Since its inception in December of 1970, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency has waged war on careless practices in industry
and energy to make our nation a cleaner place.
But, despite the EPA’s effort to clean up the way America does business,
it seems that they have left hydraulic fracturing alone. Why?
Myth #1 – the EPA is
allowing the process to go on untouched.
Incorrect. The EPA has
established very strict rules to mitigate the potential for environmental
impact of gas exploration. It is because of these strict
rules that fracturing is allowed to continue.
Myth #2 - Hydraulic
fracturing forces toxic chemicals into the ground, and
contaminates our water. After
extensive study, the EPA has been unable to connect any water contamination to
the fracturing process unless there was an error in the process. How do they know? Because the alleged contamination found in
wells bares no similarity to the ingredients used in fracturing fluids, and the
impurities in well water are found to be naturally occurring.
Myth #3 – Hydraulic
fracturing forces methane up through the ground where it enters wells and
bubbles to the surface. Evidence
indicates these gassy wells had existed all along. The EPA has found no evidence of
methane leakage due to fracturing, unless the process was done
incorrectly. Seventeen years ago I lived on a property with well water from the
Fox Hills aquifer, approximately 900 feet deep.
This water contained salt, sediment, sulfur, and it bubbled with
methane. All of these ingredients
occurred naturally. 
Myth #4 – There is no
way to prevent the migration of frac fluids into the natural water system. Actually there is. Our water sources lie in the upper crust of
the earth, 100 to 1000 feet below the surface. Oil and gas resources are found 3,000 to
8,000 feet below the surface, so there is at least 2000 ft. of stone separating
the two. Throughout the drilling
process, a high pressure casing is installed in the entire length of the
shaft. Due to this extensive casing, the
EPA has pronounced the process safe when done properly. There have been a few cases of water contamination
due to surface spillage or improper disposal of frac fluids. The EPA continues to regulate and penalize
these matters.
Myth #5 – Fracturing
fluid is full of dangerous and toxic chemicals. In the aftermath of the recent floods in
Colorado, allegations of spilled fracturing fluids were left
essentially untouched by the EPA and the media because fracturing fluid is not
very dangerous. It is composed of 90%
clean water, 9.5% sand, and less than half a percent of additives which the USDepartment of Energy characterizes as those found in a typical household. Additionally, energy companies continue to reduce
the level of toxic ingredients. Governor John Hickenlooper recently claimed to have drunk from a glass of frac
fluid which was passed among a group of Halliburton executives.
Myth #6 – The
ingredients in fracturing fluid are a well-kept industry secret. Not at all.
Contrary to this accusation, the ingredients in these fluids are not
kept secret. You can find the details at
www.fracfocus.org.
Myth #7 – Hydraulic fracturing
depletes water resources. It takes
several hundred thousand gallons to fracture a single well, but this quantity
is not very large compared to the water we use every year. The average American home uses 350,000
gallons of potable water per year. The
average acre of irrigated farmland uses 500,000 gallons per year. When put into perspective, the implementation
of hundreds of new wells each year collectively equals the annual water usage
of a single neighborhood or a single farm.
Energy companies are also working hard
to reuse and recycle their extracted water.
With new filtering processes, the industry has successfully reused 15 to
20 percent of fracturing water, and this amount continues to rise.
With the prompting of HBO producer Josh Fox, “anti-fracking”
activism has reached fever pitch, contradicting the opinions of both the EPA
and the Obama administration.
Unfortunately for Mr. Fox, his allegations continue to be proven wrong. If we are to believe that the EPA is turning
a blind eye to hydraulic fracturing, we must first believe that they have been
controlled by the energy sector, or are somehow subdued by the Obama
administration. These two accusations
are extremely hard to believe, especially in tandem. There is no doubt that hydraulic fracturing is potentially dangerous if left unregulated, but the EPA and the state are actively involved, and the energy sector is cooperating. As it stands, the EPA continues to observe and study the matter.
Tony F.
2013
No comments:
Post a Comment