Danger Beneath: ‘Fracking’ Gas, Oil Pipes Threaten Rural Residents – NBC News.com
August 25, 2014
Danger Beneath: ‘Fracking’ Gas, Oil Pipes Threaten Rural Residents – NBC News.com.
U.S. GAO – Oil and Gas: Information on Shale Resources, Development, and Environmental and Public Health Risks
November 13, 2012
What GAO Found
Estimates of the size of shale oil and gas resources in the United States by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and the Potential Gas Committee–three organizations that estimate the size of these resources–have increased over the last 5 years, which could mean an increase in the nation’s energy portfolio. For example, in 2012, EIA estimated that the amount of technically recoverable shale gas in the United States was 482 trillion cubic feet–an increase of 280 percent from EIA’s 2008 estimate. However, according to EIA and USGS officials, estimates of the size of shale oil and gas resources in the United States are highly dependent on the data, methodologies, model structures, and assumptions used to develop them. In addition, less is known about the amount of technically recoverable shale oil than shale gas, in part because large-scale production of shale oil has been under way for only the past few years. Estimates are based on data available at a given point in time and will change as additional information becomes available. In addition, domestic shale oil and gas production has experienced substantial growth; shale oil production increased more than fivefold from 2007 to 2011, and shale gas production increased more than fourfold from 2007 to 2011.
Oil and gas development, whether conventional or shale oil and gas, pose inherent environmental and public health risks, but the extent of these risks associated with shale oil and gas development is unknown, in part, because the studies GAO reviewed do not generally take into account the potential long-term, cumulative effects. For example, according to a number of studies and publications GAO reviewed, shale oil and gas development poses risks to air quality, generally as the result of (1) engine exhaust from increased truck traffic, (2) emissions from diesel-powered pumps used to power equipment, (3) gas that is flared (burned) or vented (released directly into the atmosphere) for operational reasons, and (4) unintentional emissions of pollutants from faulty equipment or impoundments–temporary storage areas. Similarly, a number of studies and publications GAO reviewed indicate that shale oil and gas development poses risks to water quality from contamination of surface water and groundwater as a result of erosion from ground disturbances, spills and releases of chemicals and other fluids, or underground migration of gases and chemicals. For example, tanks storing toxic chemicals or hoses and pipes used to convey wastes to the tanks could leak, or impoundments containing wastes could overflow as a result of extensive rainfall. According to the New York Department of Environmental Conservation’s 2011 Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement, spilled, leaked, or released chemicals or wastes could flow to a surface water body or infiltrate the ground, reaching and contaminating subsurface soils and aquifers. In addition, shale oil and gas development poses a risk to land resources and wildlife habitat as a result of constructing, operating, and maintaining the infrastructure necessary to develop oil and gas; using toxic chemicals; and injecting fluids underground. However, the extent of these risks is unknown. Further, the extent and severity of environmental and public health risks identified in the studies and publications GAO reviewed may vary significantly across shale basins and also within basins because of location- and process-specific factors, including the location and rate of development; geological characteristics, such as permeability, thickness, and porosity of the formations; climatic conditions; business practices; and regulatory and enforcement activities.
Why GAO Did This Study
New applications of horizontal drilling techniques and hydraulic fracturing–in which water, sand, and chemical additives are injected under high pressure to create and maintain fractures in underground formations–allow oil and natural gas from shale formations (known as “shale oil” and “shale gas”) to be developed. As exploration and development of shale oil and gas have increased–including in areas of the country without a history of oil and natural gas development–questions have been raised about the estimates of the size of these resources, as well as the processes used to extract them.
GAO was asked to determine what is known about the (1) size of shale oil and gas resources and the amount produced from 2007 through 2011 and (2) environmental and public health risks associated with the development of shale oil and gas. GAO reviewed estimates and data from federal and nongovernmental organizations on the size and production of shale oil and gas resources. GAO also interviewed federal and state regulatory officials, representatives from industry and environmental organizations, oil and gas operators, and researchers from academic institutions.
GAO is not making any recommendations in this report. We provided a draft of this report to the Department of Energy, the Department of the Interior, and the Environmental Protection Agency for review. The Department of the Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency provided technical comments, which we incorporated as appropriate. The Department of Energy did not provide comments.
For more information, contact Frank Rusco at (202) 512-3841 or ruscof@gao.gov.
Abandoned wells
June 2, 2012
Yesterday on the NPR station WSKG broadcast of Living on Earth ( http://www.loe.org/) there was a segment on locating abandoned oil/gas wells in PA – very interesting and relevant.
Some excerpts:
DOE Looks for Orphan Wells
CURWOOD: It’s Living on Earth, I’m Steve Curwood. For more than 150 years prospectors in the United States have drilled countless holes in the ground in search of oil and gas. Most of the resulting wells were sealed once they became unprofitable. But improperly sealed ones can lead to explosions and other hazards.
With the gas rush now underway in the Marcellus Shale in the Eastern U.S., the federal Department of Energy has made the search for so-called “orphan wells” a high priority.
….The helicopter has special equipment mounted on long, white poles on either side. At the end of each pole is a white cylinder pointed at the ground. Inside, these canisters are essentially advanced metal detectors. They can pick up cars, natural metals like gold, or the metal casings found in abandoned oil and gas wells.
….An abandoned well, if it’s not properly plugged, it provides a conduit for gases to come to the surface. These gases could be, of course, methane, natural gas, or something like radon.
….The first natural gas well in Pennsylvania was drilled in 1859. But the industry wasn’t regulated until 1956. That left almost a century’s worth of wells drilled, with little or no records of where they were located. It’s estimated there are more than 100,000 of these so-called “orphan wells” sitting in Pennsylvania.
.…One problem with looking for wells, Carter says, is a lot of the metal casings used to detect these wells are gone.
(The program does not explain how these wells are located, as the sensing system is based on magnetism detecting the steel casing.)
…..Our story on orphaned wells comes to us from the radio show The Allegheny Front.
From the DEC’s revised DSGEIS
Preliminary Revised Draft SGEIS 2011, Page 7-59
To ensure that abandoned wells do not provide a conduit for contamination of fresh water
aquifers, the Department proposes to require that the operator consult the Division’s oil and gas
database as well as property owners and tenants in the proposed spacing unit to determine
whether any abandoned wells are present. If (1) the operator has property access rights, (2) the
well is accessible and (3) it is reasonable to believe based on available records and history of
drilling in the area that the well’s total depth may be as deep or deeper than the target formation
for high-volume hydraulic fracturing, then the Department would require the operator to enter
and evaluate the well, and properly plug it prior to high-volume hydraulic fracturing if the
evaluation shows the well is open to the target formation or is otherwise an immediate threat to
the environment. If any abandoned well is under the operator’s control as owner or lessee of the
pertinent mineral rights, then the operator is required to comply with the Department’s existing
regulations regarding shut-in or temporary abandonment if good cause exists to leave the well
unplugged. This would require a demonstration that the well is in satisfactory condition to not
pose a threat to the environment, including during nearby high-volume hydraulic fracturing, and
a demonstrated intent to complete and/or produce the well within the time frames provided by
existing regulations.
A criticism of the of this section is that this “proposal” could easily miss wells which have long since been abandoned, especially those from which the casing was removed for scrap steel. From the DEC’s website:
Long Abandoned Wells Predate Strict Rules
DEC has a strict environmental regulatory program for oil and gas wells drilled in New York. New York has had an active oil and gas industry since the 1880’s and DEC estimates that more than 75,000 oil and gas wells have been drilled in the state. Most of these wells existed prior to the establishment of New York’s regulatory program in 1963 that ensures the proper plugging of wells. DEC has identified about 4,800 unplugged, abandoned oil and gas wells in New York for which no known owner can be located. It estimates that at least as many more unplugged and abandoned wells exist that are yet to be discovered. Many of the older wells were abandoned by their owners when low production and/or low prices made it unprofitable for them to continue production.
I expect that this airborne scanning technology will be cited by the DEC to deflect some of the criticism about undocumented wells.
Jim Weiss
1. They didn’t talk about cost to find/time to find
2. They didn’t talk about cost to plug
3. They didn’t talk about alternative technologies to find (there is ALWAYS som other way(s)
4. They didn’t talk about old abandoned water wells – another contamination vector
5. Sigh, S
GDACC 
