeps Oregon Town Toasty
- Shell Oil Company Sues BP For Loss of Production/Profit due to Oil Spill
- KONE Sees Drop in Hydraulic Elevator Installations as EcoDisc Technology Gains
- BP Oil Spill Changes Lives of Gulf Residents
- US and Brazil ranked Worst Environmental Impact Offenders
- Is That Product Green? Eric Corey Freed Tells Us How to Find Out
I just want to tell you that I am new to blogging and certainly enjoyed you're web-site. Likely I'm planning to bookmark your blog post . You actually come with perfect posts. Many thanks for sharing your web page.
Hydraulic Fracturing Environmental Concerns http://t.co/0UupOxkf #eco #cleantech #greenbuilding #renewableenergy
Hi there, just turned into alert to your blog through Google, and located that it is really informative. I am gonna watch out for brussels. I?ll be grateful when you continue this in future. Lots of people will probably be benefited from your writing. Cheers!
Hydraulic Fracturing Environmental Concerns http://t.co/0UupOxkf #eco #cleantech #greenbuilding #renewableenergy
Hydraulic Fracturing Environmental Concerns http://bit.ly/eoz9TO #eco #cleantech #greenbuilding #renewableenergy
;P Hydraulic Fracturing Environmental Concerns http://bit.ly/eoz9TO
! http://bit.ly/eoz9TO Hydraulic Fracturing Environmental Concerns
http://bit.ly/eoz9TO ;O Hydraulic Fracturing Environmental Concerns
. http://bit.ly/eoz9TO Hydraulic Fracturing Environmental Concerns
http://buildaroo.com/news/article/hydraulic-fracturing-environmental-concerns/
hydraulic fracturing Hydraulic Fracturing Environmental Concerns http://bit.ly/eoz9TO :O
http://bit.ly/eoz9TO hydraulic fracturing Hydraulic Fracturing Environmental Concerns
Hydraulic Fracturing Environmental Concerns ;O http://bit.ly/eoz9TO
Hydraulic Fracturing Environmental Concerns ! http://bit.ly/eoz9TO
Feel free to voice any questions or concerns in the comments-- there is a lot of controversy swirling around this topic, and we don't want to skirt over any more problematic points.
Are you suggesting people are complaining about FREE GAS? I wish I had a faucet that spouted fuel!
I had no idea this was such an issue! Thanks for the informative article!
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by buildaroo, Liz Klein and Liz Klein. Liz Klein said: http://bit.ly/eoz9TO ;P hydraulic fracturing Hydraulic Fracturing Environmental Concerns [...]