Marcellus Outreach Butler
Connect with us
  • Home
  • Get Involved
    • Join Our Mailing List
    • Write Letters to the Editor
    • Contact Elected Officials
    • Track Permit Activity
    • Local Groups
    • PAF Farmers Letter to Governor Wolf
  • Concerned?
    • Krendale Neighbors
    • Emergency Contacts for Gasfield Residents
    • File a Complaint or Report an Incident
    • Property Values
    • Before You Sign a Lease
    • Water Testing
  • Fracking Impacts
    • Toxic Chemicals
    • Human Health Impacts
    • First Person Experiences
    • The Impact of Act 13 (HB 1950)
  • Resources
    • MOB Generated Info >
      • Butler Water Supply at Risk
      • Bat Signal
      • Spill Baby Spill
    • Books >
      • Fracking
      • Climate Change
    • Films
    • Websites
  • Membership & Giving
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Blog

Long-term Environmental Effects

8/24/2013

 
Back in the old days, when we drilled for natural gas in “conventional” shallow rock deposits, drilling and fracking for natural gas raised barely a blip on the social controversy radar.  Now that those conventional deposits have been mostly depleted and we are drilling in “unconventional” deep shale deposits, using millions of gallons of water laced with a proprietary cocktail of toxic chemicals for fracking, natural gas drilling has sparked local, national and global opposition.

The reasons for worldwide fracking protests are manifold, but one area of particular concern is the likely long-term effects of unconventional drilling on groundwater aquifers.

Back in the old days of conventional drilling, it was economically feasible to capture up to 95% of the natural gas released from shallow rock deposits per well.  With unconventional drilling in deep shale deposits, that figure is generally placed in the 30-70% range.  Granted, 30-70% of the massive amounts of natural gas locked up in shale, combined with the number of wells being drilled, translates into an enormous amount of natural gas being captured, which is what all the recent crowing about shale gas production is about.

But not much is ever said about the 30-70% of shale gas which is released from the rock and stays in the ground.  Where does it go?  What does it do?

The natural gas that is released but not captured for human use is free to migrate where it will, including up the well-bore which facilitated its release, even after said well has been capped, and through whatever cracks and fissures, natural or man-made, it may find.

The gas industry would have us believe that between it and Mother Nature, the groundwater aquifers in shale country are completely protected.  We are told that the layer of rock between shale and aquifer is totally and permanently impermeable.  Not all geologists are in agreement on this.  Seismic forces can lead to fissures where none existed previously.

But the main focus of natural gas advertising is on the layers of concrete and steel which are placed between the well-bore and the aquifer.  That, we are told, will shield the aquifer from all pollution, be it methane or toxic flowback, forever.  Not so. Failure of well casings to prevent leakage is figured at 6-20% from day one to year five of a well, even by industry sources.

But let's estimate the integrity of wells out 30 years, 50 years, 100 years. How well are those concrete and steel casings going to hold up?   Think of your knowledge of the roads and bridges in western Pennsylvania. Steel rusts and corrodes.  Concrete cracks and deteriorates.  And that 30-70% of released natural gas will find those cracks and fissures eventually.  Eventually there will be 100% failure of steel and concrete casings across hundreds of thousands of wells throughout Pennsylvania, throughout the Northeast, throughout the U.S., throughout the world.  Aquifers will be polluted, by methane gas and by any residual toxic wastes from fracking that are not disposed of properly.

The “unconventional” wisdom of the gas industry seems to be: “Let's make a killing on the drilling now and clean up the mess later.”   It may well be a mess unparalleled in the history of human existence.

Indeed, drilling is just the beginning.

j.p.m.

Comments are closed.

    Authors

    Blog posts written by members of Marcellus Outreach Butler.

    Archives

    April 2017
    February 2017
    September 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    May 2011

    Categories

    All
    13
    Act
    Act 13
    Action
    Activism
    Air Pollution
    Alternative Energy
    Aquifer
    Banking
    Birth Defects
    Butler Township
    Cement Casings
    Chainsaw
    Challenge
    Chemicals Used
    Children
    Children's Health
    Civil Disobedience
    Civil Rights
    Clean Air Act
    Clean Air Council
    Clean Energy
    Clean Water Act
    Climate Change
    Commomwealth Court
    Concerned Health Professionals Of New York
    Constitution
    Constitution Pipeline
    Contaminated Water
    County Commissioners
    Court
    Cutting Trees For Pipelines
    Deception
    Definition
    Delaware Riverkeeper Network
    Dep
    Doctor
    Drilling Ban
    EMA
    Emergency Management
    Eminent Domain
    Energy Revolution
    Environment
    Environmental Impacts
    Environmental Regulations
    Evacuation
    Farmers
    Farmers Against Fracking
    Farms
    Farm Show
    Flaring
    Flowback
    Forest Stewardship Program
    Fracking
    Franklin Township
    Gas Industry Lies
    Gas Lease
    Gerhart
    Geyer Wellpad
    Governor Tom Wolf
    Grandparents
    Groundwater Contamination Cases
    Halliburtan Loophole
    Health
    Health & Safety
    Health Study
    Holleran
    Holleran-Zeffer
    Hormone-disrupting
    House Bill 1950
    Impact Fees
    Jackson Township
    James Cromwell
    Lake Arthur
    Law
    Law Suit
    Lawyer
    Legislation
    Long Term Effects
    Long-term Effects
    Maggie Henry
    Maple Farm
    Maple Sugaring
    Margaret Flower
    Mars Parent Group
    Mars School Board
    Mars Schools
    M.D.
    Middlesex Planning Commission
    Middlesex Township
    Moraine State Park
    Mortgage
    Municipal Water
    Nonviolent Direct Action
    Pa Constitution
    Pediatrician
    Pennsylvanians Against Fracking
    Pipeline
    Property Value
    Proposed Processing Plant
    Protest
    Radiation
    Rally
    Real Estate
    Renewable Energy
    Rep. Brian Ellis
    Residential Drilling
    Resist
    Rex Energy
    Rights Of The People
    Sacrifice Zone
    Safety
    School
    Seneca Valley School
    Sen. White
    Solar
    Stephen Cleghorn
    Stop The Frack Attack
    Supreme Court Ruling
    Sustainable
    Tar Sands
    Tourism
    Unconventional
    Vehicle Acidents
    Violations
    Water
    Water Testing
    Well Casings
    Well Integrity
    Wendell Berry
    Woodlands
    XTO
    Zoning

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.