EPA is over the line & threading water.........

[shintao]

Natural Gas Drillers being blamed for contaminated drinking water.

The EPA is unfairly targeting a Texas drilling company for local water contamination, when there is no proof they are responsible for the damage.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued an emergency order against a Texas gas driller Tuesday, accusing the company of contaminating an aquifer and giving it 48 hours to provide clean drinking water to affected residents and begin taking steps to resolve the problem.

The order is unprecedented in Texas, partly because the federal body overstepped the state agency responsible for overseeing gas and oil drilling in the state. The EPA's move could ratchet up a bitter fight between Texas and the EPA that has evolved in the past year from a dispute over environmental issues into a pitched battle over states rights.

EPA regional director Al Armendariz said he issued the order against Range Resources of Fort Worth, Texas, because he felt the Texas Railroad Commission was not responding quickly enough to contamination found in two water wells belonging to Parker County residents in North Texas.

Yet there is no proof the drilling operation is the cause!!!

Range Resources on Tuesday denied being the source of the contamination.

"We've been working with the Railroad Commission as well as the landowners over the last several months," spokesman Matt Pitzarella said. "We believe that the methane in the water has absolutely no connection to our operations in the area. We provided that information to the Railroad Commission, the landowners and to the EPA."

EPA: Natural Gas Driller Tainted Texas Aquifer - CBS News

When will government get out of business's face.

 

[uscitizen]

So the company doing the drilling believes there is no connection with the methane in well water and Their drilling?
btw for those who may not know methane is natural gas.

Of course they will deny it.

Strip mine companies denied polltuing water and damaging water wells when they blasted within 1 mile of the wells too. The wells were fine for 40 years till they started blasting.

 

[Mr. H.]

It will be interesting to see how this developes. Target zones are thousands of feet below aquifers and comingling or migration is practically impossible.

Why doesn't the EPA intervene and halt farming? So fucking hypocritical.

 

[Si modo]

I agree with the OP (and I'm a bit concerned about that).

 

[Old Rocks]

All one has to do is put 'fracking and aquifers' on google to get a bunch of horror stories.

EPA: 2 Parker County homes at risk of explosion after gas from 'fracked' well contaminates aquifer | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Texas Regional News

EPA: 2 Parker County homes at risk of explosion after gas from 'fracked' well contaminates aquifer

08:47 AM CST on Thursday, December 9, 2010
By RANDY LEE LOFTIS / The Dallas Morning News
[email protected]
Natural gas from drilling that used the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing has contaminated a drinking-water aquifer in Parker County, putting two homes at risk of explosion and triggering a federal emergency order, the EPA said Tuesday.

Also Online Blog: Energy and Environment

Link: EPA hydraulic fracturing information page

Get engergy industry news

Download: Read the letter from the EPA

Download: Emergency order from the EPA
The Environmental Protection Agency ordered Fort-Worth based Range Production Co. to take steps to protect the families and water supplies after the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates natural-gas drilling, failed to act, EPA Regional Administrator Al Armendariz said.

Railroad Commission officials "acknowledge that there is natural gas in the drinking-water wells," Armendariz said. "They want more data and believe that action now is premature. I believe I've got two people whose houses could explode. So we've got to move."

 

[Mr. H.]

Of the thousands of wells drilled in this manner, is there conclusive evidence of a direct correlation between the two?

Industry's stance is to let the science prove such. Until then, drilling will continue.

Individual states have in place very specific and restrictive rules with respect to drilling practices. Compliance is mandatory and closely monitored with inspectors on site during the cementing phases.

Shall we patently shut down all activity across the country? How about a moratorium ala Gulfbamagate?

States expend massive sums administering decades-old rules that are written into law, and they do it effectively. In doing so, they have "primacy" with respect to such laws. To have the EPA step in and attempt to circumvent a state's rights is redundant and counterproductive.

This issue with respect to hydraulic fracturing amounts to posturing by federal authority and serves no purpose whatsoever.

 

[waltky]

possum thinks frackin' must be sumpin' nasty - sounds like it...

Fracking blowback spooks energy industry
March 11, 2011: The energy industry has been taken aback by all the negative attention and protests over fracking and says it is looking for ways to improve.

The oil and gas industry is reeling from attacks on what it considers one of its most important technologies -- fracking. Protests across New York State, have temporarily banned the practice. Unfavorable coverage in the media and a scathing documentary film that was nominated this year for an Oscar also seem to have scared the industry. "We've done a terrible job at getting our message out to the public," one gas company executive said during a roundtable discussion on the practice at IHS CERA's annual energy conference. "Now we're locked out of New York."

Technically known as hydraulic fracturing, the process uses water, sand, chemicals and pressure to crack rock deep beneath the earth's surface, releasing vast amounts of previously unattainable oil and gas. It's unlocked a huge amount of new domestic energy, helped cut oil imports, and provided thousands of well paying jobs. Much of the technology has been used to increase natural gas supplies, which have the added benefit of being about twice as clean as coal when burned to make electricity. But it's also got a lot people concerned about its effects on drinking water, and unleashed a firestorm of criticism.

The GasLand effect: The Oscar-nominated film GasLand has been mentioned several times during this conference, which draws some of the most powerful names in the business. A recent investigation by the New York Times, which accused the industry of releasing radioactive water into Pennsylvania rivers without proper treatment, among other problems, has also been mentioned here. Industry representatives seem genuinely convinced that the practice is safe, and that the problem lies with the public relations message, not the technology. But several panels here have focused on ways to limit the risk to a company's brand, and the changing regulatory landscape.

The importance of water:

 

[Trakar]

How do you *thread* water?

Natural Gas Drillers being blamed for contaminated drinking water.

The EPA is unfairly targeting a Texas drilling company for local water contamination, when there is no proof they are responsible for the damage.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued an emergency order against a Texas gas driller Tuesday, accusing the company of contaminating an aquifer and giving it 48 hours to provide clean drinking water to affected residents and begin taking steps to resolve the problem...

When human drinking water is contaminated and a likely potential source of that contamination is identified, the reasonable and responsible course of action is to stop the operations that might be responsible until assessments can be made to determine to a whether or not there is any verifiable connection between those operations and the contaminated drinking water. The health and well being of the citizens of this nation are always a higher priority than the short-term profit margins of business. If there is no evidence of a connection, they've cleared their name and earned some precedential ammunition against future unsubstantiated claims against them. If their operations are found to be connected to the contamination, then reparations deservedly need to be made and new means of operation must be followed,...I see nothing wrong with that, do you?

 

[Mr. H.]

How do you *thread* water?

Natural Gas Drillers being blamed for contaminated drinking water.

The EPA is unfairly targeting a Texas drilling company for local water contamination, when there is no proof they are responsible for the damage.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued an emergency order against a Texas gas driller Tuesday, accusing the company of contaminating an aquifer and giving it 48 hours to provide clean drinking water to affected residents and begin taking steps to resolve the problem...

When human drinking water is contaminated and a likely potential source of that contamination is identified, the reasonable and responsible course of action is to stop the operations that might be responsible until assessments can be made to determine to a whether or not there is any verifiable connection between those operations and the contaminated drinking water. The health and well being of the citizens of this nation are always a higher priority than the short-term profit margins of business. If there is no evidence of a connection, they've cleared their name and earned some precedential ammunition against future unsubstantiated claims against them. If their operations are found to be connected to the contamination, then reparations deservedly need to be made and new means of operation must be followed,...I see nothing wrong with that, do you?

Yes I do. It's called agriculture. Probably the single most wide-ranging heavily polluting industry. And it's more unstoppable than Denzel Washington perched atop a speeding locomotive.

 

[Trakar]

All one has to do is put 'fracking and aquifers' on google to get a bunch of horror stories....

I, personally, think the issue of fracking is a bit overblown. When and where direct and compelling evidences of connection exist, then of course, responsible parties should be held liable, particularly when there are traces of drilling fluids and other indications that recovery operations directly contaminated aquifer/ground-water reservoirs. Unfortunately, too many of the "horror stories" I've seen trumpetted on the internet are far from this level of direct and compelling evidences of connection. I don't find various levels of methane in ground water to be a particularly strong piece of evidence against any drilling company,...on its own, even if its a recent occurence,...especially if there are underlying pockets of methane, which I presume due to the fact that the drilling teams are spending money trying to recover methane in the area. The best way to get this issue properly addressed may well be to have the EPA do some solid research, perhaps contracting it out to several of the big drilling companies with assigned EPA appointed researchers to better define and explore the problem and give industry some good guidelines and regulations to follow in such recovery operations.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

So the company doing the drilling believes there is no connection with the methane in well water and Their drilling?
btw for those who may not know methane is natural gas.

Of course they will deny it.

Strip mine companies denied polltuing water and damaging water wells when they blasted within 1 mile of the wells too. The wells were fine for 40 years till they started blasting.

Did you know methane is called natural gas for a reason? That it is quite common to find it in water, and is perfectly safe to drink? Why, exactly, does the company have to provide something they already have?

 

[Quantum Windbag]

All one has to do is put 'fracking and aquifers' on google to get a bunch of horror stories.

EPA: 2 Parker County homes at risk of explosion after gas from 'fracked' well contaminates aquifer | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Texas Regional News

EPA: 2 Parker County homes at risk of explosion after gas from 'fracked' well contaminates aquifer

08:47 AM CST on Thursday, December 9, 2010
By RANDY LEE LOFTIS / The Dallas Morning News
[email protected]
Natural gas from drilling that used the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing has contaminated a drinking-water aquifer in Parker County, putting two homes at risk of explosion and triggering a federal emergency order, the EPA said Tuesday.

Also Online Blog: Energy and Environment

Link: EPA hydraulic fracturing information page

Get engergy industry news

Download: Read the letter from the EPA

Download: Emergency order from the EPA
The Environmental Protection Agency ordered Fort-Worth based Range Production Co. to take steps to protect the families and water supplies after the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates natural-gas drilling, failed to act, EPA Regional Administrator Al Armendariz said.

Railroad Commission officials "acknowledge that there is natural gas in the drinking-water wells," Armendariz said. "They want more data and believe that action now is premature. I believe I've got two people whose houses could explode. So we've got to move."

Did you know that fracking has never been directly responsible for any groundwater contamination? Every single case of contamination ever investigated has been proven to be the result of faulty wells, not the process used in extracting the natural gas. Do you even realize that, even of some of that fracking fluid worked its way up through the sandstone into an aquafier, it would be filtered along the way?

I would think that you, being a person who claims to be concerned about the environment, would be supporting the extraction of natural gas reserves rather then forcing us to rely on crude oil and other, even dirtier, fuel sources.