Fracking

It's called unconventional for a reason. Although fracking has been used in some vertical wells, the old wells were shallow (less than 1/4 mile in depth) and did not take up nearly as much space, use nearly as many chemicals, or consume nearly as much water. Drillers bore at least a mile under the surface vertically, then go off horizontally, sending water, chemicals, and sand out of the drill at extremely high pressure, creating fissures in the rock that can allow fluid to migrate in all directions and find unknown fault lines. This carries with it seismic hazards for pipelines and other underground infrastructure. A typical horizontal well pad can take up to 25 acres of surface with access roads, storage ponds, well heads, and equipment storage. This is not the 1/2 - 2 acres taken up by the old style vertical wells. This is a major disturbance, with noise, air pollution, light pollution, traffic, and sometimes toxic spills, leaks, and runoff heading for surface or groundwater resources, and sometimes private water wells. The waste water must then be disposed of, usually underground, in abandoned wells or other places, where it can find its way into fissures and unknown fault lines, causing groundwater contamination and earthquakes. The Marcellus stratum is highly radioactive, containing isotopes such as radium-226 and -228, uranium-235 and -238, thorium-232, and lead-214. Make no mistake, these alpha and beta particles are very real health hazards, we are finding them more and more in our water supply, and they cannot be removed by conventional means.

The Problem

The infrastructure for natural gas includes wells and well pads, pipelines, injection wells for waste, industrial landfills or special "cells" within municipal landfills, and compressor stations. All along this system are opportunities for toxins to be released into the environment. Loose regulations, lack of oversight, weak penalties, and lack of enforcement together put our communities at risk for very large, and often unsolvable, problems. As individuals who care about our state, it is often up to us to watch, monitor, report incidents, and follow up with the appropriate authorities. For a community that has been suffering from extractive industry oppression disguised as opportunity, it is difficult to break away from the mentality that has kept our people enslaved for over 150 years. But if we are to preserve the state's environment, culture, heritage, and public health, and secure our future, this is exactly what we must do.

This interview with Tony Ingraffea gives a great explanation of fracking's inherent problems.

Reduced property values & Other economic impacts

A horizontal well pad near your home, whether or not it is on your land, can reduce your property's value up to 25% or more by some estimates, and make it harder to get a new mortgage or refinance. West Virginia is one of the states where much of the land was split into surface and minerals around the turn of the century. Read more about your rights as a surface owner here. Landowners have to continue to pay property taxes on their land, while being restricted as to its use.

Water consumption and contamination

Drilling a well using hydrofracking methods in the Marcellus uses up to 9 million gallons of water, and more in the Utica wells, which are deeper. This water is laced with carcinogenic compounds and radionuclides, present in the shale. Radon gas is naturally occurring and comes from all black shales. The deeper you go, the more radon there is. This and other radioactive elements are present in both the flowback water and the drilling mud that return from the drilling hole. These must be disposed of in disposal wells, where they are supposedly far away from water sources. As we will see, this is not always the case. Learn more about NORMs here.

Climate change and fracking

It is now known that methane is the most potent greenhouse gas, and gas drilling is the greatest source of this climate warming gas. Additionally, leaks from infrastructure in urban areas and other downstream sources contribute in much greater measure than has been previously understood.

A cultural shift

When we consider the large-scale impact on our land, air, water, and roads, we must also realize that negative impact on these things bring negative impacts to our communities in terms of safety and quality of life. A lack of clean water, a healthy environment, and sustainable economic opportunity makes it less pleasant to live here, and will have a negative effect on business development and the composition of the community in general. Many people affected by fracking and pipelines are selling out and leaving the state, being replaced by extraction workers from other states. This changes the economic, demographic, and cultural landscape, and is a drain on our collective mind. It is time for a paradigm shift.

Learn more

More dangers from gas drilling are coming to light all the time, such as two new contaminants recently discovered in fracking water. Increased regulations, budget, and personnel are needed in WV to protect the public health from these dangers. A new study by the EPA has found that fracking has indeed led to water contamination. Ken Dufalla, of the Isaak Walton League, has found extremely high levels of radiation in Greene County, PA streams. See the informational video here.

A letter to Governor Manchin outlines the problems and possible solutions to West Virginia's water-energy conflict (OHVEC website).

Chemical hazards

Fracking happens deep in the subsurface (5,000 - 12,000 feet, depending on the formation) after drilling the hole. Sand and chemicals are used in a toxic cocktail, under great pressure, to fracture the shale. A 2011 Congressional report identified 750 different chemicals, 29 of which are carcinogenic, in fracking water. About 20% of this water returns to the surface, where it must be "safely" disposed of. About 80% of it stays underground, where it can migrate into older, more shallow wells, groundwater, and even water and gas wells. Many of these chemicals are regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Read more about the contents of frack water here.

The Waste Stream

Perhaps the worst problem of all in slickwater hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling is the waste stream it creates. Flowback contains chemicals, radioactivity, and high salinity brine that are all toxic to living things. This water must be disposed of underground, where it can cause earthquakes. If it is not disposed of properly, it can cause water contamination and resulting fish kills, creating illness for people in the area.

"Drilling mud" contains radioactivity from the shale and should be placed into an industrial landfill, but since we have none in WV, it goes into municipal landfills with special "cells." Leachate from these landfills then contains this radioactivity, which cannot be removed by any water treatment system. Ever. That means your water could be radioactive. It happened in the Pittsburgh area not long ago. Radium 226 and 228 at 60 times the "safe" level.

An example is happening right now in Fayette County, WV, where an injection well has been leaking into the local drinking water supply, Wolf Creek. The disposal site, which includes a deep waste well, several holding ponds, and storage tanks, sits on a hillside above the creek, and has been the site of a fight over its permit, revoked in 2014 and then renewed by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection in August. EDCs are associated with many health risks such as altered reproductive function in males and females, breast cancer, abnormal growth patterns and neurodevelopmental delays in children, as well as changes in immune function.

Air contamination

The diesel trucks used to carry water, pumps, and supplies to and from the frack site spew microfine particulates that have been found to be carcinogenic. This exposes workers on site, truck drivers, and people living near the sites. These trucks have to travel hundreds of trips in a day, or sit for hours at a staging area waiting to get onto the site, contaminating our air with hydrocarbons, heavy metals, volatile organic compounds, etc. Short term exposure to high concentrations of diesel exhaust/particulate matter can cause headache,
dizziness, and irritation of the eye, nose and throat severe enough to distract or disable miners and other workers. Prolonged DE/DPM exposure can increase the risk of cardiovascular, cardiopulmonary and respiratory disease and lung cancer. Compressor stations, used to move gas through pipelines, bring their own air pollution.

Political forces

Because industry spends millions per year on lobbyists and campaign contributions, it is difficult to effect change in this political climate. Fossil fuel subsidies number in the billions of dollars annually. In addition to the Big Money that supports this infrastructure, the culture of poverty in which we find ourselves keeps us from developing alternative energy and diversifying our economy, as we should be. That is why Mountain Lakes Preservation Alliance exists - to provide information to the general public as well as public officials and policymakers, to support the right to clean water and a healthy environment. The only way to counter the huge money spent on supporting this toxic industry is political pressure from an educated populace.

Articles

Fracking Linked to Increased Infant Mortality
A Dirty Dozen Reasons to Oppose Fracking
Fracking Poses Threats to Public Health
Life in a fracking county (Doddridge)
Producing Gas Wells by State

Want to learn more about fracking? See the Sierra Club Beyond Natural Gas Campaign Fr acking Fact Sheet here.

More Information on the Hazards of Drilling

The links below are by no means exhaustive, but should start you on your search for information.

$frack pad$

Property Values

Fracking the American Dream: Reduced Property Values
How Fracking Decreases Property Value
How Fear of Fracking Can Decrease Property Values

Frack Tracker helps you locate frack wells in your area.

Tracking Fracking

Community taxation issues

Nearly $30M unaccounted for in PA

Water Issues

Toxic water enters streams and rivers through spills, leaks, and leachate from landfills, sometimes finding its way into municipal water supplies, where it cannot be removed.

West Virginia's government recently accepted bids from drilling companies to develop gas from shale underneath the Ohio River. Read what OVEC has to say about that here.

Export issues

LNG market consolidation necessary due to market downturn

$fracking chemicals$

Chemicals and Radiation

Toxic Wastewater Dumped in Streets and Rivers at Night: the Allen Shipman Case Testing has revealed that residual waste is still present in the affected streams.

We know it doesn't happen all the time, but sometimes a truck driver with a load of waste water (referred to as "brine") will decide he's too tired to drive the long way to the injection well site or the waste water recycling plant and just let it go into a stream on a quiet road. Your mother told you not to drink the water and she was right!

News

Gas Glut and Slowdown in Gas Industry Creates Open Market - Gas Industry Depressed - a Bloomberg article

​Fracking Brings Ammonium and Iodide to Local WaterwaysRead the full study and others on fracking here

Opinion: Natural Gas not the Boom We Want

Not Your Granddaddy's Gas Well