Frack sand mining doesn't just suck, it blows

DAILY KOZ
Wed Jun 22, 2011 at 04:41 PM PDT

Frack sand mining sucks!

This facility will use 3,700 gallons of water per minute, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, year round and we do not know the longevity of the mine other than the “permanent” box was checked on the permit application.

To put that water use into perspective: according to the US Geological Survey, the average person uses 80 to 100 gallons of water per day. So EOG will use more water in one minute than you use in a month. They will use 1,944,720.000 gallons of water a year, which is enough water for 53,280 people for a year.

EOG has already drilled 10 water wells, 7 of which were dry and the shallowest was 600'. That means they are drilling into the Trinity Aquifer. They plan to drill 40 water wells to meet their water needs. In order to avoid regulation by the Upper Trinity Groundwater Conservation District, EOG moved the facility across the Montague County line to the Cooke County side. The Cooke GCD will be in place on January 1st so EOG is hustling to get their water wells completed before that date.
An unspecified amount of water will be recycled but it's important to note this recycled water will not be returned to the aquifer.

Mountain Creek runs right by the facility (see photos) and only a short distance away, flows into the Red River. At that point, is a major spawning area for striped bass.
Frack sand mining blows!

The TCEQ air permit from starts with the sand mine processing and does not take the impacts from mining into consideration. It starts when the sand is wet so we do not have any idea about the air impacts from mining the sand and processing it before it is wet.

Impacts on the permit include:

NOx 26.3 tpy
Carbon Monoxide 13.7 tpy
VOCs .876 tpy
Sulfur Dioxide 2.32 tpy
Particulate Matter (PM) (total) 34.7 tpy
PM (10 microns) 29.9 tpy
PM (2.5 microns) 27.9 tpy

It blows so hard in Montague
County that Denton gets 40% of their energy from the wind farm there. The silica sand can blow and create impacts 20 miles away. Breathing silica sand is a health hazard. According to Halliburton’s MSDS sheet, breathing silica sand can cause lung cancer.

Oil and gas extraction and particularly EOG has been hard on Montague County. Last year the industry used almost 91% of the water used in Montague County. EOG’s practice of burying reserve/waste pits in Montague County has already tainted water.
For more information, see the following: HERE

WTFrack.org

EPA selects Colorado, North Dakota sites as case study locations for national hydraulic fracturing study

Cathy Milbourn

Milbourn.cathy@epa.gov

202-420-8648

 

Las Animas County, Colo. and Dunn and Kildeer Counties, N.D., among seven locations that will inform assessment of potential impacts of gas extraction practice on drinking water resources

(Denver, Colo. --June 23, 2011) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today, in keeping with the Administration’s focus on ensuring that domestic resources are leveraged safely and responsibly, announced the next steps in its congressionally mandated hydraulic fracturing study. EPA has identified seven case studies to help inform the assessment of potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources. The sites identified were selected following extensive input from stakeholders, including the public, local and state officials, industry, and environmental organizations. To ensure the agency maintains the current timeline for the study, the EPA will begin field work in some of the selected regions this summer.

Natural gas plays a key role in the nation’s energy future. EPA is working closely with other federal partners to ensure that this important resource can be developed safely.

“This is an important part of a process that will use the best science to help us better understand the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water,” said Paul Anastas, Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Research and Development. “We’ve met with community members, state experts and industry and environmental leaders to choose these case studies. This is about using the best possible science to do what the American people expect the EPA to do -- ensure that the health of their communities and families are protected.”

The studies, which will take place in regions across the country, will be broken into two study groups. Two of the seven sites were selected as prospective case studies where EPA will monitor key aspects of the hydraulic fracturing process throughout the lifecycle of a well.

These areas are located in:
Haynesville Shale - DeSoto Parish, La.
Marcellus Shale - Washington County, Pa.

Five retrospective case studies were selected and will examine areas where hydraulic fracturing has occurred for any impact on drinking water resources. These are located in:

Bakken Shale - Kildeer, and Dunn Counties, N.D.
Barnett Shale - Wise and Denton Counties, Texas
Marcellus Shale - Bradford and Susquehanna Counties, Pa.
Marcellus Shale - Washington County, Pa.
Raton Basin - Las Animas County, Colo.

The information gathered from these case studies will be part of an approach which includes literature review, collection of data and information from states, industry and communities, laboratory work and computer modeling. The combination of these materials will allow us to do a more comprehensive assessment of the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources. The study will continue to use the best available science, independent sources of information, and will be conducted using a transparent, peer-reviewed process, to better understand any impacts associated with hydraulic fracturing.

EPA invited stakeholders from across the country to participate in the identification of potential case studies through informational public meetings and the submission of electronic or written comments. Following thousands of comments, over 40 case studies were nominated for inclusion in the study. The case studies were identified, prioritized and selected based on a rigorous set of criteria. These criteria included proximity of population and drinking water supplies to activities, concerns about impaired water quality (retrospective only) and health and environmental impacts (retrospective only), and knowledge gaps that could be filled by the case study. Sites were prioritized based on geographic and geologic diversity, population at risk, site status (planned, active or completed), unique geological or hydrology features, characteristics of water resources, and land use.

The draft study plan and additional information: http://www.epa.gov/hydraulicfracturing

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"Finishing" a gas well in Dimock, PA

This is the process of "finshing" a gas well in Dimock, PA as seen with the FLIR GasFindIR Optical Gas Imaging camera. According to the worker there, the valves on the wells are opened up to release pressure before the flaring process. Raw gas, as well as vaporized flack fluid and anything else down in the hole, blows out unregulated.. The odor was still in the air 1.5 miles away at the Dimock Post Office. The first 2 minutes of the footage was shot down the road from the source and driving up the road to the source, the well pad. The last of the footage shows the flaring pipes, one starts to release the gasses (and ???) but is not yet lit. Youtube: blackbart0930

A Fracking Protest

More people need to realize the negative impact to one's health and the environment that can result from hydraulic fracturing, especially those who live beyond the Marcellus Shale region (the area of the Northeastern U.S. that contains perhaps the richest natural gas deposit and is currently being heavily developed). 'postcardsfaraway'

This Week in Natural Gas Leaks and Explosions – June 13, 2011

Jun 14th, 2011 | By admin | Category: Lead Articles, Natural Gas Explosions, Natural Gas Leaks

Graphic courtesy of Town of Richmond, Virginia.

Regular readers of naturalgaswatch.org know that natural gas leaks caused by contractors normally are not featured in the “This Week in Natural Gas Leaks and Explosions,” because they happen with such disturbing regularity that if every instance were noted there would be no room for anything else. Every once in a while, though, an incident of this nature occurs that is most definitely TWINGLE-worthy, and such is the case this week.

In Duluth, Minnesota, a contractor severed a natural gas line that forced the evacuation of hundreds of people from downtown Duluth for several hours on the afternoon of Thursday, June 9.
According to a story in the Duluth News Tribune, Duluth Assistant Fire Chief Erik Simonson said he was concerned by the manner in which the gas worked its way into the basements and ventilation systems of area buildings.

From the Duluth News Tribune:

“After city water and gas employees came and shut gas off, we had to go through each building and ventilate it and check to make sure gas wasn’t hiding in certain areas,” Simonson said. “Once inside a closed building, the mix of gas and air can become explosive if flame is introduced.”

An explosion leveled a house in Billings, Montana, on the morning of Wednesday, June 8. According to a story in the Montana Standard, a utility company spokesperson initially stated that the explosion was caused by a falling rock that struck the gas meter, but that statement was retracted later in the afternoon. The newspaper account notes that:

“lawns and driveways were littered with twisted pieces of metal, wedges of broken glass and chunks of wood and plastic. There was at least one downed powerline, mangled trees and smoldering debris. Houses all around the neighborhood had doors and windows blown out.”

Billings Mayor Tom Hanel later confirmed to KTVQ-TV that the blast was indeed caused by natural gas.

In Detroit, Michigan, a man was thrown through his front window when his house blew up on Friday, June 10. Authorities said preliminary reports indicate that the natural gas was the cause of the blast. Check out the video here.

A natural gas leak forced the closure of a downtown street to traffic for several hours on the evening of Thursday, June 9, while crews worked to repair the breach, according to a story aired by WRDW-TV.

In Noblesville, Indiana, the a gas leak sent organizers scrambling to relocate the Noblesville Strawberry Festival after a natural gas leak was discovered on the site that had been chosen for the event on Monday, June 6. The leak’s discovery also precipitated the evacuation of approximately 600 people, according to a story in the Indianapolis Star.

From the Star story:

The leak was found when a tent stake was removed Monday from the lawn at Eighth and Logan streets in downtown Noblesville. The stake is believed to have been driven into the gas line when the tent was installed last week. It had been acting as a plug for the gas line until the stake was removed. The tent was used for Noblesville Lions Club’s annual pork chop dinner and pancake breakfast last weekend.

In the town of Horseheads, New York, neighbors have been complaining of the smell of natural gas for days, worrying whether their neighborhood could turn into an inferno at any moment. NYSEG crews did confirm that a small leak was found, according to a story aired on WENY-TV, but assured residents that they had nothing to worry about. The residents remain unconvinced.
From the WENY-TV story:

“The smell has been driving the neighbors crazy. Of course everybody’s worried about it because of all of the older pipes and everything that’s been happening in Horseheads with all the accidents,” said Margaret Mitchell, another Steuben St. neighbor. Carol and Margaret called NYSEG right away, fearing they could have a natural gas leak on their street. NYSEG confirms they did find a small leak on the natural gas main in the street, but say no one is in danger, despite the strange smell. But all the neighbors aren’t convinced. “I worry about it, I especially worry about the neighbors. But what are you going to do, NYSEG is NYSEG, they’re going to do what they’re going to do,” said Mitchell.

The discovery of a natural gas leak in Frisco, Texas, forced the partial closure of a community park last week, according to a story in the Summit Daily News. Workers from XCEL Energy discovered the leak when they were pressure-testing the pipeline.

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