REVISIT - Natural-Gas Fracking Rules Considered by U.S. for Federal Lands

BLOOMBERG.COM
Jim Snyder and Katarzyna Klimasinska -
Aug 18, 2011 12:37 PM MT


The U.S. is weighing whether to impose new rules on hydraulic fracturing to extract natural gas on public lands.

Companies such as Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) of The Woodlands, Texas, and Treasure Resources Inc. of Windsor,Colorado, may be required to disclose chemicals used in the drilling and adopt well-integrity standards as part of the permit process, Robert Abbey, director of the Bureau of Land Management, said in an interview today in Bloomberg’s Washington office.

“We have the authority to move forward with our own rule-making to require such a disclosure and other best-management practices that we deem are feasible and appropriate,” Abbey said. Such regulations are being “seriously entertained,” he said.

In fracturing, or fracking, companies inject water, sand and chemicals under high pressure thousands of feet underground to break up shale-rock formations and release the gas trapped there. The technique is used for more than 90 percent of wells drilled on public lands, Abbey said.

Environmentalists and local officials have said the technique can pollute water resources.

Natural-gas production on federal lands rose 6.5 percent to 2.97 trillion cubic feet, or 14 percent of U.S. production, last year, according to the agency’s website.

Abbey said the bureau had no evidence that fracking has“adversely affected groundwater.”

Disclosure, Best Practices

 

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Oil & Gas Spill Of the Day +/- 210,000 Gallons of Produced Water - Arapahoe County Colorado

RENEGADE OIL & GAS COMPANY LLC 

This post is a very comprehensive look into the history of one company's well site and its track record.  It appears that a large discharge of produced water occurred in late 2005. Was this spill a concern? It is 'estimated' that +/- 5,000 barrels of produced water discharged on the ground surface and into Cottonwood Creek. According to COGCC documents, one barrel equals 42 US gallons.  Five thousand barrels equates to 210,000 gallons of produced water that was reportedly spilled into Cottonwood Creek.  Was this company fined? Why has this company had so many unsatisfactory inspections/violations and is still being allowed to manage an active well?  Should they be fined? Should they be shut down for having so many violations? 

Do all companies get 'breaks' for their violations? Are O&G violation rules different if a well is located on BLM land? Where did the produced water go? Does the Community Right-To-Know Act of 1986 apply?

Click 'Read More' at the bottom of this post to view images and documents.

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Date Rec'd:	12/21/2005	Report taken by:	BOB CHESSON
DocNum:	1433324	API number:	05-005 -06522	Facility ID:	204437

Operator Information

Operator:	RENEGADE OIL & GAS COMPANY LLC	Oper. No.	74165
Address:	P O BOX 460413 ATTN: EDWARD INGVE AURORA , CO 80046-0413
Phone:	(303 )680-4725	Fax:	(303 )680-4907
Operator Contact:	JB CONDILL

Description of Spill:

Date of Incident:	12/1/2005
Type of Facility:	WELL
Well Name/No.	STATE 2	Fac. Name/No.
County Name:	ARAPAHOE
qtrqtr: NESW section: 36 township: 4S range: 58W meridian: 6

Volumes spilled and recovered (bbls)
Oil spilled: 0	Recvrd: 0
Water spilled:	Recvrd: 0
Other spilled:	Recved:
GW Impact? N     Surface water impact? Y     Contained within berm? N
Area and vertical extent of spill: 20-FT X 800 -FT
Current land use: RANGELAND
Weather conditions:
Soil/Geology description
Distance in feet to nearest surface water:
Depth to shallowest GW:
Wetlands:	Buildings:
Livestock:	Water Wells:
Cause of spill:
EQUIPMENT FAILURE
Immediate Response:
BACKHOE PLUGGED HOLE IN BERM AND REINFORCED BERM
Emergency Pits:
NONE
How extent determined:
VISUAL
Further Remediation
REMEDIATION UNDERWAY.
Prevent Problem:
REVIEW OF ALL COMPANY POLICIES WITH EMPLOYEES.
Detailed Description:
INSPECTION BY COGCC STAFF IN RESPONSE TO SURFACE OWNERS CONCERN IDENTIFIED A BREACH IN THE PRODUCED WATER PIT ALLOWING PIT TO DISCHARGE TO DRAINAGE OF COTTONWOOD CREEK AT A RATE OF APPROX. 3 GPM. RELEASE ONGOING FOR SOME TIME SO ESTIMATES OF RELEASE ARE VERY APPROXIMATE (5,000 BBLS (?).)

 

Field Visit/Follow Up
Name	Phone	Date
No Field Visit data found.

 

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SPILL IS REMEDIATION NO 3588.

Fracking: Monterey shale exploration draws protest

July 19, 2011
LA TIMES




Environmental groups filed a formal protest this week with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management calling for a halt to the leasing of 2,600-acres in California's Fresno and Monterey counties for oil and gas shale exploration. They said future drilling would likely involve high-pressure hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” a new drilling method linked to water contamination in other parts of the country.

“It seemed to us the BLM was lowballing these areas to sale given current economic conditions,” said Matt Vespa, an attorney at the Center of Biological Diversity.

The BLM’s environmental assessment failed to “take a hard look at the environmental consequences” of fracking. The assessment used historical data from the past 20 years that is not up to date on the new process, Vespa said.

The shale is near the San Antonio reservoir watershed and the area is home to threatened wildlife, the San Joaquin kit fox and blunt-nosed leopard lizard.

Besides the Center for Biological Diversity, the formal protest was signed by the Sierra Club and Los Padres ForestWatch. The coalition is requesting a thorough review of potential effects of fracking and proposed alternatives. It is asking the BLM to cancel the sale scheduled for September, when interested oil companies can bid on the land.

David Christy, spokesman for the BLM, said the department is reviewing the formal protest and has no immediate comment.

Tupper Hull, spokesperson for the Western States Petroleum Assn., said people are misinformed about fracking in California. "Hydrualic fracking in California is quite different from other practices," Hull said, pointing out that companies drill for gas in the Marcellus shale, on the East Coast, whereas West Coast operations drill for crude oil.

"Natural gas generated in the Marcellus shale region involves large operations," Hull said. "In California they're smaller, single operations, they don't involve enormous amounts of water, they're not ongoing, and often times the wells are only used once." [Clarification July 21 10:44 a.m. : Hull was not referring to individual wells but to the hydraulic fracturing operation, which only occurs once.]

Environmental groups say fracking, which involves injecting rock formations with high-pressure water, sand and chemicals to release tightly-packed hydrocarbons, can result in the leaking of toxic fluids and methane into groundwater, as well as above-ground wastewater spills. The airborne release of methane, a greenhouse gas 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide, is a major concern with fracking.

 

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-- Ashlie Rodriguez
Photos:A natural gas well in Wyoming, where Halliburton has used hydraulic fracturing to extract natural gas. Credit: Anacleto Rapping/Los Angeles Times.