Aerial of fracking in Texas (pretty saturated)

[Ellipsis]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/amymyou/9431314171/


"Saw these strange new human-made landscapes on my flight from Sacramento to Houston. Not farming, not subdivisions, but many miles of rectangular patches etched out of the earth, some with pools next to them, all with roads to them. I doubt that people see these when driving on major roads - I never have - but they were very visible from a plane. Welcome to your new landscape!"

[Ilsa]

1. I posted an idea, to Google-map South Texas several

months ago to see the clusters of rectangular caliche patches of drilling sites and well heads. Thousands all across the southern farm and ranch lands, all the way down to Laredo.

[Ellipsis]

3. I had a client who was involved with a sand company up here

their company was owned by two oil companies one based in Texas and one out east... they had a commitment of sand for the next three years... but I had no idea Texas was this throttled up on fracking.

[NYC_SKP]

2. Checking. Pretty sure these are gas/oil development/extraction sites, not sure about fracking.

It's definitely Lake Limestone, Texas.

Development sites are ugly all by themselves.

Whether or not these are site where hydraulic fracturing was used in unclear.

[Ellipsis]

4. That makes more sense...

They were trying to build more outside business but current low cost of gas was putting a damper on outside sales...

Walker's legislature is attempting to pass a law taking control away from local governments on mine applications here in Wisconsin... small resort/vacation/retirement communities along the Mississippi have been quite successful keeping out the sand companies.... where, if the had the opportunity, would load sand on barges to send them down river saving buccoup bucks on transportation costs and be more competitive with natural gas.

[NYC_SKP]

5. Done checking. These are not fracking sites, these are plain old gas/oil drill pads.

Last edited Mon Nov 4, 2013, 12:10 AM - Edit history (1)

Zoom in and you'll see the traditional two recovery tanks in a bermed area, one for petroleum distillates and the other for water.

Some sites have a separator and other equipment while others don't. I didn't see any pump jacks but it's hard to check them all and pump jacks aren't always needed.

Here is a handy map that shows current and potential areas of fracking, and the sites of "Fraccidents".

http://earthjustice.org/features/campaigns/fracking-across-the-united-states

[Ilsa]

6. If Lake Limestone, then it isn't in Eagle Ford Shale or

Barnett Shale.

Too bad the creator of the web page shot a pic of the wrong area to mislabel.

[NYC_SKP]

7. TX-LA-MS Salt Basin, I think.

And I forgot to post the link I mentioned in my reply above, so here it is:

http://earthjustice.org/features/campaigns/fracking-across-the-united-states

[CANDO]

8. They are drilling pads. Avg size of 4 acres each.

And each pad probably has an average of 6-8 well bores into the earth. And each well bore is/will be fracked. I would know, because I moved drilling rigs in PA for the past 3 years. Before the attack goons start on me, just know that I no longer move rigs. I now haul Cheetos and Funyons for Frito-Lay.

[Major Nikon]

10. That makes more sense

The Fort Worth part of the Barnett shale formation pretty much ends at I-35 and I don't think much, if any natural gas fracking is being done east of there.

I done a lot of low level flying all around the DFW metroplex both before and after the fracking craze and haven't noticed any difference in the landscape. Although they typically cluster frack sites in relatively small areas, they seem to use one lagoon for several wells. The lagoons are rubber lined and are removed once the drilling is done for that area. The bigger impact of fracking is what you don't see.

[tammywammy]

12. Lots of fracking in Arlington.

There's a well east of 360 on the Grand Prairie/Arlington line.

Lots of wells in Arlington too.

[Major Nikon]

13. They are all over the metroplex

There's over 100 wells on DFW airport alone. They had originally intended to drill over 3 times that many before the bottom dropped out of the market. They were working their way west from the airport with new wells all over the place, but they stopped just short of my place. I was just starting to get royalty offers when they stopped new development.

[2naSalit]

9. It's also what

the Dakotas, western and northern Wyoming, and eastern Montana look like. I'm sure that's not all but it is what's in my neighborhood.

It sucks, glad I don't live downwind of it.

[mnhtnbb]

11. I have seen them flying from NC to CA. Wondered what they were until about a year ago.