Fracking concerns lead to more water tests in Wyoming

CHEYENNE, Wyo. -- The state of Wyoming, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and two American Indian tribes announced Thursday they have agreed to additional testing of groundwater that the federal agency says may have become contaminated by gas development that includes hydraulic fracturing.

They also agreed to postpone a scientific peer review of a draft EPA report on the contamination in the Pavillion area in central Wyoming until after the additional sampling and analysis. The peer review had been scheduled to begin within the next several weeks and now won't get under way this fall, according to the EPA.Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, uses pressurized water, sand and chemicals to crack open fissures within wells and improve the flow of oil and gas. A report released in December was the first time the EPA said fracking may have polluted groundwater in a specific case.

EPA officials have maintained that the report doesn't carry implications for the pollution risk of fracking in other geologic formations or fracking generally.

Gov. Matt Mead said Thursday that the U.S. Geological Survey will conduct two more rounds of testing before July. The first round of new testing could occur within the next month.

http://www.timescall.com/news/nationworldnews/ci_20136013/wyoming-water-tests-fracking-concern-pavillion

Fracking failing to crack China, Europe shale

Some shale formations in Europe and China are impervious to drilling techniques that opened vast reserves of natural gas and oil from Texas to Pennsylvania, said Rex Tillerson, Exxon Mobil Corp.’s chief executive officer.

New methods and tools will need to be invented to tap many of the shale fields that energy companies and governments expect eventually to yield a bonanza of fuel, Tillerson said during a meeting with analysts in New York today.

Exxon, the largest U.S. gas producer after its 2010 acquisition of shale driller XTO Energy, failed in its first two efforts to crack gas-rich shale fields in Poland. Gas discovered in a pair of wells finished during the final three months of last year didn’t flow, even after the company used high-pressure jets of water and sand to create fissures in the rocks.

“Some of the shales don’t respond as well to hydraulic fracturing,” Tillerson said during a meeting with reporters after his presentation to analysts. “It’s going to take research and time in the lab to understand that.”

http://business.financialpost.com/2012/03/09/fracking-failing-to-crack-china-europe-shale/?__lsa=0b97b816

Fracking in New York: Risk vs. Reward

(CNN) -- The battle over hydraulic fracturing in the state of New York pits farmers against environmentalists, neighbor vs. neighbor, as gas companies wait to find out if they'll be able to unlock the natural gas trapped in the Marcellus Shale formation thousands of feet below the earth's surface.

As a panel appointed by New York's governor looks into whether it can be done safely in New York, landowners look with envy toward neighboring Pennsylvania, where gas companies are paying in excess of $1,000 per acre plus royalties for the right to drill for natural gas on a property.

Hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, involves injecting a mixture of water and chemicals deep into the earth. The pressure causes shale rock formations to fracture and natural gas is released in the process. The fluid is then extracted and the natural gas is mined through the well. Some fracking operations have been linked to the contamination of drinking water supplies, and that led to a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing in New York.

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Ohio prepares shale regulatory proposals

Ohio governor John Kasich is preparing to roll out a comprehensive new regulatory plan for oil and gas production in the state that will include an increase in severance taxes on operators.

Ohio is home to the largest swath of the red-hot Utica shale play, an area rich with the oil and gas liquids operators are increasingly chasing amid low North American natural gas prices.

Kasich, a Republican, said his plan, which his administration has been working on “for 16 or 17 months”, will “help the industry be successful but at the same time protect the interests of Ohio and protect the interests of the environment”.

“We’re getting ourselves in a position where we don’t have to choose between good environmental policy and job creation,” he told reporters at the IHS CeraWeek conference on Wednesday in Houston.

He said his proposals, set to be unveiled next week, will require companies to disclose the chemicals used during hydraulic fracturing and impose tighter rules on gathering lines and high-pressure pipelines.

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Ohio earthquakes linked to deep injection of Marcellus Shale drilling waste

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A dozen earthquakes in northeastern Ohio were almost certainly induced by injection of gas-drilling wastewater into the earth, state regulators said today as they announced a series of tough new rules for drillers.

View full sizeThe Patriot-News, 2009A towering gas-drilling rig is shown in Susquehanna County in September 2009.

The state announced the tough new brine injection regulations because of the report’s findings on the well in Youngstown, which it said were based on “a number of coincidental circumstances.”

For one, investigators said, the well began operations just three months ahead of the first quake.

They also noted that the seismic activity was clustered around the well bore, and reported that a fault has since been identified in the Precambrian basement rock where water was being injected.

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New Report: Fracking Could Cause a New Global Water Crisis

New technology enabling the extraction of large quantities of oil and natural gas from shale and other rock formations could drive the world’s next great global water crisis unless it is banned, according to a new report released today by national consumer group Food & Water Watch. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, combined with horizontal drilling, is poised to become a global environmental and public health threat as the oil and gas industry seeks more access to oil and gas trapped in rock formations far beneath the ground.

“Fracking is a dangerous American export that should be viewed critically by countries just starting to engage in the practice,” says Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food & Water Watch. “Modern drilling and fracking have caused widespread environmental and public health problems, as well as posed serious, long-term risks to vital water resources.”

According to the report, Fracking: The New Global Water Crisis, countries around the world are grappling with how to address the push to drill and frack. In Europe, while France and Bulgaria have banned fracking in the face of strong public opposition, Poland has welcomed the industry. In China and Argentina, shale gas extraction is being developed with government support. In South Africa, pending an environmental review, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell may be granted permission to extract shale gas.

The report also notes that while natural gas has been touted as a low-carbon fuel, recent scientific studies have shown that the growing dependence on shale gas is likely to accelerate global climate change in the coming decades.

http://www.northcentralpa.com/feeditem/2012-03-07_new-report-fracking-could-cause-new-global-water-crisis

Niagara Falls says ‘no' to fracking wastes

A Niagara Falls water treatment plant won't accept wastewater from hydraulic fracturing after all.

The Niagara Falls Water Board, a public benefit corporation that provides water and sewer services to the city, had considered accepting fracking waste. They were examining the idea because of its revenue potential. In an article last month, the Associated Press said that there are no treatment plants in New York that can handle fracking fluid.� But an official at the Niagara Falls treatment plant told the AP that the facility, which was built to handle chemical waste, could handle fracking waste by adding some equipment.

Monday night, however, the Niagara Falls city council passed a law banning fracking-related activities, including the treatment of used fracking fluid, reports the Niagara Gazette. While the water board, not the city, operates the treatment plant, the ban would still prevent the treatment of fracking wastewater.

Niagara Falls has a long history of chemical production, and it has the infrastructure to go along with it. But the city is also the site of one of the nation's most notorious toxic disasters: Love Canal. If any place is going to be sensitive to new toxic activity, it's probably going to be Niagara Falls.

In fact, city officials have said as much. Consider this quote from City Council member Glenn Choolokian in an Associated Press article about the ban: "We can't be a test case. We've been through Love Canal. We don't want another Love Canal."

http://www.rochestercitynewspaper.com/news/blog/2012/03/Niagara-Falls-says-no-to-fracking-wastes/