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Fracking chemicals injected underground

WHAT IS FRACKING?

  • Water (5 million gallons)
  • Sand
  • Chemicals
  • Injected underground at high pressure
  • Fractures the rock, releasing stored gas
  • Key players: Halliburton, Schlumberger and BJ Services

 

Industry Point of View

  • Done safely for ~60 years
  • 99.5% water and sand
  • Chemicals have other common uses
  • Done a million times in the U.S.
  • Used in 9 out of 10 new wells
  • Happens 1,000s of feet underground
  • Has never contaminated groundwater

How the industry positions fracking fluid
FracFocus: Industry site providing frack constituents by well

 

The Reality

 

Frack water has 10,000x more contamination
than the EPA allows in drinking water

 

Frack water ingredients may have "Common Application," but
would you drink pool cleaner or antifreeze?

Chemical

Common Use
  • Acids
  • Glutaraldehyde
  • Sodium Chloride
  • N, n-Dimethyl formamide
  • Borate salts
  • Polyacrylamide
  • Petroleum distillates
  • Ammonium bisulfite
  • Sodium or potassium carbonate
  • Ethylene glycol
  • Isopropanol
  • SWIMMING POOL CLEANER
  • Disinfectant; Sterilizer for medical and dental equipment
  • Table Salt
  • Used in pharmaceuticals, acrylic fibers and plastics
  • Used in laundry detergents, hand soaps and cosmetics
  • Water treatment, soil conditioner
  • Make-up remover, laxatives, and candy
  • Cosmetics, food and beverage processing, water treatment
  • Washing soda, detergents, soap, water softener, glass and ceramics
  • AUTOMOTIVE ANTIFREEZE, household cleansers, deicing, and caulk
  • Glass cleaner, antiperspirant, and hair color

 

Latest PA DEP list of 80+ fracking chemicals

The first 5 chemicals on the list are:

  • 1,2,4-Trimethylbenzene
  • 1,3,5 Trimethylbenzene
  • 2,2-Dibromo-3-Nitrilopropionamide
  • 2.2-Dibromo-3-Nitrilopropionamide
  • 2-butoxyethanol


A typical frack job uses 25,000 gallons of chemicals

 

The “Halliburton Loophole” did fracking a favor

Under President Bush and Vice President Cheney fracking was exempted from significant EPA regulation.

The Safe Drinking Water Act Excludes Fracking

See it in the ENERGY POLICY ACT OF 2005.  Go to Page 102, Section 322. HYDRAULIC FRACTURING.

 

The Clean Water Act Changes the Definition of Pollutant

The word "Pollutant" no longer includes, "water, gas, or other material which is injected into a well to facilitate production of oil or gas"

See it in the Clean Water Act. SEC. 502 [33 U.S.C. 1362] General Definitions


P.S. Halliburton did not live up to its voluntary commitment to frack without diesel fuel anyhow

Despite agreeing to stop using diesel fuel when fracking in this agreeement with the EPA, between 2005 and 2007, Halliburton used 807,000 gallons of diesel fuel as a fracturing fluid.


FLOWBACK

  • Fracking-contaminated water that returns to the surface -- an estimated 20-70%
    • A substantial amount remains underground
  • Brines - very old salt-water deposits - uncorked during drilling come up too
  • Stored on-site in open, lined pits or tanks until trucked off-site for treatment

 

Industry Point of View

  • Stored safely in lined pits or tanks
  • Recycling of flowback water increasing

 

The Reality


Flowback water is highly toxic

Flowback Water
Chemistry (mg/L)

EPA’s Maximum Contaminant Level

Multiples of Contamination

Barium

6,500

2

3,250x

Calcium

18,000

1.3

13,800x

Chloride

116,900

250

467x

Iron

60

0.3

200x

Magnesium

1,300

1.3

1,000x

Strontium

4,000

4

1,000x

Total Dissolved Solids

195,000

500

390x

Note: All figures in mg/l (milligrams per liter) or ppm (parts per million)

 Source: Frackwater Treatment Company

 

What’s left after treatment?

100,000 gallons of “typical” wastewater produces 45,700 lbs of potentially hazardous sludge
 

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Independent Water Testing in the News

Wnep Interview

plus: WILK Interview with Doug Clark

EPA Links Contamination to Fracking

In this report, EPA links fracking to drinking water contamination.  The first "proven" case of contamination.

Contamination in Texas Too

The [EPA in Texas] has data to indicate that two private drinking water wells, and potentially more, have been significantly impacted by the methane contamination.

ProPublica, December 8, 2010


Marcellus Shale Drillers Amass 1,435 Violations

The Pennsylvania Land Trust Association identifies violations by 43 drillers

The Latest DEP List of Fracking Chemicals

80+ chemicals from             1,2,4-trimethylbenzene to xylene


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EPA Drinking Water Standards

Here are the EPA standards for the highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water

YOUR Air, Soil and Quantity of Water

If you are concerned about other impacts from gas drilling, additional baseline testing options are available.  We can help.  Please contact us.

Track Violations

DEP site that tracks violations