Flowback

Flowback is the wastewater produced by each and every fracking well all over the US (and other countries as well).  Fracking for natural gas is popping up all over the country, but the Marcellus shale drilling is of a particular concern for me because it's nearby, affects my drinking water, structural safety of my home and surrounding infrastructure, and what I've read about the most. 

These frack well sites can use an estimated 2-9 million gallons of fluid (mostly water) per well head is needed for one horizontal drill and 10-20 wellheads are found on each, taking about 5 acres of land per drill pad.  Frack fluid is injected into a well and roughly 1/2 of the flowback returns to the surface with the extracted natural gas/oil. 

The Marcellus Shale is known to contain natural gas and oil, but also "toxic metals, salts, and radionuclides" (Kargbo, Wilhelm, & Campbell, 2010) which are remnants from the Devonian age trapped in this geological formation.  Kargbo, Wilhelm, & Campbell (2010) go on to say that "...Devonian-age shales contain naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM), such as uranium (U)and thorium (Th) and their daughter products, 226Ra and 228Ra". 

In the Marcellus Shale area, there are not many injection wells available to dispose of the frack fluid (because of sub-surface instability from what, I'm not sure but can assume it has something to do with intensive natural gas/oil/coal extraction), so we rely heavily on wastewater treatment facilities which poses a bigger challenge to this area on how to keep these hazardous materials out of drinking water.  Needless to say, the industry is racing head-long into the unknown--aka ignoring and/or investing in sound science and research to prevent long-term pollution and expensive clean-up/remediation costs of fresh water drinking sources (costs which will be placed squarely on the shoulders of the tax payers through future Superfund sites requiring clean-up). 

Since there is no way with modern technology to bring only the natural gas/oil to the surface, the NORM, toxic metals and salts are brought to the surface in the flowback, too, along with the industry's secret cancer-causing additives to make the natural gas/oil flow out of the shale easier.  The flowback is transported to wastewater treatment facilities then expelled into surface streams, rivers, and watersheds where toxins can migrate into wells and aquifers.  This introduces technologically enhanced NORM (TENORM) into the surface environment.  In other words, the industry is taking NORM and other harmful stuff that was sequestered underground (several hundred million years ago) during/after the Devonian age and bringing it back to the surface environment to contaminate fresh water systems that the general population and wildlife need to survive. 

By the EPAs own admission, "many [wastewater treatment facilities] are not properly equipped to treat this type of wastewater", but the EPA plans to have a "proposed rule" in place by 2014 to ensure drinking water safety.  The EPA is also "evaluating industrial practices" of the design, operation, maintenance, and closure of holding pits and ponds that hold the flowback before it is transported to a wastewater facility and/or reused for fracking. 

Until I researched flowback, I wasn't aware that any company reused frack fluid although reuse is dependant on "levels of pollutants" and the proximity to a well that could reuse this fluid.  I would hope the industry would consider to use it on the other 9 to 19 wellheads on the same 5-acre pad as many times as they can so we can save a little water for minor uses like drinking and/or bathing :)   

The Green Dragon

Today is the Chinese New Year, so in my unusual way I'd like to celebrate with a post to raise awareness about the terrifying Environmental Movement that is taking the world by storm.  It is called the "Green Dragon" and is a danger to the world!  Take heed of my words!  Green dragons are the bane of human existence who spread death and destruction across the globe in their quest of all that is green.  They plunder the poor in their march towards clean air, fresh water, and their pursuit towards equitable and fair lives for all people of the Earth.  Beware!  The information shared is not for the faint of heart who fear all things green--much like Cloe my kitty--see Ms. Kitty catches a bird!!!:)

Resisting the Green Dragon is a 12-disc DVD collection for the low price of $49.99 designed to educate me about the Environmental Movement.  I'm told the Environmental Movement is "[w]ithout a doubt one of the greatest threats to society and the church today".  Whoa!  I'm confused I thought it was President Obama and the Democrats--thank goodness they offer a 12 minute preview that explains this new threat.  Just enter your password RESIST to view it here.  The preview was enough to scare the you-know-what out of me (could it be Satan?).  This short video explains that the Environmental Movement, headed by their god the Green Dragon, has become a "new religion" with its "twisted view" of nature that places--God forbid--humans on equal ground with nature.  The Green Dragon suggests that in order to have healthy people nature must be healthy, too.  Where will the madness end?  Our faith tells us we have a God-given right to dominate the earth and burn fossil fuels!  We should continue spending $600 billion a year buying overseas oil and leave our country in the hands of Big Oil in order to celebrate the glory of God.  It's His plan for us, don't you see?  We don't need CO2 levels below 350 ppm--after all 10% of what we exhale is CO2 and the trees need it!  How dare they tell us that breathing kills nature.  What nonsense.  We don't need those pesky mountain tops blocking our view of the ocean and land.  We should have an uncluttered view of God's plan for us--level those mountains, take the coal and build a sterile parking lot at the flattened top of those mountains as a monument of our superiority and dominance over nature.  We need a clear and unadulterated view of our deep sea drilling platforms and fracking wells that we have erected to show Him our awe and respect for all that He has provided.  We don't need clean air, oceans, or anything green because the earth is not fragile but a globe full of goodies just waiting for us to exploit, plunder, and pollute.  Best of all it will bounce back and continue to provide us with more!  It was created for us to care for in anyway we see fit.  We must resist logic, facts and reality in order to conform to the teachings of the Holy Trinity:  King Coal, Oil, and Natural Gas.  God is not nature and we should not entertain thoughts of religious communion with it for any reason. We must remain separate from this world and not allow any thoughts about how our dominance has destroyed nature or its natural balance.  This sort of critical thinking leads to our rights being taken away by the guv-ment, economic destruction, and forces us think about starving children in "third world" countries.  Worse of all, if we listen to the Green Dragon we'll come together as one to protect our biosphere and work together to solve the biggest crisis that we face today.  God wouldn't want any of us to worry about these minuscule problems, but about how we can plod through life with our blinders on ignoring the world and people around us. 

Now, let us pray and bow our heads to thank Big Oil, the Almighty Dollar, and the Prince of Wars for Oil for He shall provide us with all our needs. 

Amen.