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About 3 years ago a friend who lives near Tunkhannock told me that a company knocked on his door one day and said he had a deposit of natural gas on his land and offered him a nice check upfront if he would agree to let let them drill for it on his land. He discussed it with his wife and they signed a contract that included a promise of 
royalties that have yet to be paid.
royalties that have yet to be paid. He now regrets that decision because he is dealing with the noise and destruction of his property similar to what has been documented at bob's blog.
When he first told me about it I thought it was great because we need more energy and local people would make a few bucks but it is now obvious that if that the regulators in DEP and EPA don't get a handle this it has the potential of causing as much environmental damage in the 21st century as the coal mines did in the last two.
Headlines like these are scary.
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Not really understanding all the issues involved I asked my friend Kayak Dude to explain it for us.
Drill, Baby, Drill?
Should we open our state forests to additional natural gas drilling to (finally) strike a long-overdue budget deal? My fellow Pennsylvanians…not so fast.
The drilling process known as "hydrofracturing" is barely underway in this commonwealth, and we've already had three chemical spills in less than a week, multiple fish kills, and many folks in Dimock, PA ( Susquehanna County ) cannot drink the water coming from their wells. Is this acceptable? I think not.
I've been following the growth of this whole Marcellus Shale natural gas play for almost two years. Those in favor of widespread drilling and those in opposition, with the oil companies offering big upfront checks and the promise of new found riches to the former, are locked in a battle of words and wills being played out in local, regional and national government and the media.
What is the truth? Is the estimated amount of recoverable natural gas locked in the Marcellus Shale Formation (MSF) truly a major step toward our nation's goal of energy independence? Is the state budget really the place to put our natural resources out for bid? Do the oil companies really care about Pennsylvania's environment? Have they truly drilled 10,000 wells "without incident'? Are environmentalists justified in raising concerns about the whole hydrofracturing process and its aftermath, or are they just doing that tree-hugging liberal NIMBY ( don't forget unpatriotic ) thing again?
Let's look at the facts. The oil industry and geologists have known about "gas shales" for decades. In early 2008, some PSU and NYU professors "stunned" the oil industry by estimating that the MSF contained approximately a two year's supply of natural gas based upon current consumption levels. This estimate far exceeded prior yield expectations. But wait. Less than 9 months later, the same professors revised their original estimates based upon information PROVIDED BY AN OIL COMPANY. Yes, Virginia…that's true. Their new yield projection was seven times higher than numbers they offered earlier that same year. It has since doubled again, somewhere near a 30 year (estimated) supply. I wonder if these same two professors grade on a similar curve? I wonder how long I'd have a job if I routinely revised my estimates sevenfold in either direction? "Ooops! Sorry guys, we're only going to see a $30 million profit this year, not the original $210 million I projected..." Waddya mean, I'm fired?
Fact is - the manner in which they drill into the MSF, which is over a mile beneath the surface, is radically different from the "10,000 safely drilled wells" already in production. The drilling technology - developed by Halliburton, repeat, HALLIBURTON - is relatively new.
Once the drill bit approaches/enters the MSF, it is slowly turned from vertical to horizontal, and heads laterally another 3,000 feet or so. And
not just in one direction, but several. Think of a spider web, and you'll get the picture. At this point, water, sand, and a whole slew of chemicals - both known and unknown - are injected into the MSF under great pressure to fracture the rock - a.k.a. hydrofracturing or "fracking" for short - and release the natural gas trapped in the MSF. And for the record, we are talking about a ~million of gallons (or more) of water per well per day. That water is being taken from our streams and rivers as well as municipal sources, i.e. our drinking water supply. Now, once thousands of gallons of chemicals - many of them highly toxic to anything needing water to exist ( like us ) - are mixed with the water and injected underground, about 40-60% of that mixture stays down there. The rest ( flowback ) returns to the surface along with the natural gas that is released. In addition to the toxic brew of chemicals, the flowback/fracking wastewater contains an extremely high levels of salts, metals and…radioactivity. I've read reports that the MSF drilling wastewater is about ten times saltier than sea water. Problem is, right now, our existing wastewater treatment plants cannot handle or adequately treat this flowback water. Not even close. And since the drilling companies will not release a complete list of all chemicals used, the plants that want to treat this water - and release it back into our streams and rivers - still don't know what to they need to treat and/or remove!That's a brief overview of the fracking process, and there's far, far more to consider. PA's forests and farms are being cleared for access roads and drilling sites. PA's Endless Mountains are being quarried for the stone to pave the access roads and the drill pads. Small trout streams are having their waters siphoned away. And on, and on...and on.
It doesn't take a degree in rocket science, or environmental science, to understand what the long-term impact this will have on PA. Short-term, those people who sign leases will get some up front money to be followed - provided the drilling begins and is successful - by a steady stream of royalty checks for however long the well produces. Once that money stops coming in, they will be left with an empty bank account, probably having their drinking water trucked in like the folks up in Dimock, and when they try to sell their property years down the road, they will be in for a very rude reality check.
For anyone who wants to learn more about both sides of this issue - and it is not going away anytime soon - my advice is to educate yourselves. There's plenty of information out there from both sides of the debate. And while you're at it, please consider dropping our ex-VP Dick Cheney a quick line and ask him why he decided to exempt the hydrofracturing process developed by HALLIBURTON from the Safe Water Drinking Act while behind closed doors in 2005? I'm sure he'll be quick to respond.
Cynic that I am, I do not believe the oil companies "we care about your environment" mantra. I've seen what they've done elsewhere. And whenever someone who stands to make money from MSF drilling opens their mouth, I always envision the following: "I wonder how many times Bernie Madoff said: Don't worry, your money ( replace with property ) will be safe with me..."
Economic revitalization? Jobs? A prosperous new future? Haven't we all heard that before? Remember the inflatable dam?
Don Williams
Don is the author of Susquehanna River Sentinal who has blogging for 10 years. Congratulations Don and Thank You.
8 comments:
What in the name of God are we doing? With information such as this and not one person thought it worth a comment. We, each and everyone of us are busy writing political comments and have no or little interest in what is really important. I read this post, followed the links and wonder why I have not heard these voices as they write the informational facts and do everything in their power to wake us up.
I honestly think that Don William's Susquehanna River Sentinal should be mandatory reading in our high schools ........ Hey ........ who the hell do I expect to read this? If anyone took the time to read the information, there surely would have been comments. This needs mentioning on other posts. I'll give it a try and then stand by for the ram for cheapening the political BS with such silliness. Well, I for one thank Gort for bringing the information to us and giving me a site I can visit for updates. Thanks Gort and Thanks Don Williams.
A letter to the Pa. citizens, I Have a different concern with all this gas activity in short all the tax revenue and not to mention the lease agreements for state land, e.g. state forest, parks game and fish lands that is going to be generated from these sources to mention a few. In my opinion I believe the citizens of this state better begin to organize and hold their government officials accountable from the state, counties, and local governments with this added tax revenue, and hold their feet to the fire and don’t ever give up or else it will be squandered away by these same government officials on themselves and their friends. I believe that we should take a page out of the Alaska book and do the same as they did for their residents with the oil reserves added revenues, and demand that the residents of this state be designated as a tax free status resident must qualify as such before reaping the benefit from these additional revenues as much as possible. Remember once they earmark these added revenues for the General fund or otherwise it will be lost forever and will never benefit the residents of this state. I am almost sure that these same greedy politicians can't wait until the day comes when they will be able to get their thieving hands on it just like the tax revenues from gambling that was suppose to benefit the property owners of this state. Let us get organized now the sooner the better. Remember what had happen with property owners of this state when it was the coal industry.
From,
A return to a” FREE REPUBLIC”
I understand that a few "overly" educated souls believe that we can continue to enjoy the modern day lifestyle we have without any use of the natural resources that God has graced us with. To believe this, however, is pure naivate.
Unless we want to return to living in the trees and making fire with sticks we need to utilize the vast natural resources at our disposal. Whereas those young people in their ivory towers will go to all avenues to save the spotted owl, or prevent you or I from enjoying a steak, they themselves are unwilling to see the fault of their own arguments. My leftist students for instance, could not fathom life without their preciuos I pods or cell phones, etc. etc. etc.
If you wish to go Green that is fine by me. All I ask is that you do not force me too. That, for want of a better word, is facism. We have had enough of that already this past year. Class dismissed!!
Good article. This is exactly why I am against offshore drilling. Use this as an example of why YOU should be against offshore drilling.
It looks great at first, but then.....
Here's what would have happened: there would've been an oil spill off of, say, Florida, and ruined all their beaches.
You know what the Big Oil company would've said and all the politicians that got kickbacks?
WHOOPS!!!!!!!!!!!
Then here's some MORE food for thought against offshore drilling:
Stick Your Damn Hand In It:
20th Birthday of the Exxon Valdez Lie
http://www.gregpalast.com/stick-your-damn-hand-in-it-20th-birthday-of-the-exxon-valdez-lie/
"If I had a machine gun, I'd shoot everyone of those white sons-of-bitches"
http://www.gregpalast.com/court-rewards-exxon-for-valdez-oil-spill/
Professor Milburn Cleaver might consider removing the title from his moniker. Apparently the professor did not read the material or he would have suggested that the gas be retrieved in a different fashion than that which is destroying nature and actually killing farm stock. But other than that professor, you just go ahead and keep you head in the sand. Your class is dismissed for lack of original thought.
I agree with Anon 8:20 PM. Everyone agrees that we need fuel to live our lives the way we have become accustomed but this Halliburton method is terrible. We need to stop and perfect the method not ignore the danger as the professor suggests. This is just further roof that educators need manuals to instruct as this particular professor's wiring is shorted out and needs further ecological education.
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