Niagara Falls Reporter: Frack, Frack, Everywhere a Frack
August 1, 2011
Niagara Falls Reporter: Frack, Frack, Everywhere a Frack.
Fragments of these concerns are all over the internet.
Potential Nightmare in Niagara Falls
This story by reporter James Hufnagel broke yesterday in Niagara Falls.
The story claims to confirm long-rumored financial intentions of Senator Maziarz and Niagara Water Board Director Paul Drof to receive millions of gallons of hydro fracture waste at the small and decrepit Niagara Falls Treatment Plant. There were also prior rumors of intention to truck the waste to Lewiston. Beyond the general science incapability I have listed below, please consider the profoundly dilapidated infrastructure condition of the entire Niagara Falls region. Collapsed and wide open storm sewers (lacking grates) are a common feature on city streets. The entire industrial sector of the 1970’s Robert Moses Parkway including the Waste Treatment Plant is a collapsing corroded mess. Concise scientific concerns related to Mr. Drof’s ambitions continue after we discuss ongoing concerns for Buffalo…..
Continuing Hydro Fracture Abuse in Buffalo?
I remain concerned that Hydro Fracture waste is continuing to be recieved at the Buffalo Sewer Authority…..semantically re-labeled as “Flowback Water” or “Condensate Riser Water” The BSA is abusing prior reception of these fluids for decades from conventional rotary drilled gas well sites. Science has clearly identified that Flowback and Condensate Riser Water from vertical and horizontal hydro fractured wells is comprehensively different and horribly contaminated. Please reference the ‘Comments’ section of this Artvoice article: http://artvoice.com/issues/v10n11/week_in_review/comforting_comerford
The comments contains a Buffalo News digital soundbite from Mayor Brown specifically stating that the BSA is continuing to recieve these liquids from hydro fracture sites
The Impossibility of the Promised Science
Citing Conrad Voltz’ past study at the Josephine Treatment Plant on Blacklick Creek in Pennsylvania, and recalling that Walter Hang had researched contamination in the Niagara River years ago, I wrote to Walter last week. Historically, Walter sampled the Niagara Falls treatment plant’s effluent discharge at the tailrace and conducted GC/MS analysis for priority pollutants. Those findings were presented in his study of the Niagara River, past featured on CBS 60-Minutes.
The Mass Spectrometry Myth……Clumsy Identification of Contaminants
Rumors are circulating that Paul Drof has stated he can identify all of the undisclosed ‘proprietary’ Haliburton chemistry using Mass Spectrometry (MS) which is essentially a technique for ‘weighing’ molecular structure based on the ionic mass-to-charge ratio of a particle. This inherently creates a Chicken-And-Egg debacle as the ionic charge and/or molecular mass of the ‘proprietary unknowns’ must be guessed. This is why you repeatedly hear the statement “We cannot test unless we know what we are attempting to identify and locate.” This is also why the secret Haliburton mixture is not immediately reverse-engineered and duplicated. Here is 28-pages of beginners tutorial on MS: http://science.widener.edu/svb/massspec/massspec.pdf
Walter Hang writes last week:
“You have to separate the pollutants before you can identify them using MS. There are thousands of compounds that might be present. Isolating them is extremely tricky work.”
The Carbon Myth….Cleaning the Mess
Paul Drof is also rumored to be stating that his Niagara Falls Treatment Plant is special because it is “GAC” or capable of implementing Activated Carbon treatment.
Walter writes again:
“GAC only removes pollutants that are insoluble in water. Many of the gas drilling wastewater pollutants, notably the toxic metals, are soluble in water. That is why they are called Total Dissolved Solids. Those contaminants would pass through a GAC filter.”
“GAC only removes pollutants that are insoluble in water. Many of the gas drilling wastewater pollutants, notably the toxic metals, are soluble in water. That is why they are called Total Dissolved Solids. Those contaminants would pass through a GAC filter.”
Sound Familiar?….. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/27/us/27gas.html?ref=us
A 2008 drinking water crisis is documented that affected more than 850,000 residents along the Monongahela River near Pittsburgh. When New York imposed its de facto Marcellus Shale horizontal hydrofracturing moratorium, many firms went to drill in Pennsylvania. Municipal treatment plants were accepting up to 40% of their influent as natural gas drilling wastewater even though they were not equipped to handle that type of waste. So much Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) pollution was discharged in the Monongahela River that the water became unpotable. A 70-mile stretch of the river was impacted.”
Walter’s response continues……
“GAC removes higher molecular weight compounds more effectively than certain common volatile compounds. Those compounds can “break through” the GAC earlier than the higher molecular weight compounds. When that happens, the GAC has to be “recharged.” The more frequently the GAC has to be recharged, the higher the treatment cost.”
“GAC removes higher molecular weight compounds more effectively than certain common volatile compounds. Those compounds can “break through” the GAC earlier than the higher molecular weight compounds. When that happens, the GAC has to be “recharged.” The more frequently the GAC has to be recharged, the higher the treatment cost.”
“For all these reasons, the three categories of pollutants in the gas drilling wastewater are extremely challenging to manage. That is why PA has banned their discharge into POTWs.” ……returning to the nightmare of the Josephine Plant at Blacklick Creek
Blacklick Creek
Here is a summary of the Blacklick Creek Study demonstrating comprehensive failure
Conrad Voltz, Tony Ingraffea, Penn State
Here is an excellent radio article in which Voltz describes pressure to remain silent.
Buffalo News and Sen. Maziarz speaking to the Niagara Falls treatment initiative
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GDACC 
