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HYDRAULIC FRACTURING. 42%. 53%. Forecasted in April 2009. Forecasted in April 2009. EPA STUDY IN PROGRESS. EPA STUDY IN PROGRESS. “Shale gas pollution fears leave Americans with another energy headache By Rowena Mason Energy Last updated: June 23rd, 2010.
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“Shale gas pollution fears leave Americans with another energy headache By Rowena MasonEnergy Last updated: June 23rd, 2010 Still politically scorched from BP’s giant Gulf of Mexico spill, it couldn’t be a worse time for America’s oil giants to find themselves roasting in another environmental firestorm. But new flames of controversy are on the horizon – in fact, literally emanating from the drinking water of US citizens living near so-called “shale gas” fields. A controversial documentary, Gaslands, which was aired on television channel HBO this week, shows one Colorado homeowner bending over his tap, holding a lighter with outstretched arm and igniting his chemical-laden water. The film – openly polemical – alleges that shale gas drillers, using high pressure and chemicals to fracture open rock to release gas, have allowed pollutants to affect local drinking water in multiple locations. Its director, Josh Fox, interviewed people in Colorado, Texas, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico and Pennsylvania. Cloudy, smelly, gassy water is flowing out of their pipes. Rivers are catching fire. Some claim – which is hard to prove – that they have been made sick. And the gas companies in many places are allegedly trucking in clean drinking water in return for non-disclosure agreements. The industry, particularly a website called Energy In Depth, is furious at the implications. Swiftly, it issued a point-by-pointrebuttal, saying any pollution has been due to the bad practices of individual companies rather than industry-wide problems and accusing Fox of factual inaccuracies. The director counters that the footage and testimony in his film speak for themselves. It is hard to work out exactly who or which organisation is behind the collective of oil and gas pressure groups at Energy in Depth, which says it is “working to keep energy affordable here at home, creating new jobs and minimizing our dangerous dependence on foreign oil”.
After all, they have a huge amount to lose if the US suddenly loses its fervour for shale. The London-listed companies are exposed to the tune of billions: Shell bought up $4.7bn of assets in Marcellus last month, BG Group has a $2bn joint venture with Exco and BP has a $2.5bn partnership with Chesapeke. They have all piled into shale drilling over the last couple of years, touting the technology as the answer to America’s energy thirst. As the world tries to wean itself off oil and coal, which have high carbon dioxide emissions, gas has been proposed as more climate-friendly replacement fuel. But the best thing about shale is its abundance. It’s been hailed as a “complete game changer” (by BP’s Tony Hayward) and “a huge deal” (by Shell’s Peter Voser). In fact, the newly discovered resource could provide up to 100 years of US needs and leave it less dependent on foreign supplies. So, shale has been looking like an increasingly attractive option at a time when the oil industry is facing the prospect of a US retrenchment from deepwater drilling activity in the wake of BP’s spill. But it’s an understatement to say that goodwill towards energy companies is at a low ebb. BP’s Gulf of Mexico leak has embroiled the entire US energy industry in a slick of suspicion and mistrust. The voices calling for a suspension of shale drilling pending more environmental research are getting stronger. Furthermore, twice in recent weeks, there have been accidents in the Marcellus fields, including a leak in Pennsylvania that expelled 35,000 gallons of gas and a blast in West Virginia that sent at least seven workers to the hospitals with burns.
Like the BP oil spill, it’s become an election issue. “I think it’s extremely critical that we take a step back from the ongoing drilling in Marcellus Shale fields for at least one year,” urged state senator Jim Ferlo of D-Pittsburgh this month. Whatever the truth behind some of the claims in Fox’s film and fresh safety fears, Americans are soon going to be forced to have a national debate that weighs up the dangers of exploration and drilling against their rampant energy consumption. In the meantime, there’s already an inquiry into the safety of gas fracturing currently being conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency. Given President Obama’s current hostility toward the energy giants, the authorities are going to be under pressure to make regulations watertight, or drown the gas industry’s shale ambitions for the time being.”
http://water.epa.gov/type/groundwater/uic/class2/hydraulicfracturing/index.cfmhttp://water.epa.gov/type/groundwater/uic/class2/hydraulicfracturing/index.cfm http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/materials_minerals_pdf/ogdsgeischap5.pdf http://www.netl.doe.gov/technologies/oil-gas/publications/epreports/shale_gas_primer_2009.pdf http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7054210n&tag=related;photovideo http://video.pbs.org/video/1801494624 http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/rowenamason/100006602/shale-gas-pollution-fears-leave-americans-with-another-energy-headache/#