Hydroracking

McFellon

McFellon

Active member
I have to write a persuasive essay on hydrofracking, and I chose the con side. I know that it affects a lot of people, especially in NY, OH, WV and PA.Do any of you have personal stories, websites and such to share? It would be a big help because I want to learn about the issue at a more personal level.
(for those of you who don't know, hydrofracking is when they blast a shitton of water into the ground to get natural gas out.)
 
I can help you. I did that for a summer job for the last two years with the company I work for.

Pm me for questions and anything else.
 
An argument against HF would be to think of the pros... how many are there? Really, theres miniscule 'job creation' and we have no where enough natural gas to seriously make an impact on our energy dependence.
 
actually, states get permitting fees, lease money and 18% of the gas profits, so there is a lot of money in it. and although it is probably impossible to get all of the gas out, there's enough to last the US 12 years down there. 363 trillion cubic feet of gas is the reason this is all happening
 
Stop typing you have no idea what you are talking about.

OP I can help you out PM me your email and I will send you some emails I have been collecting and some good sites.
 
I have worked as an engineer for a large gas company working in the Marcellus Shale in PA. I was fairly involved in Hydraulic Fracturing ("fracking") and can help you out.
Firstly... The actual process of pumping the water (and associated chemicals + sand) down into the well should not directly pollute groundwater (aside from rare accidents/spills at surface). The well is cased in thick steel pipe and cemented as it goes through depths where any fresh water may be present. The water is only injected very deep into rock or shale that contains extremely salty and gassy water that would be too deep and undesirable for any other use.
Man made water storage lakes and heavy road usage (trucking water) have some environmental impact, but the real environmental issues arise partly from the large amount of fresh water being used (wasted?), and mostly, the disposal of the dirty used frac water that flows back afterwards. There is also a small chance that the steel well casing my break - but this is a small risk in the big picture.
The flow back water returns mixed with gas, sand, oil-like gas condensates, salts, and trace heavy metals (about 50% of the water pumped down comes back up). Obviously this water must be cleaned and disposed of properly to prevent environmental damage. This is very expensive and may be something a slimy oil company may try to dodge. This is what all the fuss is about with respect to proper rules and enforcement. Also, try and find a good reference for the volumes of water being used and you'll be shocked - hundreds of thousands of gallons...
But no, fracking does not pump water into fresh water aquifers / water wells all willy-nilly. Yes, spills do happen. Yes, pipelines may occasionally break causing environmental damage, but this can happen with oil or gas pipelines just as easily - the risk has to be minimized, but can't be removed completely. The real debate is about the shit ton of fresh water being used and the proper disposal of the huge amounts of dirty flow back water.
 
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if you would like to talk to someone who is doing a 45 page essay on it for their thesis for their environmental law degree
pm me
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the fact that you posted gasland as your opening statement lets me know that your "law paper" is garbage.
 
the fact tat you have a well in your icon leads me to believe that you are a biased asshole-
but thats just a hypothesis

let me guess- global warming is a myth made up by the weather channel?
 
This guy knows what he is talking about.

Except in general frac flow-back is pumped into disposal wells and not treated.

Also people are concerned about frac communication to fresh water aquifers. This has never happened due to fracing and in every case either a casing failure or biogenic gas from land fills has been to blame.

Pretty much every new well in the US is stimulated in some way. Fracing is extremely common, it is necessary for the energy industry to be cost effective. If you were to outlaw fracing natural gas prices would quadruple overnight if not more. Oil wells are also fractured. Its bull shit movies like "gas land" that completely distort this issue.

I am only going to say this once. Literally every point that douche bag makes in gas land is false. The movie is fiction, it is not a documentary.
 
no, actually I am pretty liberal when it comes to issues. I can look at the data for global warming and see a trend. There is no data on fracing being harmful, it is all fiction.

And I am not biases in any way, I am burdened with knowledge.
 
facepalm.jpg
 
Ah. That's true. When I was working in PA the government regulators were not eager to license any disposal wells because fracking was brand new to PA and they were still doing their own environmental research (rightly so). We were treating and reusing the flow-back instead. In Canada and we use disposal wells and I assume it now happens in PA like in the rest of the states...
 
OK, so i watched the Gasland trailer. so far in my research, i have used mainly Trout Unlimited and Fly Fisherman magazine, which i know are both calling for at least way stricter regulations on the drilling, as they are both looking out for the interests of anglers and surface water quality- nothing i have found so far has come remotely close to Gasland.when he lit the sink on fire???? that would mean that the movie is saying that the gas companies put natural gas into the tap water pipelines. it is actually complete bullshit
 
The gas comes from water wells. Many gas zones are shallow especially in the Rockies. Gas zones are almost always (always) associated with water. So you drill your water well into a water/gas zone and you can light said water on fire. This has nothing to do with fracing.

However a gas well into a similar zone might be drill adjacent and fraced, increasing permeability and causing gas to more easily enter your water well. Also a drop in reservoir pressure could facilitate gas breakout.

So ya they got more gas in their water, because they drilled their water well into a gas zone. If they were smart they would buy a 2 stage separator and power their house with the gas and drink the water. But they want to get a payout because they don't own the mineral rights. So their neighbor is making tons of money off his new gas wells while they get nothing.
 
For the sake of my 11th grade persuasive essay, here is my stance on the issue:hydrofracking may not be deadly to humans, but it is/ will cause more damage to streams and rivers, not from the pollution, but from the billions of gallons of water that are required for the process. i also read that wastewater treatment plants are too few and far between, and that they are not capable of removing salts and chlorine from the water.i read stat that in order for WV's inspectors to inspect each well the requrired amount, once per year, they would have to inspect 9 wells per day year round
 
I will give you the cons that are legitimate

1) Possible communication between hydrocarbon zones and fresh water. (never documented but something to pay attention to.)

2) Irresponsible operators dumping frac flow-back into environmentally sensitive areas. (breaking the law).

3) Water usage, although this really isn't that valid.

4) Damage to the view/scenery. Environmental damage due to road construction and tank batteries.

Anything else is bull. The chemicals in frac water are 99.5% water and sand and if necessary can be treated. A better alternative is to just dispose of frac water into dead oil zone or high permeability sands at sufficient depth in the area, which is what everyone does.
 
haha, just went to that website and the first thing I clicked on was ridiculous.

perfect example, click on Nebraska.

His "Facts"

1) Frac takes 1-7 mill gallons of water.

*Bull shit, we routinely do fracs with half that min amount.

2) Refracs require 1-7 mill.

* Wells are very rarely refraced

3) They CAN frac a well 18 times

* Never seen anywhere near this, most I have ever seen is 2. I am sure there is a well that has been fraced 18 times but he says every well is fraced 18 times.

4) 450,000 well (TOTAL WELLS DRILLED IN THE US SINCE THE 1800's)

* I would say 1/10 of these were fraced if that.

5) So then he takes all these numbers and multiplies them... Anyone see a trend here? This guy is full of shit.

The guy is a bull shit artist, makes me very mad. Then he shows the Delaware river, like they are going to dump frac fluid into the river. And he wears a fucking gas mask at a drilling site... what a douche. Tremendous douche.
 
You guys thanks a lot for the input, facts, and opinions. There is a lot of useful info here that confirms my research and has given me new ideas as to view points to look into. A couple of you guys gave me some serious posts that obviously had thought put into them. I really appreciate all the help.
 
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