Fracking

From SourceWatch

Fracking (also often referred to as hydrofracking) is a process in which a fluid is injected at high pressure into an oil or a natural gas deposit to fracture the rock and release the liquid or gas below. The process has been used in Colorado and New Mexico ^[1], and in an expanded effort to use this method is underway to tap natural gas associated with the Marcellus Shale formation which underlies much of New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and other mid-Atlantic states.^[2]

The use of hydrofracking -- which uses enormous amounts of drinkable water along with toxic chemicals and which also releases radioactive materials and other hazardous substances in shale deposits -- has raised significant environmental and health concerns.^[3] In New Mexico, for example, similar processes have leached toxic chemicals into the water table at 800 sites.^[4]

Fracking fluids are "proprietary," and companies, like Haliburton have not been required to divulge the chemicals that are in them. As discussed in more detail below, fracking fluids have been exempted from the Safe Drinking Water Act.^[5]

Contents 1 Hydrofracking and the "Halliburton loophole" 2 Hazardous Substances, Drinkable Water, and Hydrofracking 3 Examples of reported health and environmental effects of fracking and fracking fluids 4 Articles and resources 4.1 Related SourceWatch articles 4.2 External resources 4.3 References

Hydrofracking and the "Halliburton loophole"

This method for extracting gas--a process called "horizontal hydrolic fracturing" and also known as hydrofracking--involves injecting a high volume of fluid into rock to release oil or gas, along with radioactive toxins and other hazardous substances in the shale.^[6] This method has raised serious environmental and health concerns. In New Mexico, for example, similar processes have leached toxic chemicals into the water table at 800 sites.^[7]

Yet, in 2005, at the urging of Vice President Dick Cheney, Congress created the so-called "Halliburton loophole" to the Clean Water Drinking Act (CWDA) to prevent the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from regulating this process, despite its demonstrated contamination of drinking water. (In 2001, Cheney's "energy task force" had touted the benefits of hydrofracking, while redacting references to human health hazards associated with hydrofracking; Halliburton, which was previously led by Cheney, reportedly earns $1.5 billion a year from its energy operations, which relies substantially on its hydrofracking business.)^[8]

According to ProPublica reporter Abrahm Lustgarten, the EPA under Christine Todd Whitman's tenure as Administrator engaged in secret negotiations with industry, while supposedly addressing drinking water issues related to a gas drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking."^[9] In 2004, the EPA undertook a study on the issue and "the EPA, despite its scientific judgment that there was a potential risk to groundwater supplies, which their report clearly says, then went ahead and very surprisingly concluded that there was no risk to groundwater," Lustgarten said in September 2009. "[P]art of my reporting found that throughout that process the EPA was closer than seemed comfortable with the industry. I filed FOIA requests for some documents and found conversations between Halliburton employees and the EPA researchers, essentially asking for an agreement from Halliburton in exchange for more lax enforcement. The EPA, in these documents, appeared to offer that and agree to that. And it doesn’t appear, by any means, to have been either a thorough or a very objective study." ^[10]

In June 2009 Representatives Diana DeGette, DeGette, John Salazar and Maurice Hinchey and Senators Robert P. Casey Jr. and Chuck Schumer introduced the Fracking Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act (FRAC ACT).^[11] The act is aimed at closing the 'Halliburton loophole' and requiring the oil and gas industry to disclose the chemicals used in drilling projects.

In late October 2009 the House of Representatives agreed to include a statement in the Interior and Environment Appropriations bill and report for fiscal year 2010 urging the EPA to reassess the impact of fracking on water supplies. The report stated:

"The conferees urge the EPA to carry out a study on the relationship between hydraulic fracturing and drinking water, using a credible approach that relies on the best available science, as well as independent sources of information. The conferees expect the study to be conducted through a transparent, peer-reviewed process that will ensure the validity and accuracy of the data. EPA shall consult with other federal agencies as well as appropriate state and interstate regulatory agencies in carrying out the study, and it should be prepared in accordance with EPA quality assurance principles."^[12]

Hazardous Substances, Drinkable Water, and Hydrofracking

To force natural gas out of shale or rock, millions of gallons of fresh, drinkable water are forced through a pipe drilled into the shale. A variety of chemicals are added to the water to keep the fractures in the shale open and keep the gas flowing to the surface. While there is no complete list of the cocktail of chemicals used in this process, information obtained from environmental clean-up sites demonstrates that known toxins are routinely being used, including hydrochloric acid, diesel fuel (which contains benzene, tuolene, and xylene) as well as formaldehyde, polyacrylimides, and chromates.^[13] These chemicals include known carcinogens and other hazardous substances.

According to the Union of Concerned Scientists:

"When an EPA study concluding that hydraulic fracturing "poses little or no threat" to drinking water supplies was published in 2004, several EPA scientists challenged the study's methodology and questioned the impartiality of the expert panel that reviewed its findings. The Bush administration has strongly supported hydraulic fracturing, an oil extraction technique developed by Halliburton Co., but environmental groups as well as scientists within the EPA have warned that the practice may contaminate drinking water and needs to be regulated."^[14]

For more information on the environmental impact of hydrofracking on U.S. residents and efforts to close the Halliburton loophole, see http://www.earthworksaction.org/pubs/JointFS_HalliburtonLoophole.pdf.

Examples of reported health and environmental effects of fracking and fracking fluids

On April 17, 2008, an emergency room nurse in Durango, Colorado named Cathy Behr was working when a rig worker named Clinton Marshall (employed by the energy-services company Weatherford International) was brought in complaining of nausea and headaches. Weatherford reported that he had been caught in a fracturing fluid spill. According to Behr, the chemical stench was "buckling." Since they were unaware of what chemicals were present, the emergency room took no chances and locked down the facility, and the staff was ordered to put on protective gowns and masks. Behr had been nursing Marshall unprotected for ten minutes prior to donning protective gear. A few days after her exposure to Marshall and the fracking fluids with which he was soaked, Behr's skin turned yellow; she started vomiting and retaining fluid. Her husband rushed her to Mercy Hospital, where she was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit. The doctors found she had a swollen liver, erratic blood counts and lungs filling with fluid. "I couldn't breath," she said of the incident. "I was drowning from the inside out." She was diagnosed with chemical poisoning.^[15]

In September, 2009, an estimated 8,000 gallons of fracking fluid spilled into a creek near Dimock, Pennsylvania. The spill was blamed on "faulty pipe work" and resulted in a significant fish kill and other fish “swimming erratically,” according to Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection.^[16]

Residents of Garfield County, Western Colorado, have reported that their water wells have been contaminated by undisclosed chemicals contained in fracking solutions.^[17]

Articles and resources

Related SourceWatch articles

Marcellus Shale

External resources

References

1. ↑ Jeff Moscou A Toxic Spew? Officials worry about impact of 'fracking' of oil and gas Newsweek. August 20, 2008
2. ↑ Catskill Mountainkeeper, "Marcellus Shale: The Marcellus Shale – America's next super giant", Catskill Mountainkeeper website, accessed March 2009.
3. ↑ "What Is Hydraulic Fracturing?", ProPublica, accessed October 2009.
4. ↑ Abrahm Lustgarten, "New York’s Gas Rush Poses Environmental Threat", ProPublica, July 22, 2008.
5. ↑ Jeff Moscou A Toxic Spew? Officials worry about impact of 'fracking' of oil and gas Newsweek. August 20, 2008
6. ↑ "What Is Hydraulic Fracturing?", Pro Publica, undated, accessed October 2009.
7. ↑ Abrahm Lustgarten, "New York’s Gas Rush Poses Environmental Threat", ProPublica, July 22, 2008.
8. ↑ Tom Hamburger and Allen C. Miller, "Halliburton's Interests Assisted by the White House", Los Angeles Times, October 14, 2004.
9. ↑ See http://www.democracynow.org/2009/9/3/fracking_and_the_environment_natural_gas.
10. ↑ Interview with Abrahm Lustgarten, "Fracking and the Environment: Natural Gas Drilling, Hydraulic Fracturing and Water Contamination," Democracy Now!, September 3, 2009.
11. ↑ "Senators, Representatives act to close Halliburton Loophole in the Safe Drinking Water Act", Media Release, June 9, 2009.
12. ↑ Congressman Maurice Hinchey, "Congress Gives Final Approval to Hinchey Provision Urging EPA to Conduct New Study on Risks Hydraulic Fracturing Poses to Drinking Water Supplies", Media Release, October 29, 2009.
13. ↑ Weston Wilson, Letter to Senators Allard and Campbell and Representative DeGette, October 8, 2004. This letter, from a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Employee, describes how the Bush Administration's EPA produced a scientifically unsupportable conclusion that hydrofracking should not be regulated under the Clean Water Drinking Act.
14. ↑ Union of Concerned Scientists, "EPA Findings on Hydraulic Fracturing Deemed 'Unsupportable'", Union of Concerned Scientists website, undated, accessed October 2009.
15. ↑ Jeff Moscou A Toxic Spew? Officials worry about impact of 'fracking' of oil and gas Newsweek. August 20, 2008
16. ↑ David O. Williams Fracking fluid kills fish in Pennsylvania stream, state enviro officials say Colorado Independent. September 22, 2009
17. ↑ David O. Williams Fracking fluid kills fish in Pennsylvania stream, state enviro officials say Colorado Independent, September 22, 2009