Natural Gas
Fracking, also known as hydraulic fracturing or industrial gas drilling, is a process
used in 90% of oil and gas wells
which
injects tens of millions of gallons of water, chemically treated sand, and toxic chemicals, which have
not been fully tested or disclosed to the public, deep into the ground at extremely high pressures to break apart dense shale rock,
releasing the hydrocarbons, such as gas and oil, contained inside. This mixture,
known as "frack fluid," creates "fractures" in the shale which allows the gas to seep out. From well site preparation, to drilling and production, to the disposal of wastes, this dangerous, unconventional method of obtaining oil and gas is a shortsighted energy strategy that is
contaminating drinking water and soils with toxic chemicals, polluting the air, jeopardizing our health, devastating landscapes,
causing earthquakes
and contributing to climate change and extreme weather.
According to Food and Water Watch, "Fracking is inherently unsafe and we cannot rely on regulation to protect communities’ water, air and public health. The industry enjoys exemptions from key federal legislation protecting our air and water, thanks to aggressive lobbying and cozy relationships with our federal decisionmakers (the exemption from the Safe Drinking Water Act is often referred to as the Cheney or Halliburton Loophole, because it was negotiated by then-Vice President Dick Cheney with Congress in 2005.) Plus, the industry is aggressively clamping down on local and state efforts to regulate fracking by buying influence and even bringing lawsuits to stop them from being implemented. That’s why fracking can’t be made safer through government oversight or regulations. An all out ban on fracking is the only way to protect our communities." When the
fracking industry isn't busy paying off scientists for "unbiased" safety studies
(see also), they are facing countless coalitions of concerned citizens and organizations around the world - even
beer brewers
- and with good reason.
Learn more.
According to
a 300-page report prepared by the EU's environment directorate, fracking poses a ‘high risk’ to human health and the environment that is worse than that posed by other fossil fuels because of the combined effect of potential contamination of ground water, depletion of ground and surface water, biodiversity loss, degradation of land and air quality, and potential earthquakes.
(View EurActiv Report)
'You Cant Drink Money'
"Natural gas producers have been running roughshod over communities across the country with their extraction and production activities for too long, resulting in contaminated water supplies, dangerous air pollution, destroyed streams, and devastated landscapes. Weak safeguards and inadequate oversight fail to protect our communities from harm by the rapid expansion of fossil fuel production using hydraulic fracturing or "fracking." Americans shouldn't have to accept unsafe drinking water just because natural gas burns more cleanly than coal. Many companies don't play by the rules that do exist and the industry has used its political power to escape accountability for its actions, leaving the American people unprotected." ~ Natural Resources Defense Council
Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing, i.e. Fracking
Discover why
more than 100 leading medical and scientific experts
are urging the White House to halt the rush to expand shale gas fracking, stating that, "A rapid increase in fracking in the United States without credible science could potentially cause undue harm to many Americans."
Climate Change
Natural gas is certainly not a carbon-neutral or even low-carbon energy source, but it surely is better than
burning coal
and has helped the U.S. lower it's carbon emissions, but
according to Robin Mann, the Sierra Club President, "The emergence of natural gas as a significant part of our energy mix is particularly frightening because it dangerously postpones investment in clean energy at a time when we should be doubling down on wind, solar and energy efficiency.” A
study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in the U.S.
(see also)
shows that methane leakage, a very potent greenhouse gas, greatly undercuts or eliminates entirely the climate benefit of switching to natural gas and a report by the EPA states that
fracking emissions are 1000s of times higher than reported. Moreover, a
study by Tom Wigley, who is a senior research associate at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), shows that a greater reliance on natural gas would fail to significantly slow down climate change
(see also)
and according to the International Energy Agency report,
Energy Technology Perspectives 2012, natural gas would
destroy a livable climate
(see also)
and is not the answer to the
climate crisis
- existing
clean, renewable energy
is - and it could save $100 trillion by 2050
(see also). Researchers with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
have
confirmed
"alarmingly high methane emissions"
from oil and gas fields.
According to ProPublica, "Advocates for natural gas routinely assert that it produces 50 percent less greenhouse gases than coal and is a significant step toward a greener energy future. But those assumptions are based on emissions from the tailpipe or smokestack and don’t account for the methane and other pollution emitted when gas is extracted and piped to power plants and other customers."
According to the EPA, the methane levels from the hydraulic fracturing of shale gas were up to 9,000 times higher than previously reported, which makes fracking as little as 25% cleaner than coal, or perhaps even less, and that just from
leaking loose pipe fittings
and gas flaring at wells, greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 35 million automobiles are emitted annually, which is equal to 20% of all human-caused methane emissions.
Fracked wells leak 40 to 60 percent more methane, which traps 20 to 25 times more heat in the atmosphere than does carbon dioxide, into the atmosphere than conventional natural gas wells, which can be
seen in infrared videos
taken at well sites. Fracking may emit less greenhouse gases than it's fossil fuel counterparts, but may be doing more harm than good by further delaying a real transition to a clean, low carbon economy through
renewable energy
and energy efficiency.
Learn more.
DESMOGBLOG: Fracking the Future
Water Contamination and Use
In 1974, the
Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)
was passed by Congress to ensure clean drinking water free from both man-made and natural contaminants, but in 2005, thanks to
aggressive lobbying and cozy relationships with U.S. federal decision makers,
the Bush/ Cheney Energy Bill exempted natural gas drilling from the Safe Drinking Water Act and exempted companies from disclosing the chemicals used during hydraulic fracturing. On average, a well may be fracked
up to 18 times with as much as 1-8 million gallons of water being used, which must be
withdrawn from nearby wells, lakes, rivers or industrial or municipal systems, leaving insufficient water for other important uses, to frack the well each time. For each frack,
80-300 tons of chemicals, which
have not been fully tested or disclosed to the public, such as
volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene, may be used. Drinking water near fracking wells have been
contaminated with methane
(view study)
and fracking has been
fueling water fights in dry spots across the US.
According to Citizens Campaign, "Hydro-fracking activities operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week during production. Volumes of toxic, radioactive, and caustic liquid waste by-products pose storage, treatment, and disposal problems. Regular operations, as well as accidents can adversely impact the environment and public health. Especially problematic is the lack of federal protection for drinking water, air quality, water treatment infrastructure, and landowner liability."
According to ProPublica, "In July, a hydrologist dropped a plastic sampling pipe 300 feet down a water well in rural Sublette County, Wyo., and pulled up a load of brown oily water with a foul smell. Tests showed it contained benzene, a chemical believed to cause aplastic anemia and leukemia, in a concentration 1,500 times the level safe for people. More than 1,000 other cases of contamination have been documented by courts and state and local governments in Colorado, New Mexico, Alabama, Ohio and Pennsylvania. In one case, a house exploded after hydraulic fracturing created underground passageways and methane seeped into the residential water supply. In other cases, the contamination occurred not from actual drilling below ground, but on the surface, where accidental spills and leaky tanks, trucks and waste pits allowed benzene and other chemicals to leach into streams, springs and water wells. Of the 300-odd compounds that private researchers and the Bureau of Land Management suspect are being used, 65 are listed as hazardous by the federal government. Many of the rest are unstudied and unregulated, leaving a gaping hole in the nation's scientific understanding of how widespread drilling might affect water resources." Moreover, a 2012 Tom Myers study, "Potential Contaminant Pathways from Hydraulically Fractured Shale to Aquifers," concludes that natural faults and fractures in the Marcellus Shale are exacerbated by the effects of fracking and could allow chemicals to reach the surface in as little as tens to hundreds of years, which challenges the argument that impermeable layers of rock can keep fracking fluid, which contains benzene and other dangerous chemicals, safely locked nearly a mile below water supplies.
Learn more.
Click to Enlarge | Graphic courtesy of Up w/ Chris Hayes
Today,
90% of fracking wastewater in the U.S. is disposed of in injection wells, which are often the cheapest disposal option for drilling companies. However,
scientists have found
that this disposal method is very likely the main culprit for a stunning increase in earthquakes in regions that have been fracked, which has led to
human-triggered earthquakes becoming surprisingly common. As shown in the image above, between 1970 and 2001, there were just five earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or greater in the area. From 2001 to 2011, that number spiked to 95 earthquakes, an increase of 1,900%.
According to a U.S. Geological Survey research team study led by USGS geophysicist William Ellsworth, the spike in earthquakes since 2001 near oil and gas extraction operations is “almost certainly man-made," and has been "culminating in a six-fold increase over 20th century levels in 2011." Moreover,
according to the study, "M3 and larger earthquakes have significantly increased in the U.S. mid-continent since 2000, from a long-term average of 21 such earthquakes per year between 1970 and 2000, to 31 per year during 2000-2008, to 151 per year since 2008. Most of this increase in seismicity has occurred in areas of enhanced hydrocarbon production and, hence, increased disposal of production-related fluids. The majority, if not all of the earthquakes since August 2001 have been triggered by the deep injection of wastewater related to the production of natural gas from the coal-bed methane field here." According to E&E Publishing, "Scientists have known for decades that underground injection of fluid can lubricate faults and unleash earthquakes. But a series of earthquakes last year near heavy gas drilling areas in Arkansas and Ohio raised concerns to a new level." As Bloomberg states, "Researchers
from the
U.S. Geological Survey
said that for the three decades until 2000, seismic events in the nation’s midsection averaged 21 a year. They jumped to 50 in 2009, 87 in 2010 and 134 in 2011." In the BC Oil and Gas Commission "Investigation of Observed Seismicity in the Horn River Basin," they found that "Evidence strongly suggests that all [seismic] events were triggered by fluid injection [fracking] at adjacent stages." In the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, "Preliminary Report on the Northstar 1 Class II Injection Well and the Seismic Events in the Youngstown, Ohio, Area," they found "a number of co-occurring circumstances strongly indicating the Youngstown area earthquakes were induced," with
134 earthquakes in the region in 2011 measuring 3.0 or higher on the Richter scale – six times the average annual rate for any given year in the 20th century. In the Oklahoma Geological Survey Open-File Report, 2011, "Examination of Possibly Induced Seismicity from Hydraulic Fracturing in the Eola Field, Garvin County, Oklahoma," they found "that shortly after hydraulic fracturing began small earthquakes started occurring, and more than 50 were identified, of which 43 were large enough to be located. Most of these earthquakes occurred within a 24 hour period after hydraulic fracturing operations had ceased." To better understand the full scope of how it's possible for humans to induce earthquakes, the
Environmental Working Group explains
the immense increase in fracking over the past decade: "Between 1991 and 2000, oil and gas companies drilled 245,000 wells in the U.S. compared to 405,000 wells between 2001 and 2010 – a 65 percent increase. As an example of how much more fracking fluid is used, New York state’s review of oil and natural gas drilling regulations in 1988 assumed that companies would use between 20,000 and 80,000 gallons of fluid for hydraulic fracturing per well. The state’s 2011 review of regulations for natural gas drilling in shale formations assumed that companies would use 2.4 million to 7.8 million gallons of fluid per well – a 100-fold increase."
Learn more.
Human Health Hazards
Storing, transporting, and treating the massive amounts of polluted wastewater generated by fracking poses a significant risk drinking water quality, rivers, streams, and groundwater.
According to NRDC, "Federal and state regulations have not kept up with the dramatic growth in the practice and must be significantly strengthened to reduce the risks of fracking throughout the Marcellus region and elsewhere. Both types of wastewater contain potentially harmful pollutants, including salts, organic hydrocarbons (sometimes referred to simply as oil and grease), inorganic and organic additives, and naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM). These pollutants can be dangerous if they are released into the environment or if people are exposed to them. They can be toxic to humans and aquatic life, radioactive, or corrosive. They can damage ecosystem health by depleting oxygen or causing algal blooms, or they can interact with disinfectants at drinking water plants to form cancer-causing chemicals. Because of these risks, shale gas wastewater must be carefully managed. But many of the current regulatory programs are not adequate to keep people and ecosystems safe." Moreover,
blowouts at natural gas wells
raise safety concerns even more. According to the 2012 Environmental Reviews study,
Environmental pathways of potential impacts to human health from oil and gas development in northeast British Columbia, Canada,
"The region (Northeast British Columbia) has experienced increased rates of cancers and other illnesses that have been linked to the contaminants and stressors associated with UOG (upstream oil and gas). Contaminants reach human receptors through environmental pathways, namely air, soil, water, and food. Each contaminant or stressor has specific sources, transport, exposure mechanisms, and biochemistry; and each can impact health both directly and indirectly. Of particular concern are airborne sulphur and nitrogen oxides, hazardous volatile organic compounds, hydrogen sulphide, ozone, noise, and radiation; as well as soil- or water-borne hydrocarbons, heavy metals, and radiation — some of which can also impact human health through food pathways." Furthermore, a
2012 peer-reviewed study, "Natural Gas Operations from a Public Health Perspective,"
found that "The technology to recover natural gas depends on undisclosed types and amounts of toxic chemicals. A list of 944 products containing 632 chemicals used during natural gas operations was compiled. Literature searches were conducted to determine potential health effects of the 353 chemicals identified by Chemical Abstract Service (CAS) numbers. More than 75% of the chemicals could affect the skin, eyes, and other sensory organs, and the respiratory and gastrointestinal systems. Approximately 40-50% could affect the brain/nervous system, immune and cardiovascular systems, and the kidneys; 37% could affect the endocrine system; and 25% could cause cancer and mutations. These results indicate that many chemicals used during the fracturing and drilling stages of gas operations may have long-term health effects that are not immediately expressed." According to the 2012 New Solutions study, "The Impacts of Gas Drilling on Human and Animal Health," the researchers found that "Environmental concerns surrounding drilling for gas are intense due to expansion of shale gas drilling operations. Controversy surrounding the impact of drilling on air and water quality has pitted industry and lease- holders against individuals and groups concerned with environmental protection and public health. Because animals often are exposed continually to air, soil, and groundwater and have more frequent reproductive cycles, animals can be used as sentinels to monitor impacts to human health. This study involved interviews with animal owners who live near gas drilling operations. The findings illustrate which aspects of the drilling process may lead to health problems and suggest modifications that would lessen but not eliminate impacts. Complete evidence regarding health impacts of gas drilling cannot be obtained due to incomplete testing and disclosure of chemicals, and nondisclosure agreements. Without rigorous scientific studies, the gas drilling boom sweeping the world will remain an uncontrolled health experiment on an enormous scale." Moreover, the 'Flowback Fluid',
which constitutes 9-35% of the fluids injected during drilling, is the
contaminated fluid that returns to the surface during the drilling process, containing harmful chemicals that is typically stored in open lagoons. Along with 'Flowback Fluid', 'Production Brine', which can be
five times saltier than seawater, also flows to the surface during gas production
adversely impacting water treatment plants and freshwater ecosystems.
According to Citizens Campaign, "The radioactivity of production brine waste from traditional vertical wells drilled into Marcellus Shale was found to be 267 times the recommended EPA levels under the Safe Drinking Water Act."
Discover
Significant Chemical and Biological Hazards to Human Health and Ecosystem Stability due to Fracking
Habitat Destruction
The cumulative impact of thousands of drilling locations in a region being developed for shale gas add up and have been
linked to wildlife habitat loss. The drilling pads for each individual drilling operation
requires an average of 8.8 acres for the construction of roads, storage facilities, pipelines, waste pits and other facilities. This leads to the
clearing of thousands of acres of forest, which fragments habitats and threatens wildlife species which depend on the forest ecosystem by driving them out and inviting invasive species in. Moreover, the discharges of fracking fluids that accompany drilling operations can be
deadly to plants and trees, which further degrades the ecosystem and wildlife, and is
causing livestock to fall ill in fracking regions, raising concerns about food.
According to NWF, "An experiment was conducted by a soil scientist with the U.S. Forest Service in which 75,000 gallons of fracking fluids were applied to the ground in a forested area one-quarter acre in size; this resulted in the death of much of the area’s plants. According to the abstract for this study, “During application, severe damage and mortality of ground vegetation was observed, followed about 10 [days] later by premature leaf drop by the overstory trees. Two years after fluid application, 56% of the trees within the fluid application area were dead. In Western Wyoming, researchers have documented a 60% drop in mule deer populations in areas impacted by gas drilling operations. In the report “Pennsylvania Energy Impacts Assessment,” The Nature Conservancy of Pennsylvania projected that 60,000 natural gas wells will be drilled over the coming two decades in the Marcellus Shale area of Pennsylvania, in addition to the more than 3,000 drilled already. The organization projected that this would result in the clearing of 33,800 acres of forest, and that “Indirect impacts to adjacent forest interior habitats would total an additional 81,500 acres."
Learn more.
According to the 2011 New York Department of Environmental Conservation's 900-page Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) , “In addition to loss of habitat, other potential direct impacts on wildlife from drilling in the Marcellus Shale include increased mortality . . . altered microclimates, and increased traffic, noise, lighting, and well flares. (The impact) may include a loss of genetic diversity, species isolation, population declines . . . increased predation, and an increase of invasive species. (Because of fracking, there is) little to no place in the study areas where wildlife would not be impacted, [leading to] serious cascading ecological consequences.” These impacts affect the quality of milk and meat production as animals drink and graze near areas that have been taken over by the natural gas industry . Learn more.
Air Pollution
Compared to it's fossil fuel counterparts, the use of natural gas, which is
composed mainly of methane, along with butane, ethane and propane, emits less hydrocarbon impurities that can cause air pollution
and in turn, improve air quality if it replaces the use of other fossil fuels which are more polluting. However, the activities surrounding a drilling site, such as the
diesel exhaust from generators or the 200 or so diesel-fueled trucks every day bringing water to the site and removing waste water and the leaking of contaminated water, can come into contact with Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)
which
evaporate at the well site and cause ground-level ozone, whose plumes can travel up to 250 miles
(see also).
According to NWF, "Focusing on the air quality impacts of natural gas combustion does not tell the whole story, however. The extraction of unconventional natural gas can also create short- and long- term air quality problems that can impact the health of people and wildlife. Drilling rigs and gas compressor stations may involve the use of machinery, often powered by diesel generators, producing exhaust resulting in noxious odors and air pollution, including emissions of volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides, which contribute to regional ozone and smog levels." According to
a 2012 exploratory study of air quality near natural gas operations: "Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: An International Journal,"
more than 50 non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) were found near gas wells in rural Colorado, including 35 that affect the brain and nervous system, including some that were detected at levels high enough to potentially harm children who are exposed to them before birth.
According to the study, "Methylene chloride, a toxic solvent not reported in products used in drilling or hydraulic fracturing, was detected 73% of the time; several times in high concentrations. A literature search of the health effects of the NMHCs revealed that many had multiple health effects, including 30 that affect the endocrine system, which is susceptible to chemical impacts at very low concentrations. Selected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were at concentrations greater than those at which prenatally exposed children in urban studies had lower developmental and IQ scores. The human and environmental health impacts of the NMHCs, which are ozone precursors, should be examined further given that the natural gas industry is now operating in close proximity to human residences and public lands." The expansion of fracking is expected to increase ozone and smog levels in areas of the country that are normally not impacted heavily by air pollution, such as in the rural area of Wyoming’s Upper Green River Basin, which experienced ozone pollution levels in March 2011 that were higher than levels of this pollutant that had been recorded in the dense urban area of Los Angeles at any time during the previous year. This air pollution can exacerbate asthma and other respiratory ailments, and can also be expected to impact wildlife. According to the 2012 study,
"Human Health Risk Assessment of Air Emissions from Development of Unconventional Natural Gas Resources,"
the approximated health risks for exposures to air emissions from a gas drilling project in Garfield County, Colorado found that air pollution caused by fracking may contribute to acute and chronic health problems for those living near natural gas drilling sites.
The study
found a number of potentially toxic and carcinogenic petroleum hydrocarbons in the air near oil and gas wells, including known carcinogens such as benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene and xylene, and other chemicals including heptane, octane and diethylbenzene.
Learn more.
"Fracking is inherently unsafe and we cannot rely on regulation to protect communities’ water, air and public health. The process of fracking introduces additional industrial activity into communities beyond the well. Clearing land to build new access roads and new well sites, drilling and encasing the well, fracking the well and generating the waste, trucking in heavy equipment and materials and trucking out the vast amounts of toxic waste — all of these steps contribute to air and water pollution risks and devaluation of land that is turning our communities into sacrifice zones. Fracking threatens the air we breathe, the water we drink, the communities we love and the climate on which we all depend. That’s why over 250 communities in the U.S. have passed resolutions to stop fracking, and why Vermont, France and Bulgaria have stopped it." ~ Food and Water Watch
An investigation
by New York Times reporter Ian Urbina, based upon thousands of unreported EPA documents and a confidential study by the natural gas industry, concluded, “Radioactivity in drilling waste cannot be fully diluted in rivers and other waterways.” Urbina learned that wastewater from fracking operations was about 100 times more toxic than federal drinking water standards; 15 wells had readings about 1,000 times higher than standards.
"While many potential impacts remain unknown, there have been documented cases of pollution and impacts on habitats that raise serious concerns. Fracking chemicals and methane have contaminated underground water resources. The clearing of forests for the construction of drilling pads and access roads has fragmented habitats and led to silt runoff. Drilling accidents have led to pollution of streams and other water bodies. Fracking fluids have been shown to be harmful or deadly for plants and animals. Exhaust from drilling-related machinery has worsened air pollution. Methane leakages have contributed to increased emissions of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which scientists link to climate change and ocean acidification." ~ National Wildlife Federation
"Generally 1-8 million gallons of water may be used to frack a well. A well may be fracked up to 18 times. For each frack, 80-300 tons of chemicals may be used. Presently, the natural gas industry does not have to disclose the chemicals used, but scientists have identified volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene. The gas comes up wet in produced water and has to be separated from the wastewater on the surface. Only 30-50% of the water is typically recovered from a well. This wastewater can be highly toxic." ~ Gasland
