Toxic Chemicals Injected Into Wells, Report Says

[Judi Lynn]

Source: New York Times

Toxic Chemicals Injected Into Wells, Report Says
By IAN URBINA
Published: April 16, 2011

WASHINGTON — Oil and gas companies injected hundreds of millions of gallons of hazardous or carcinogenic chemicals into wells in more than 13 states from 2005 to 2009, according to an investigation by Congressional Democrats.

The chemicals were used by companies during a drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracking, which involves the high-pressure injection of a mixture of water, sand and chemical additives into rock formations deep underground. The process, which is being used to tap into large reserves of natural gas around the country, opens fissures in the rock to stimulate the release of oil and gas.

Hydrofracking has attracted increased scrutiny from lawmakers and environmentalists in part because of fears that the chemicals used during the process can contaminate underground sources of drinking water.

“Questions about the safety of hydraulic fracturing persist, which are compounded by the secrecy surrounding the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing fluids,” said the report, which was written by Representatives Henry A. Waxman of California, Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts and Diana DeGette of Colorado.





Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/science/earth/17gas.html?_r=1&ref=us

[Samantha]

1. Stunning

And I thought nothing could surprise me any more.

Sam

[gateley]

7. And I can only imagine all the stuff that takes place that flies under the radar. nt

[ladywnch]

11. wanna really be upset? watch the documentary "Gasland".

it's all about this process and what has been happening across the country as a result.

[L. Coyote]

33. Gasland: A film by Josh Fox AND Frontline = streams online = LINK:

ABOUT THE FILM - Gasland: A film by Josh Fox
This is just one of the many absurd and astonishing revelations of a new ...
www.gaslandthemovie.com/about-the-film

"Gasland" . NOW on PBS . Mar 26, 2010
NOW talks with filmmaker Josh Fox about 'Gasland', his Sundance award-winning ...

WATCH NOW online:

http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/613/index.html

NOW talks with filmmaker Josh Fox about "Gasland", his Sundance award-winning documentary on the surprising consequences of natural gas drilling. Fox's film—inspired when the gas company came to his hometown—alleges chronic illness, animal-killing toxic waste, disastrous explosions, and regulatory missteps.

[jaykimball]

40. More info and maps

Gasland has done a great job, using modern grassroots methods, to get the word out. Ian Urbina at the NY Times, and Bryan Walsh at Time have consistently provided good info on fracking.

I posted a very good video on fracking that Bryan did at the link below.

For readers interested in learning more about the Congressional report, how fracking might effect your community, and what you can do about it, I posted links to the report, what you need to know about fracking, a good technique for keeping your elected officials accountable, and fracking maps of the US at:

http://8020vision.com/2011/04/17/congress-releases-report-on-toxic-chemicals-used-in-fracking/

Jay Kimball
8020 Vision

[L. Coyote]

50. Thank you. And a hearty WELCOME to DU!

[Little Star]

2. and the bastids will get away with it too!

[L. Coyote]

31. Because Bush/Cheney gave Halliburton a legal exclusion and thus a monopoly on poisoning the planet

They actually wrote an exception into law for Halliburton exclusively, so they can use hazardous chemicals without consequences.

[bjobotts]

3. Does their greed know no bounds.They destroy mother earth in every aspect.

[bjobotts]

4. Only our government of "we the people" are big enough to stop them or regulate them.

[aquart]

5. In the Old West, poisoning a well would get you hanged.

Well, you good ol' boys with your NRA collections, why are you sitting by while your wells are poisoned?

[Snoutport]

6. how about they just have to live in the town and drink the water?

[gateley]

8. That would be justice. nt

[aquart]

12. A thoughtful, though slow, solution.

And fails to provide evacuation for the innocents.

[valerief]

9. But we're not REALLY a Third World Nation. After all, the wealthy can leave

for wherever they want, and so as long as they don't have to drink the water, everything is peachy. The wealthy getting wealthier is the only thing that matters in this world. That's what the media tells me when I read between the lines.

[enough]

10. Our world is their sewer. (nt)

[quaker bill]

13. A question,

is the stuff they are pushing down these wells any more toxic than the stuff they are bringing up? I don't know the answer, but am pretty sure the oil and gas they are bringing up is fairly toxic stuff too. I assume the toxic stuff they are pushing in goes to the same places that the oil and gas will eventually end up running through.

It certainly sounds bad.

[appal_jack]

28. remember why they call it fracking

I assume the toxic stuff they are pushing in goes to the same places that the oil and gas will eventually end up running through.

While the gas in the shale surely has some toxic hydrocarbons in the mix, it's all locked up in shale until the fracking process breaks it up via pressure and water and chemicals in abundance. Afterward, there are many more toxins, plus new routes between the shale layer and the aquifer, forced open by the fracking process.

-app

[Overseas]

14. K&R.

Another story so frightening that it is hard to follow. You wish so hard that it wasn't happening.

[Kingofalldems]

15. Special Prosecutor needed pronto

[L. Coyote]

16. Chemicals Were Injected Into Wells, Report Says

Source: NY Times By IAN URBINA Published: April 16, 2011

WASHINGTON — Oil and gas companies injected hundreds of millions of gallons of hazardous or carcinogenic chemicals into wells in more than 13 states from 2005 to 2009, according to an investigation by Congressional Democrats.

The chemicals were used by companies during a drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracking, which involves the high-pressure injection of a mixture of water, sand and chemical additives into rock formations deep underground. The process, which is being used to tap into large reserves of natural gas around the country, opens fissures in the rock to stimulate the release of oil and gas.

Hydrofracking has attracted increased scrutiny from lawmakers and environmentalists in part because of fears that the chemicals used during the process can contaminate underground sources of drinking water.

“Questions about the safety of hydraulic fracturing persist, which are compounded by the secrecy .............

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/science/earth/17gas.html

---

Scary Title, eh? Hey, it is only hundreds of millions of gallons of hazardous or carcinogenic chemicals ...

[Webster Green]

17. The framing is typical. Like there's some big mystery about the hazards.

"because of fears that the chemicals used during the process can contaminate underground sources of drinking water."

“Questions about the safety of hydraulic fracturing persist, which are compounded by the secrecy ...."

If you can light your fucking tap water on fire, there's a big problem. :wtf:

[DCKit]

18. "If you can light your fucking tap water on fire, there's a big problem."

Unfortunately, that just the symptom.

I've got a sneaking suspicion that fracking for oil and gas began as a cheap way to get rid of toxic waste.

[SkyDaddy7]

20. Folks are so worried about Japan...

and with obvious reasons but what these oil & gas companies are doing is going to fuck so much stuff up across large areas! Just imagine if they wipe out a regions access to clean water! Seriously, think about that! It makes me feel like I am living in a dream, or should I say "nightmare" how crazy this is!

[The abyss]

19. The "landmen" are swarming like ants all over North America

They offer the property/mineral owner a standard contract of 1/8 royalty share & 30 dollars an acre bonus money.

Most have all ready bought up old wells/drill rights from company's long since out of the picture. Stuff drilled down in the 50s & 60s. They are attempting to "frack" out huge chunks of natural gas deposits that were known of long ago. They are going after gas recovery on the order of Township & Range, not individual sections or acreage. 36 square miles by adjoining 36 square miles in multiple hacks.

They will start at or on a property they already have mineral rights upon or an easily negotiated lease (BLM, Forest, State lands, etc...) They will then move around and attempt to secure mineral agreements with any of the private property owners. They all ready have a drilling scheme layed out, they will not share that information with anyone. In most states they don't have to share anything even with the state oil & gas commission until they begin production.

Individual land owners need to secure a "surface owners" agreement if they are in any way going to protect water wells, potable or livestock.

And - yes after they are done there will be people that can light off their tap water.

Beware of these vampires! And may the gods help all of us.

[benld74]

21. Its ABOUT Fracking Time something happens on this issue, I mean damn!

[defendandprotect]

47. Yes -- just stopping them would be nice -- but haven't seen anything on how to reverse -- !!

Is it even possible to undo the horrible damage they have done?

[madokie]

22. Theres a fertilizer plant near here that has a well that is 500 plus feet deep

that they used to use for getting rid of some of there nastier shit. Not sure anymore as I don't know anyone who works there now.

[OwnedByFerrets]

23. And yet it continues, correct?

[defendandprotect]

24. Yes, but the advantage is, it gives you WATER that is flammable -- makes a great fire --!!!

There's a great movie on this subject -- GASLAND!!

I was aware of this horrific project -- but had no idea how far across the

states they had come -- or the immense damage they have already done.

Look for GASLAND on internet -- !!!

[Occulus]

37. Netflix has Gasland on DVD

I just added it to my queue.

[defendandprotect]

45. K/R --- everyone should look for it -- !!

[ArcticFox]

25. Turning Expenses to Profits

Secrecy being what it is, I think it is safe to assume the chemicals they're using are byproducts of some chemical process which, in any other scenario, would be extremely expensive to dispose of in an EPA-regulated hazardous waste facility.

However, instead of paying to dispose of its waste, the producer has now found a way to sell the waste to third parties, who have obtained environmental approval to release it all over the country, sometimes injecting it right into groundwater.

And all the environmental laws we spent decades putting in place to protect the environment no longer mean a thing.

[krispos42]

26. I'm sure the invisible hand of the free market will correct this n/t

[HankyDubs]

27. Yet we are incessantly bombarded

with tv commercials referring to natural gas as "cleaner" and "greener."

[Javaman]

38. What do the rich drink? nt

[defendandprotect]

49. Money -- ???

The Rightwing Koch Bros. Funded the DLC --

http://www.democrats.com/node/7789

http://upload.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x498414

If you knew about this, why didn't you tell us -- ?

If you didn't know, pass it along -- !!

:)

[Patiod]

29. Our governor Corbought&paidfor, wants to give them free rein

He appointed an oil guy, C. Alan Walker, to head his Department of Community and Economic Development, and gave him last-word authority over environmental permitting in the state of Pennsylvania, allowing him, by law, to “expedite any permit or action pending in any agency where the creation of jobs may be impacted.”

This means that the oil and gas inspectors who police the Marcellus Shale development in the state won’t be allowed to issue violations to drilling companies that they regulate any longer unless they get prior approval from Economic Development top officials.

And who is this guy the guy that Corbett appointed to fast-track ALL drilling applications? You guessed it - according to the Philadelphia Inquirer: “In 2002, he told the state he couldn’t afford to clean up polluted water flowing from 15 inactive mines that were operated by his companies. After the state won a court injunction, Walker agreed to a cleanup plan.”

And God forbid citizens would want to know more about the practice of fracking because, according to Jonathan Turley: "The Pennsylvania Office of Homeland Security has been tracking anti-gas drilling groups and their meetings — including a public screening of the film “Gasland,” a documentary about the environmental hazards of natural gas drilling. The office includes information about the groups in its weekly bulletins that are sent out to law enforcement agencies—and to companies that are drilling for gas in the Marcellus Shale."

[lonestarnot]

30. How much more insane to we need to become.

[defendandprotect]

48. We get led down this capitalist insanity path because public doesn't trust its

own common sense!!



The Rightwing Koch Bros. Funded the DLC --

http://www.democrats.com/node/7789

http://upload.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x498414

If you knew about this, why didn't you tell us -- ?

If you didn't know, pass it along -- !!

:)

[L. Coyote]

32. Thanks for adding the word TOXIC to the article title. NY Times should do same!!

Actually, they should use the adjective HAZARDOUS chemicals.

[L. Coyote]

34. The Halliburton Loophole = Why Dick Cheney Sticks to Bottled Water

Editorial NY Times = http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/opinion/03tue3.html
The Halliburton Loophole = November 2, 2009


Among the many dubious provisions in the 2005 energy bill was one dubbed the Halliburton loophole, which was inserted at the behest of — you guessed it — then-Vice President Dick Cheney, a former chief executive of Halliburton.

It stripped the Environmental Protection Agency of its authority to regulate a drilling process called hydraulic fracturing. Invented by Halliburton in the 1940s, it involves injecting a mixture of water, sand and chemicals, some of them toxic, into underground rock formations to blast them open and release natural gas.

Hydraulic fracturing has been implicated in a growing number of water pollution cases across the country.

.............

===================
Why Dick Cheney Sticks to Bottled Water
by Michael Brune on October 15, 2010
http://ecopolitology.org/2010/10/15/why-dick-cheney-sticks-to-bottled-water

Americans should be able to drink what comes out of their taps without worrying that it will make them sick. So why would anyone insert a loophole into the Safe Drinking Water Act that subverts that basic right?.........

In 2005, Congress passed an Energy Act that included ... an exemption for hydraulic fracturing (fracking) from the protections of the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Clean Air Act. It's called the "Halliburton loophole" ......

[daleo]

35. Why get hung up about a little thing like clean drinking water

When oil and gas money is at stake?

I mean, we know how much they care about human health and sustainabilty.

[christx30]

36. Thank gawd

we have a free market to self regulate itself and prevent these types of things from happening, right?
:sarcasm:

[jaykimball]

39. Actions you can take and a map of fracking in the US

Ian Urbina has done a great job covering fracking for the NY Times.

For readers interested in learning more about the Congressional report, how fracking might effect your community, and what you can do about it, I posted links to the report, what you need to know about fracking, a good technique for keeping your elected officials accountable, and fracking maps of the US at:

http://8020vision.com/2011/04/17/congress-releases-report-on-toxic-chemicals-used-in-fracking/

Jay Kimball
8020 Vision

[Champion Jack]

41. Great site, thanks for posting

[jaykimball]

42. Fracking... Coverage in Bloomberg, Vanity Fair, and HBO

You're welcome!

I wrote another piece on fracking on how the mainstream media is covering fracking. It is telling that the mainstream media is paying attention to an esoteric practice like fracking. For those readers interested, I provide some stunning video of the side-effects of fracking, along with highlights and link from stories at Vanity Fair, Bloomberg, and HBO. See:

http://8020vision.com/2010/07/06/shale-gas-exploration-the-coming-storm/

Jay Kimball
8020 Vision

[catgirl]

43. It's getting a lot of coverage!

Very surprising.

[defendandprotect]

44. AMAZING that this story is still just coming out -- so much damage -- and so few know???

I knew about it -- but not the widespread damage they've inflicted over

the states!! I was really shocked at how far they have gone!!

:(

[eowyn_of_rohan]

46. I try not to hate people

but my effort fails in cases like these :grr: