100+ Groups from 23 States File Petition for Drilling and Fracking Chemical Testing, Info

August 4, 2011

Click to access fracking_petition.pdf

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 4, 2011
CONTACT:
Kathleen Sutcliffe, Earthjustice, (202) 667-4500, ext.235
Richard Denison, Environmental Defense Fund, (202) 387-3500
Roberta Winters, League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania (610) 527-3706
John Fenton, Pavilion Area Concerned Citizens, (307) 856-7098
100+ Groups from 23 States File Petition for Drilling and Fracking Chemical Testing, Info
Concerned about health impacts of drilling boom, groups press for answers from Halliburton and others
WASHINGTON, DC – A large coalition of public health, environmental, and good government groups filed a petition (PDF) today demanding that full health and safety information be made available for all of the chemicals used in oil and gas development, including the controversial process known as hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.”  Fracking is when oil and gas companies blast millions of gallons of water treated with chemicals into the ground to force oil and gas from hard-to-reach places deep inside the earth.  Along with a fracking-fueled gas rush have come troubling reports of poisoned drinking water, polluted air, mysterious animal deaths, and sick families.
“The more information we have about the chemicals used in fracking and drilling, the easier it will be to keep people safe and healthy,” said Earthjustice Associate Attorney Megan Klein. “But EPA needs to move quickly – we learn of new problems related to this industry almost daily.”
Earthjustice filed the petition on behalf of Environmental Defense Fund, The League of Women Voters and more than 100 other groups from across America including those with national membership and others with membership from among 23 states (list). The petition asks the EPA to draft rules that — for the first time — would require manufacturers and processors of drilling and fracking chemicals to conduct testing and produce health and safety data needed to evaluate the health and environmental risks of their substances and mixtures.
“The complications linked to the chemicals used in oil and gas development are emblematic of a larger problem in this country — in which we allow dangerous or untested chemicals to be used in everyday consumer products and, in this case, mixed with water and pumped underground,” said Richard Denison, Senior Scientist with Environmental Defense Fund. “Ultimately, the goal of this petition is to encourage companies to do the right thing. If health impacts associated with their products are widely known, it will serve as a powerful incentive for companies to act more responsibly.”
Little is known about many of the chemicals used in drilling and fracking. What information is available is sobering: 78 percent of known fracking chemicals are associated with serious short-term health effects such as burning eyes, rashes, asthma-like effects, nausea, vomiting, headaches, dizziness, tremors, and convulsions.  Between 22 and 47 percent of those chemicals also are associated with longer-term health effects, including cancer, organ damage, and harm to the endocrine system.
“People are understandably concerned about the potential health impacts posed by fracking. Here in Pennsylvania and across the region, as the pace of drilling has skyrocketed, so too have reports of illness and pollution,” said Roberta Winters of the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania. “The League of Women Voters is deeply concerned about this national issue that threatens the environment and public health. The state Leagues of New York and Pennsylvania are working hard to educate the public about the environmental, public health, and economic impacts associated with fracking. As we continue to advocate for public participation and transparency, we encourage citizens to make their voices heard to regain necessary environmental protections. Our nation’s leaders are on notice that our organization, and more than a hundred others nationwide are pressing for swift action on this petition.”
The petition also asks the EPA to require Halliburton and 8 other fracking chemical companies to provide any documentation these companies have of environmental or health problems associated with the chemicals they manufacture, process, or distribute.
“Here in Pavilion, we’re surrounded by fracked gas wells. The EPA told us over a year ago not to use our well water anymore for drinking or cooking,” said John Fenton of Pavilion (WY) Area Concerned Citizens. “The way the rules work right now, it’s easy for companies to sidestep responsibility.  I don’t think we should stand for it any longer, which is why I’ve signed onto this petition.”
###
RESOURCES
__________________________________
Kathleen Sutcliffe
Campaign Manager
Earthjustice
1625 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Suite 702
Washington, DC 20036
T: 202-667-4500, ext 235
F: 202-667-2356
www.earthjustice.org
Because the earth needs a good lawyer

Filed under EPA Tagged with , , , ,

EPA Report: Fracking Contaminated Drinking Water | Environmental Working Group

August 4, 2011

EPA Report: Fracking Contaminated Drinking Water | Environmental Working Group.

EPA Report: Fracking Contaminated Drinking Water

Categories

Fracking
Oil & Gas
  • CONTACT: EWG Public Affairs: 202.667.6982. leeann@ewg.org
  • FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 3rd, 2011

Washington, D.C. – Contrary to the drilling industry claim that hydraulic fracturing has never contaminated groundwater, the Environmental Protection Agency concluded in a 1987 study that “fracking” of a natural gas well in West Virginia contaminated an underground drinking water source. That all-but-forgotten report to Congress, uncovered by Environmental Working Group and Earthjustice, found that fracturing gel from a shale gas well more than 4,000 feet deep had contaminated well water.

EPA investigators concluded that the contamination was “illustrative” of a broader problem of pollution associated with hydraulic fracturing but said the agency’s investigation was hampered by confidentiality agreements between industry and affected landowners. Environmental Working Group’s year-long investigation of the incident found that several abandoned natural gas wells located near the fractured well in West Virginia could have served as conduits that allowed the gel, a common ingredient in fracking fluid, to migrate into the water well.

“When you add up the gel in the water, the presence of abandoned wells and the documented ability of drilling fluids to migrate through these wells into underground water supplies, there is a lot of evidence that EPA got it right and that this was indeed a case of hydraulic fracturing contamination of groundwater,” said Dusty Horwitt, EWG’s senior oil and gas analyst and author of “Cracks in the Façade,” EWG’s report about EPA’s finding. “Now it’s up to EPA to pick up where it left off 25 years ago and determine the true risks of fracking so that our drinking water can be protected.”

Since the 1987 report, the industry has hydraulically fractured hundreds of thousands of wells and is continuing a historic push into natural gas-bearing shale formations, once considered inaccessible, that lie beneath populated areas in a number of states, including West Virginia, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Louisiana and Arkansas.

To access these formations, drillers often use a relatively new combination of horizontal drilling and higher-volume fracturing. As drilling activity has intensified, reports of pollution have sparked a growing national debate over the actual or potential environmental risks, including contamination of groundwater, the source of drinking water for more than 100 million Americans, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Congress exempted hydraulic fracturing from the Safe Drinking Water Act in 2005 following an EPA study of hydraulic fracturing the previous year which found little risk to water supplies when fracturing is conducted in coal bed methane deposits. Neither Congress nor the EPA mentioned the agency’s 1987 finding. EPA is currently conducting a new study of fracking’s impact on water supplies.

“During the fracturing process,” EPA investigators wrote in the 1987 report, which focused on the handling of natural gas, oil and geothermal wastes generally, “fractures can be produced, allowing migration of native brine, fracturing fluid and hydrocarbons from the oil or gas well to a nearby water well. When this happens, the water well can be permanently damaged and a new well must be drilled or an alternative source of drinking water found.”

Environmental Working Group found that the evidence in the West Virginia case was consistent with pollution from hydraulic fracturing, though it is possible that another stage of the drilling process caused the problem.

In the EPA’s files in Washington, EWG also discovered a document submitted in 1987 by the American Petroleum Institute, the natural gas and oil industry’s major trade association, that appeared to agree with the EPA finding but suggested that it was not typical. “One case,” the API wrote, referring to the West Virginia contamination case, “resulted in a workover operation fracturing into groundwater as a result of equipment failure or accident. As described in the detail write-up, this is not a normal result of fracturing as it ruins the productive capability of the wells.”

# # #

EWG is a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, DC that uses the power of information to protect human health and the environment. http://www.ewg.org

Follow EWG’s natural resources work on Twitter @EWGfracking

Filed under EPA, Industry claims, Risk, Water Tagged with ,

Worries Over Water As Natural Gas Fracking Expands : NPR

August 2, 2011

Worries Over Water As Natural Gas Fracking Expands : NPR.

Filed under Water Tagged with , , ,

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.”
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.”

“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

—

Filed under Waste, Water Tagged with , , , , ,

Tioga County family struggles with methane in its well water – SunGazette.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Community Information – Williamsport-Sun Gazette

July 4, 2011

Tioga County family struggles with methane in its well water – SunGazette.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Community Information – Williamsport-Sun Gazette.

Filed under Water Tagged with , , ,

Video of Vestal GasCapades June 22, 2011

June 24, 2011

Thanks to Jeff and Jodi Andrysick, Weston Wilson, Tara Meixsell, and Rick Roles for travelling a long way to present their personal experiences and knowledge of the impact of hydraulic fracturing, and to Don Glauber for calming things down when some of the audience started to get rowdy.  Videos are now online of the entire event, including the at-times confrontational question-and-answer session.  Links to the videos are below.

-Ben

GasCapades – Introduction and Jeff and Jodi Andrysick

GasCapades – Weston Wilson

GasCapades – Tara Meixsell

GasCapades – Rick Roles

GasCapades – Conclusion with Jeff and Jodi Andrysick

GasCapades – Question and Answer Session

Filed under events Tagged with , , , , , ,

Judge declines to dismiss EPA order against Range Resources | Barnett Shale | Dallas Bus…

June 22, 2011

Judge declines to dismiss EPA order against Range Resources | Barnett Shale | Dallas Bus….  6/11

Filed under Spills-Accidents-Suits, Water Tagged with , ,

Bradford Co. PA Map of Compromised Water & Gas Wells

June 17, 2011 1 Comment

I created an earlier draft of this map in Dec ’10 because when I called the DEP Williamsport office, they said they did not keep systematic records of this data; indeed, at the time (the regs have since been changed, in part due to the story Laura Legere of Scranton TimesTrib did when I explained the situation to her), the gas companies did not even have to report if they could resolve the complaint privately with the landowner. So, as of this date, none of the data is from the DEP.

I suspect that there are many more than I have here whose silence has been bought, who don’t know, or who don’t want to know, in addition to the ones I just don’t yet know about but are known to some, and I would like to ask everyone in Bradford County to help me keep this map as accurate and up-to-date as possible by writing to me at this address with any information they may have.

I will be updating the map approximately every two weeks.

Thank you,

Michael Lebron
NYSESS | DCS

Filed under Water Tagged with , , , ,

Greg Palast on Condoleezza Rice teaming up with Chevron « Dandelion Salad

June 4, 2011

Greg Palast on Condoleezza Rice teaming up with Chevron « Dandelion Salad.

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Chevron, and a think tank have teamed up to launch a new project to look at how to promote “economic development, livelihoods, and reduce poverty worldwide.” This, from an oil company that refused to pay an $8.6 billion court-ordered payout for poisoning the Ecuadorian amazon rainforest, which led to the deaths of 1400 people.

Filed under Save the Planet Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

Plan for China’s Water Crisis Spurs Concern – NYTimes.com

June 2, 2011

Plan for China’s Water Crisis Spurs Concern – NYTimes.com.

Plan for China’s water crisis spurs concern. North China is dying. A chronic drought is ravaging farmland. The Gobi Desert is inching south. The Yellow River, the so-called birthplace of Chinese civilization, is so polluted it can no longer supply drinking water. The rapid growth of megacities has drained underground aquifers that took millenniums to fill. New York Times [Registration Required]
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/02/world/asia/02water.html

Filed under Water Tagged with , , ,

← Older posts

Newer posts →