I have a more thorough statement that asks for specific areas of focus for the study. I also submitted a CD last night full of industry’s own studies, the Manual for Independent Operators and statements made in court cases and media reports where industry incriminates itself by admitting how unpredictable the hydraulic fracturing process is and the many bore hole problems encountered.
Massive amounts of toxic and potentially radioactive waste is getting spread on our farmland and dumped in pastures and creeks. Unlined, unfenced drilling waste pits litter North Texas.
Texas has NO regulation specific to hydraulic fracturing. So, there is NO WAY federal regulation can interfere with state regulation in Texas.
If hydraulic fracturing is so safe, why does Halliburton need indemnification language releasing them from all liability of any kind including death, loss of water, subsurface trespass and radioactivity.
In Supreme Court, Garza vs. Coastal, industry was faced with paying $14 million for a subsurface trespass so they stressed how imprecise fracking is:
…fracture stimulation isn’t a precise science
You may plan a fracture that will go 1,000 feet, and it might go 2,000.
Tom Price of Chesapeake Energy says:
“These are surgical operations… (ProPublica)
Clearly the industry has much to learn about hydraulic fractures.
All hydraulic fracture models fail to predict fracture behavior precisely and in many cases, models fail completely
Manual for the Independent Operator:
“An improperly designed or poorly performed stimulation treatment can allow a hydraulic fracture to enter a water zone.”
People I know with contaminated water are spending thousands and 10’s of thousands for private testing. They do not trust state regulators.
UTGCD records show that of the metered sources, 1,146,598,272.73 gallons of groundwater was used in that district alone in 2009, a permanent withdrawal from our overall water budget. It’s not sustainable.
Under 1431 of the SDWA, I’m sending out an SOS to the EPA. We need you here. We need you on the ground. We need you now.
PHOTOS: EPA Meeting July 8, 2010
Links to media coverage HERE
About Sharon Wilson
Sharon Wilson is considered a leading citizen expert on the impacts of shale oil and gas extraction. She is the go-to person whether it’s top EPA officials from D.C., national and international news networks, or residents facing the shock of eminent domain and the devastating environmental effects of natural gas development in their backyards.
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The EPA is our one and only hope in Texas! Absolutely NO HELP from the RRC, the WCEQ and the crooked court system in Tx!
Thanks, Sharon for doing what you're doing! Hopefully the EPA can help protect the environment (something TCEQ and TRC don't appear to have the desire to do). The study on fracking is long overdo, and a good step. I hope they also take a look at what drilling is doing to the surface and air, as well as what they're doing to the underground water supply. Thanks again for your unceasing work.
Mark, we have a Wise County group of about 40. If you aren't already a member, contact me if you are interested.
Thank you Sharon for your testimony at the hearing, your research, your clarity of argument and all the many, many hours you invest in this blog. You are a resource and a strength for so many of us. Thank you thank you thank you!
Correcting one of the many lies repeated over and over by BIG OIL & GAS.
-FRACKING HAS BEEN USED FOR SIXTY YEARS.
"Houston oilman George P. Mitchell has been awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Gas Technology Institute. The founder of Mitchell Energy & Development Corp., Mitchell received the prestigious honor for pioneering hydraulic fracturing and drilling technologies that created a shale gas revolution…advances in drilling technology have made it possible for energy companies to extract large amounts of natural gas from the Barnett Shale. Devon Energy Corp. acquired Mitchell Energy & Development Corp. in 2002 and added the innovation of horizontal drilling to make shale gas wells even more productive. The two techniques have subsequently revolutionized the unconventional shale gas play."