Deep concern: Environmentalists question groundwater risks » Local News » The Tribune Democrat, Johnstown, PA

March 25, 2012

Deep concern: Environmentalists question groundwater risks » Local News » The Tribune Democrat, Johnstown, PA.

Are injection wells an issue in NY as well? 

Sorta under the radar here as well –
from DEC site – Brine Disposal Well Summary –
first 3 are the active disposal wells, others for storage
– click on link,  then click on searchable database and hit view map for location-
I am in process today of drafting inquiry letter for reports mandated by EPA – got very vague answers last year from Linda Collart  on Quill disposal well 1800′ deep 3/4 mile from Cayuga Lake –
 “No “drilling waste” taken, migration impossible, pressure is very low, biggest problem is truck traffic.”
Yet there are two large tanks labeled PRODUCED WATER/BRINE  near that well – wouldn’t that be drilling waste?
I think one of the biggest problems is the fuzzy words thrown around by agencies – vague by design – won’t find a lot of these in glossaries of EPA nor DEC –
Brine
Formation water – naturally occurring but ‘brine’ used interchangably –
Salt  Water (TX RR commission – really.   http://www.rrc.state.tx.us/about/faqs/saltwaterwells.php
Waste Water
Frack Waste
Drilling Waste
Flowback Fluid
NG liquids
Produced Water – GAO report from Jan. 2012 –  http://www.gao.gov/assets/590/587522.pdf
synonyms all?    keep coming back to that conclusion –
 Quill disposal well town of Cayuga –
Just what and how much is going down there?
Will more Queenston wells be flipped for disposal?  There are scores  dotting Cayuga County.  Is there a public notification process for this?
Agencies make a big deal of inspections for casing standards and integrity of disposal wells – just how do construction standards of these wells really matter?  the concrete and steel WILL eventually fail.  And when the fluids are being injected into a porous layer?  nothing is containing them but the geology…(faults? fractures?  abandoned wells? )   hard to figure how these make sense at a mere 640′, 1080′  and 1800  feet deep.
If anyone knows anything please share.  Will post my query to the agencies when I finish later.  I’ve got a lot of questions.
MaryM
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Filed under Environment, EPA, Official Actions--Legislation, judgments,regulation, Shale Gas Development-Hydrofracking, Waste Tagged with ,

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