Do you believe 'fracking' pollutes well water? [ONE DAY LEFT TO VOTE] CUT THE BS

By You Decide
April 11, 2012
FoxNews.com

Opponents of hydraulic fracturing - a process known simply as "fracking" that uses pressurized water and chemicals to extract natural gas from the ground – say it risks polluting well water, though others note there have been no known cases of well water contamination to be traced to fracking.

Fox News would like to know your opinion. Results of this unscientific, online survey will be included in a Fox News Channel report on Wednesday.

Share your thoughts. Answer our question, and then leave a comment.

Do you believe 'fracking' pollutes well water?

YesNoNot sureOther (leave a comment)

CLICK HERE TO OFFICIALLY VOTE

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Of course this is FOXNEWS ( 'joke central', for spewing BS propaganda across the globe catering to those who cannot think for themselves)

Might we remind you that in Colorado alone statistics show that 43% of oil and gas development and operation spills that use hydraulic fracturing cause ground water contamination.

Below are previous reports that we published some time ago indicating the # of groundwater contamination from O&G that uses fracking.

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Feb 27th, 2012

Hello Media,

Please be advised that 2 northern Colorado conservation groups have sent the attached letter to the Colorado Oil and Gas Association requesting that this radio ad be removed from the airwaves because it contains information that is not correct. We offer an analysis of Weld County Spill/Release Reports to support our request.

Here's the radio ad: http://www.coga.org/audio/Gov_Hickenlooper_HF_Rule_30sec.mp3

(The letter is also posted here: http://water.clean.home.comcast.net/~water.clean/SC-CWA-to-COGA-2-27-2012.pdf)

In addition, Clean Water Action signed on to the letter to Governor Hickenlooper and the press release attached.

Thank you,

Gary Wockner, Clean Water Action
Shane Davis, Sierra Club

pdf of data
http://water.clean.home.comcast.net/~water.clean/SC-CWA-to-COGA-2-27-2012.pdf

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For Immediate Release
February 29, 2012
Sierra Club Poudre Canyon Group and Clean Water Action
Contacts: Shane Davis, 509-570-4422; Gary Wockner, 970-218-8310

Colorado Oil and Gas Association Statement Not Correct, Again
Contamination of Laramie-Fox Hills Aquifer and Residential Water Well Occurred in 2009

Fort Collins, CO -- In the February 28, 2012 online version of the Denver Post, the President of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association is quoted as making this statement:

Colorado's rules include provisions addressing "cementing and casing of wells," Schuller said. And since 2009 "there has not been a drilling or hydraulic-fracturing incident that has affected groundwater, and there have been no incidents which have affected a family's or community's drinking water," she said. http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_20058409

This statement is not correct.

One such "incident" occurred on August 11, 2009 in which toulene and dissolved methane were found in a residential water well in Weld County that included contamination of the Fox-Hills Aquifer. The homeowner filed a complaint ("gas bubbles were present in his water"). The COGCC tested the water and found the contaminants. The COGCC required a nearby gas well to be tested and concluded there was a hole in the casing. The gas well was then shut down. The operator (Eddy Oil) was fined $46,200 and required to remediate the property owner's impacts. The extent of the contamination to the Laramie-Fox Hills aquifer is unclear at this time as is any effort to decontaminate the aquifer.

Here is the "NOAV" Report for the incident: http://cogcc.state.co.us/cogis/NOAVReport.asp?doc_num=200222149
Here is the Spill/Release Report ("Form 19, 6/99"): http://water.clean.home.comcast.net/~water.clean/Form-19-Final-at-02-19-10-EDDY-OIL-CO.pdf
Here is the "Administrative Order By Consent 1V-349" in which it states (http://water.clean.home.comcast.net/~water.clean/Administrative-Order-By-Consent-1V-349.doc):

16. Based on the above facts, COGCC Staff contend that a hole in the production casing in the Well resulted in a significant waste of oil and gas resources and a significant adverse impact on public health, safety or welfare or the environment as it pertains to Rule 324A.a. COGCC Staff further contend that Eddy Oil’s failure to maintain a casing program to prevent the migration of produced gas from Codell Formation in the Well to the Laramie-Fox Hills Aquifer resulted in the degradation and contamination of ground water. (page 3)

"COGA's statement in the Denver Post is not correct," said Shane Davis of the Sierra Club, Poudre Canyon Group. "Groundwater and aquifer contamination have occurred in a residential water well since 2009."

Further, the Sierra Club and Clean Water Action point out that "since 2009," Spill/Release Reports sent to the COGCC by drilling operators in Weld County show that 46.3% of the 452 spills/releases contaminated groundwater and 2.2% of 452 spills/releases contaminated surface water. (Table here: http://water.clean.home.comcast.net/~water.clean/SC-CWA-to-COGA-Since-2009-2-29-2012.pdf)

"Groundwater and surface water are being contaminated by oil and gas production activities," said Gary Wockner of Clean Water Action.

The Sierra Club, Poudre Canyon Group and Clean Water Action continue to analyze the data from Weld County, Colorado.

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Will Fracking Destroy Colorado's Rivers?

Clean Water Action
By Gary Wockner

Oil and gas drilling and fracking pose extraordinary threats to Colorado's Denver metro and Front Range cities including to air quality, water quality in streams and groundwater, wildlife habitat, private property rights, and landscape health. These impacts are generally similar wherever drilling and fracking occurs across the U.S.

But what makes drilling and fracking unique in Colorado -- and especially across Colorado's Front Range from Fort Collins to Pueblo -- is its threat to Colorado's rivers.

Why? Drilling and fracking use a lot of water, and water is already in short supply along the Front Range. In fact, many fast-growing Colorado cities predict they will have a shortage of water in the next decade and are already proposing new water supply projects that will further drain Colorado's already severely degraded rivers. And, the very same cities that are proposing new water projects are also selling increasing amounts of water for fracking.

First, the Windy Gap Firming Project proposes to drain up to an additional 30,000 acre feet(nearly 10 billion gallons) of water out of the severely degraded Upper Colorado River every year and pipe and pump that water to northern Front Range Colorado cities including Loveland, Longmont, and Greeley. At the very same time, those same three cities have recently started selling water for fracking, and Greeley has started selling large quantities for fracking -- over 1,500acre feet (500 million gallons) in 2011 and climbing. The Upper Colorado already has 60 percent of its water drained out and has severe problems with water quality and water temperature such that fish and aquatic insects are on the brink of survival.

(Click here to view a satellite image of 142 water tankers surrounding a frack site south of Greeley, Colorado)

Continue reading...

Save the Colorado River - Please Sign Petition

Hi Friends of the Colorado River!

Yesterday, Nicholas Kristof, a renowned columnist for the New York Times, wrote a piece about how the online petition organization, Change.org, is changing the world. Take a read of Kristof's editorial by clicking here. Elected officials, companies, and governments at all levels are increasingly paying attention to Change.org's petitions because, as Kristof says, "the Web can turn the world upside down."
We at the Save the Colorado River campaign have been delighted to work with Change.org on two petitions. The first was a successful effort to address the threat of the proposed Flaming Gorge Pipeline. The second -- our current petition -- is working with 25 regional, national, and international environmental organizations to restore water to the Colorado River Delta where it no longer reaches the Gulf of California.

You can read and sign our current petition by clicking HERE:

With Change.org, we are working to protect and restore the Colorado River from the Source To The Sea.

Thank you for your support of the Colorado River!

Gary

-- 
Gary Wockner, PhD
Campaign Coordinator
Save the Colorado
http://savethecolorado.org
http://www.facebook.com/savethecolorado
https://twitter.com/savethecolorado

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly in Colorado's New Fracking Rules

Huffington Post
Gary Wockner
Jan 2, 2012 4:05

First, the good: A few weeks ago, the State of Colorado passed the strongest rules in the United States for publicly disclosing what cancer-causing and other types chemicals are used in oil and gas fracking. In a ground-breaking and intense set of negotiations between oil and gas companies and environmentalists, frackers are now forced to publicly disclose when they are fracking and what chemicals they use in fracking.  

This disclosure gets at two very serious concerns posed by fracking: 1) when fracking pollution occurs in groundwater, in streams, or on land, the public should be able to connect that pollution back to the fracking chemicals that caused it, and 2) it will allow landowners to test their wells and groundwater prior to fracking, and then re-test after fracking to check for fracking pollution.

Importantly, the new rules substantively removed the "trade secret loophole" that was proposed in the original version of the rules that would have allowed frackers to not disclose the names of the chemicals in fracking fluids by saying those chemicals were "trade secrets." Led by attorneys from Earthjustice in Denver, the environmental community held its ground against this ridiculous exemption.

Thank you, industry leaders, Governor Hickenlooper, and environmentalists for passing these new rules. 

Now for the bad: These new rules...

Continue reading...

Clean Water Action Asks COGCC to Protect Coloradoans From Fracking

For Immediate Release
November 30, 2011
Clean Water Action (http://cleanwater.org)
Contact: Gary Wockner, 970-218-8310

CLEAN WATER ACTION ASKS COGCC TO PROTECT COLORADANS FROM FRACKING

Fort Collins, CO – Yesterday, northernColorado based Clean Water Action sent a letter to the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) through COGCC’s online comment tool asking for better protections against oil and gas fracking in Colorado. The letter contains three asks:

1. Closing the "trade secret loophole".
2. Disclosing the amount and source of water used for drilling and fracking.
3. Placing "markers" in fracking fluids so that polluters can be held accountable.

The letter is here: http://tinyurl.com/75s46l9

"Fracking is racing across northern Colorado – the entire region is being used as a huge guinea pig," said Gary Wockner, Program Director of Clean Water Action. "At a minimum, we need to close the trade secret loophole, find out how much water is being used in fracking, and mark fracking fluids so that polluters can be held accountable."

On Dec. 5, 2011, COGCC is holding a meeting to discuss new rules for fracking in Colorado. The meeting comes as drilling and fracking is moving into suburban neighborhoods across the Front Range, and as two oil companies – Anadarkoand Noble– just announced major new oil finds in the Niobrara Shale formations in northern Colorado. Weld County already has more active oil and gas wells – about 18,000 – than any other county in the U.S. Anadarko and Noble suggest they may drill a few thousand more wells over the next several years in northern Colorado.

Clean Water Action’s first request is to close the “trade secret loophole.” Earlier in 2011, Governor Hickenlooper announced that he wanted public disclosure of fracking fluids, but when the rules were proposed they contained a“trade secret loophole” where companies could avoid public disclosure.

“If we don’t close the trade secret loophole, this rule is meaningless,” said Wockner. “Governor Hickenlooper needs to see this promise through and make sure COGCC closes the loophole.”

Second, Clean Water Action wants drilling and fracking companies to disclose the amount of water they are using and the source of that water. In the last few months, considerable media attention has focused on drilling and fracking as a major user of water potentially adding more stress to Colorado’s water supply problems. Estimates range from a few hundred thousand to a few million acre feet of water will be needed for drilling and fracking over the next few decades.

“Nobody seems to know how much water drilling and fracking uses,” said Wockner. “Let’s go right to the source and have the drillers and frackers report their water use so that Colorado knows how much additional stress this will place on our rivers and farms which are already being drained and dried up.”

Finally, Clean Water Action asked that “markers” be placed in fracking fluids so that pollution can be traced to the source. 

“When pollution occurs, we need to hold polluters accountable,” said Wockner. “Putting chemical markers in fracking fluids will let the public and regulators know who caused the pollution and who needs to pay to clean it up.”

The public can comment through COGCC’s website here: http://cogcc.state.co.us/

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Please click HERE to post your comments/concerns.

Your voice is needed.

Below are the current listed comments. You can click on the blue link to read what each person has stated.

COGCC Rulemaking 2011 Comments

Submitted by (group or person)	Date Received
Tracy Dahl	11/04/2011
Philip F. Incao, MD	11/07/2011
David Hayes	11/07/2011
David Hayes	11/08/2011
South Park Coalition	11/15/2011
Mary J. Talbott	11/15/2011
Noalani Terry	11/15/2011
Kerry Willson	11/17/2011
Michael Roach	11/18/2011
Cynthia Ziegler	11/18/2011
Todd Sheets	11/21/2011
Catherine Deuter	11/21/2011
Gusti Boiani	11/21/2011
Beth Barta	11/21/2011
Sue Navy	11/21/2011
Richard White	11/21/2011
Kim Sweitzer	11/21/2011
Holly Powell	11/21/2011
Charlie Hood	11/21/2011
Frank Coleman	11/22/2011
Bob Arrington	11/23/2011
Paul Potyen	11/23/2011
Russell Evans	11/23/2011
Alice Gustafson	11/23/2011
Lisa Bracken	11/25/2011
Kathleen Foos	11/25/2011
Mark Begay	11/25/2011
Anne Bliss	11/25/2011
Barbara Bernhardt	11/25/2011
Ralph D'Alessandro	11/25/2011
Karen Michaelis	11/25/2011
David Cale	11/25/2011
Claudette Konola	11/25/2011
JoAnn Moon	11/25/2011
Tom Phillips	11/25/2011
Peter Pierson	11/25/2011
Jon Schulz	11/25/2011
Deborah Stucklen	11/25/2011
Jeanette & Mark Sullivant	11/25/2011
Rein & JanVan West	11/25/2011
Joan Woodward	11/25/2011
Rick Blotter	11/28/2011

Save The Poudre Requests Analysis Of NISP Water Used For Oil And Gas Drilling And Fracking

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 26, 2011
Contact: Gary Wockner, Save the Poudre: Poudre Waterkeeper, 970-218-8310http://SaveThePoudre.org

Save The Poudre Requests Analysis Of NISP Water Used For Oil And Gas Drilling And Fracking

Fort Collins, CO -- Today Save the Poudre sent a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers requesting that the Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) for the Northern Integrated Supply Project (NISP) contain an analysis of how NISP water would be used for oil and gas drilling and fracking. Records requested by Save the Poudre have revealed that some NISP communities are already selling water for drilling and fracking. Due to the extensive oil and gas boom in Weld County, it is very likely that NISP water would be used for drilling and fracking if NISP were ever built.

The letter is here:

 "Some NISP towns are selling water for drilling and fracking," said Gary Wockner of Save the Poudre. "The Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement for NISP must analyze the potential use of NISP water for drilling and fracking including the extent of that use, the impacts to water rights and stream flows, and the impacts to the environment."

Records reveal that millions of gallons of water have been sold for drilling and fracking by NISP towns. Nine of the fifteen NISP participants are in Weld County where nearly 18,000 active oil and gas wells are producing. Industry experts predict that up to 10,000 more wells will be drilled in the Weld County over the next decade.

NISP is now at least 6 years late and at least $150 million over budget. In early 2011, the SDEIS was delayed for the third time with the Army Corps of Engineers saying the SDEIS will be released sometime in 2012.


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