Deep Impact: Fracturing Planet Earth for Clean Energy Deep Impact: Fracturing Planet Earth for Clean Energy

1

Name University WGU Student ID#

Deep Impact: Fracturing Planet Earth for Clean Energy

2

Shale gas has been acclaimed as the solution for a clean energy alternative. It burns cleaner than both coal and oil. There are vast quantities located in several shale formations domestically, in the United States (U.S.). Natural gas is an odorless, colorless hydrocarbon composed mostly of methane found deep in the earth in formations known as shale. In mid-1997, George Mitchell, an independent prospector made a discovery that would change the natural gas exploration industry for the twenty-first century. (Hinton, 2012). The modification of the well completion technology known as hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and horizontal drilling allowed the oil and gas industry the ability to tap into natural gas reserves trapped in shale deposits miles beneath the earths’ surface. (Hinton, 2012). Mitchell found that forcing fracking fluid at extremely high pressure into the shale formations created fissures in surrounding rock releasing the hydrocarbons and capturing them in the well head. The fracking fluid, also referred to as slick water, is made up of water, chemicals, and sand. Heywood (2012) reports that members of the energy and commerce committee of the U.S. House of Representatives said that between 2005 and 2009 the oil and gas service companies were using over 2,500 fracking products with 750 different chemicals. Some of these chemicals are harmless including salt and citric acid. However, some are extremely hazardous to include benzene, arsenic lead, and methanol. The exact makeup of the fluids used by the industry is unknown due to protection by trade secret laws. In 2005, Congress passed an energy bill excluding the oil and gas industry and the process of fracking from the Safe Drinking Water Act, Clean Water Act, and the Clean Air Act. (Palliser, 2012). In the last decade, the industry has quickly moved to lease property and mineral rights in untapped regions of the U.S to include; the Barnett Shale in Dallas/Fort Worth and Denton, Texas; the Marcellus shale in Pennsylvania; West Virginia, Ohio and New York; the Bakkan shale in North Dakota, and the Eagle Ford Shale in South West Texas. However, like all cutting

Deep Impact: Fracturing Planet Earth for Clean Energy

3

edge technology, it has not come without risks, many of which are still unknown. Research shows there is increasingly more concern surrounding the use of fracking in the extraction of natural gas. Risks include; the contamination of drinking water, release of harmful chemicals into the aquifers, environmental hazards from air pollution, adverse effect to land, earthquakes, and the combined effects on urban communities. The first major concern is water, not only the water needed to perform the fracking process, but the waste water produced by backflow from newly drilled wells. Backflow is produced after the fracking fluid has made the necessary fractures and returns to the surface leaving the sand in the fissures to keep them open and allow the release of the gas into the well head. During the development process five (5) million gallons of water is used together with thirty (30) tons of chemical additives and sand. (Bishop, 2012). The waste water produced from backflow has the highest concentration of hazardous chemicals. (Bishop, 2012). If the waste water is not disposed of properly, it can contaminate local drinking water and compromise deep water aquifers. With this new technology have come new equipment and dangers from blowouts. Blowouts occur when upward pressure becomes too great. They are rare, but they do happen in about one-tenth of one percent. (Robbins, 2004). It was reported that in April, 2012 Chesapeake Energy’s Atgas 2H well was involved in a hazardous spill in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, due to a blowout, no less than ten thousand (10,000) gallons of waste water was spilled, which made its way into Towanda Creek. (Phillips, 2012). After the incident occurred, both Chesapeake Energy and the Department of Environmental Protection said, there had been no ground water contamination. However, when the Center for Disease Control (CDC) conducted tests in November, following the spill, water wells in the area were found to have high levels of methane and salts which are common to the fracking process. (Phillips, 2012). In a separate

Deep Impact: Fracturing Planet Earth for Clean Energy

4

incident, state regulators in Pennsylvania determined that Chesapeake Energy was responsible for the contamination of sixteen (16) water wells, and agreed to pay $1.1 million in damages. (Kramer, 2012). Underground aquifers may also be at risk during the fracking process. An aquifer is a saturated zone beneath the water table. It can be drilled to perform as water wells and it also feeds the ground water systems. Natural gas shale formations are found several thousand feet below these water aquifers. There is no guarantee that the fracking fluids forced into the shale will not migrate into other areas of the formations known as (leak off) and contaminate existing water aquifers. (Palliser, 2012). Environmental monitoring was conducted in Pavillion, Wyoming, by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) where there has been extensive fracking. High levels of toxic chemicals were found in the deep water aquifers surrounding the drill sites. (Palliser, 2012). The oil and gas industry is working to make this process environmentally safer by developing new formulations for use as fracking fluids. Halliburton has developed a product known as CleanStim. This fracking fluid is made from food products. Though it cannot be eaten, it eliminates the need for hazardous chemicals. (Heywood, 2012). One drawback to the new fracking fluid is that it is not effective when drilling into areas that have high levels of clay content. (Heywood, 2012). New technology is being tested but there is still no replacement as of the time of this research. The next major concern is air pollution from the gases which are emitted into the atmosphere at the drilling sites. Air pollution has been a hot topic since the industrial revolution. Factories have been required to reduce their emissions of harmful pollutants. Automobile manufacturers have redesigned auto exhaust systems to reduce carbon monoxide emissions over the last century. Methane gas, which is one of many pollutants released in the fracking of new

Deep Impact: Fracturing Planet Earth for Clean Energy

5

wells, is over twenty (20) times more potent than carbon dioxide. (Weinhold, 2012). Other pollutants emitted including volatile organic compounds (VOC’s), benzene, ethyl benzene, toluene, and mixed xylenes are classified by the EPA as hazardous air pollutants. (Weinhold, 2012). These air pollutants can have devastating health effects on humans and animals near the drilling sites. The pollutants released are known to cause; cancer, cardiovascular, respiratory, neurologic, and developmental damage. (Weinhold, 2012). They are also responsible for reduced visibility, damage to vegetation, and cause climate change. (Weinhold, 2012). New air pollution regulations are in the process of being implemented. On April 18, 2012, the EPA announced that pollution-control equipment (green completions) will be mandatory by January 1, 2015, which will result in major reductions of these emissions. (Weinhold, 2012). This equipment captures propane, butane, and liquefied natural gas which can be sold as a commodity at market value. Many of the larger companies are already using this equipment but smaller companies who are choosing not to implement green completions until 2015 are required to burn off (flare) the emissions. This practice is safer than straight venting although it still releases harmful pollutants into the air. In 2008, the EPA released VOC emissions by which oil and gas production lead all other industries. For example, oil and gas production released 1,688,454.83 tons of VOC emissions, compared to mining which released 1,886.09 tons and chemical manufacturing which released 99,470.59 tons. (Weinhold, 2012). Concern is growing about the adverse effect that fracking has had to land and national forests. Before a well can be drilled, a drill site has to be located and cleared so that a well pad can be constructed. The well pad, along with other infrastructure, encompasses at least 8.8 acres. One well pad will allow from four (4) to ten (10) wells to be drilled. It is expected that in the Marcellus Shale formation in Pennsylvania, six-thousand (6,000) to fifteen thousand (15,000)

Deep Impact: Fracturing Planet Earth for Clean Energy

6

wells will be drilled once the shale is fully developed. (Lampe, 2012). The Allegheny Defense Project reported that as a result of oil and natural gas exploration, one hundred-forty (140) acres of the Allegheny National forest has been clear-cut, and fifty-three (53) miles of roads and pipelines have been constructed. (Robbins, 2004). To build the infrastructure; roads have to be built, pipelines buried, forests clear-cut, wildlife habitat impacted, and water quality and flow has affected creeks and streams. Erosion from the clear-cutting of land for the well pad poses another concern. A common violation from the construction of well pads is the runoff created which causes siltation of waterways in the area. In 2002, the state of Pennsylvania announced plans to auction off 500,000 acres of forest to oil and gas exploration, twenty (20) to twenty-five (25) percent of state land with no public input. (Robbins, 2004). The public opposed the auction and in the end, 51,000 acres went up for lease. (Robbins, 2004). In recent years the U.S. has experienced a tripling of earthquakes in the Midwest, not historically known for this type of activity. It is believed that these earthquakes are linked to waste water injection sites (Class II wells) where the toxic fracking fluids are disposed. There are over 144,000 waste-injection wells in the U.S. mostly located in the Southwest Region. (Kramer, 2011). Kramer (2011) reported that Youngstown, Ohio experienced two (2) earthquakes in December, 2011, within a half mile of a waste water disposal site. It was found that the earthquakes centered near the Northstar I, Class II deep injection well sites where waste water was pumped underground at about 10,000 feet. It was found that the waste water acted as a lubricant to the natural faults which induced the earthquakes. There have been similar occurrences in other areas of the U.S all near Class II injection sites including Ohio, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. (Kenarov,2013) The largest earthquake to occur in Arkansas read a 4.7 magnitude on the Richter scale and damaged surrounding communities. Research has proven that

Deep Impact: Fracturing Planet Earth for Clean Energy

7

the number of earthquakes and their magnitude fell when waste water injection activity was halted. (Kramer, 2011). Finally, natural gas extraction, by the process of fracking, has seriously impacted urban communities. Not only are residents concerned about the health and environmental risks but also the inconvenience of having a drilling rig site within a few hundred yards from homes, businesses, and schools. When drilling begins on a new well, it is a twenty-four (24) hour, seven (7) day a week process, for the first three (3) weeks. (Robbins, 2004). Residents who live near drilling rig sites experience negative effects to urban living, which includes; increased noise levels, heavy equipment traffic, and twenty-four (24) hour industrial lighting.. (Robbins, 2004). Oil and gas companies drilling high impact wells near residential areas are required to install mufflers to keep noise levels below 78 decibels. Devon, an oil company in Fort Worth, Texas, is reported to have put residents in hotels for the first three weeks due to the noise levels produced by the intensive drilling process. (Robbins, 2004). County roads and bridges are, also, at risk. Water and fracking fluid must be hauled in and out from the drill site on a daily basis. It requires more than eight hundred (800) tractor trailers weighing in excess of 100,000 pounds to complete one well. (Robbins, 2004). These heavy loads damage roads and bridges requiring repairs which, also, increase the already heavy traffic. The health effects associated with fracking have been noted in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, where extensive fracking has occurred over the last several years. Residents that had leased their property for drilling started seeing changes in their drinking water. Soon after the change in the water, some residents experienced a series of skin rashes, stomach pains, and loss of weight. The farm animals, including dairy cows, were also affected with a similar rash. The symptoms quickly disappeared when the residents left the area. (Kenarov, 2013). Many

Deep Impact: Fracturing Planet Earth for Clean Energy

8

farms suffered economic losses due to not being able to market dairy products or sell cows. Many communities are also seeing the value of their land reduced due to problems with the drinking water and the unsightly well heads and pad sites left behind by the drilling contractors. The effects on the communities can be overwhelming when the drilling companies move into the small urban communities. Local residents will see an influx of people from other areas setting up housing, hotels, and other businesses which support the drilling industry. At first, it is a welcome sight to have a boom in the local economy. But once the wells are drilled and the infrastructure is established a large portion of the people move on to the next area. Residents are left with housing that cannot be filled which can result in lower real estate values in the community. These after effects can change the entire landscape, leaving pad sites with large storage tanks to collect waste water and pressure pipes to keep the gas flowing at high pressure through the pipelines. Research shows there are many risks involved with the process of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and that the oil and gas industry needs to be diligently researching the possible adverse long term effects. Natural gas has been touted as a clean energy resource; when burned, it releases lower carbon dioxide levels than either coal or oil. The U.S. has the largest natural gas reserves in the world and the fracking process has made the extraction possible. However, is the production of this clean energy doing more damage to our planet than its supposed value? Water is our planet’s most important natural resource, and is essential to all life. It is consumed as drinking water and is used to irrigate farms. Contamination of this resource could have grave future consequences. The air pollution created from the toxins, released while drilling, can affect both human and animal life. Then, there is the destruction of land and forests and the possibility of continual earthquakes in areas around the waste water disposal sites. All of these affect the urban communities and have residents living in areas surrounding these sites becoming more

Deep Impact: Fracturing Planet Earth for Clean Energy

9

skeptical of the industry and concerned for their personal safety. Some states have banned the practice of fracking, altogether, until more data can be collected. Steps are being taken to eliminate the use of toxic chemicals in fracking fluids though it is an ongoing development. A deep impact, created by the extraction of natural gas, for clean energy has been proven. Adverse impacts include; contamination of the water supply, increased air pollution, devastation of land and forests, and has induced earthquakes. All of these combined have not only affected the quality of life in urban communities but could, possibly, continue for years to come.

Deep Impact: Fracturing Planet Earth for Clean Energy

10

References Bishop, R. E. (2012). Shale gas development issues. Journal of Appalachian Studies, 18(1/2), 31-34. Retrieved from ERIC database. (ED85445970). Heywood, P. (2012). Fracking safer and greener?. TCE: The Chemical Engineer, (850), 42-45. Retrieved from ERIC database. (ED75042524). Hinton, D. (2012). The seventeen-year overnight wonder: George Mitchell and unlocking the Barnett Shale. Journal of American History, 99(1), 229-235. Retrieved from ERIC database. (ED75699961). Kenarov, D. (2013). Unlikely dissidents. Virginia Quarterly Review, 89(2), 160-179. (ED87119386) Kramer, D. (2011). Shale-gas extraction faces growing public and regulatory challenges. Physics Today, 64(7), 23-25. Retrieved from ERIC database. (ED62984528). Lampe, D. J. (2012). Environmental impacts of horizontal gas well drilling and hydrological fracturing. Journal of Appalachian Studies, 18(1/2), 34-38. (ED85445971) Palliser, J. (2012), Fracking fury. Science Scope, 35(7), 20-24. Retrieved from ERIC database. (ED71939139). Phillips, S. (2012). Bradford County blow-out costs Chesapeake more than $250k. State Impact. Retrieved from https://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2012/02/09/bradford-countyblow-out-costs-chesapeake-more-than-200000/ Robbins, E. (2004). The backyard drill. Planning, 70(8), 16-22. Retrieved from ERIC database. (ED13873595).

Deep Impact: Fracturing Planet Earth for Clean Energy

11

Weinhold, B. (2012). The future of fracking. Environmental Health Perspectives, 120(7), A272A279. Retrieved from ERIC database. (ED77667456).