Before anyone thinks that drilling pollution is unique to DISH, Texas and before industry finished crafting their spin, please be clear: Texas is one big deepDISH!
From the hexavalent chromium in Midland, to the South Texas leaks, to the Barnett Shale, Texas is one big drilling waste dump.
To illustrate that fact, here is a map of a huge compressor station–bigger than the one in DISH–right next to a school in Springtown, TX. The operator is Enbridge
And here is a map of compressor stations in Fort Worth
And here are a few of the compressor stations around the shale
It’s DISH all over the place!
But, it’s not just the compressor stations. It’s just another dirty fossil fuel that needs better regulation.
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 Mayor and the people of DISH are to be complimented for trying to bring this bad and dangerous situation to the fore front. They used their own money. Many other situations like this in Tx caused by O&G operations.
Cheap fuel for America,not as dirty as coal.
Dear Cheap,
Two points:
1. Please provide a study or any research that proves natural gas is cleaner than coal. The only research shows that considered cradle to grave, natural gas is actually worse for the environment than coal.
2. Natural gas is a very costly fuel for those of us damaged by its production. How is it moral for a some people to be so horribly harmed both financially and physically so that you can have your cheap fuel?
Keep up the good work in keeping the people of Texas informed on the Truth of what is happening here in Texas. Compliments to the town of DISH of sticking to their guns! Grass Root efforts is the only way to get People to listen!
Every article that I have read (there have been several) have stated that CO2 emissions from natural gas are 40-50% less than that of coal.
I know that you are speaking specifically about cradle to grave, and that the way natural gas is produced makes it "dirtier" than how it appears on the surface, but have you considered the cradle to grave impact of coal when compared to natural gas?
I can promise you that natural gas burns much cleaner.
Some reading material:
http://www.catf.us/publications/reports/Cradle_to_Grave.pdf
Yes, coal and natural gas have been compared in one study and all the toxic drilling waste and methane and VOC leaks cancel out the slightly cleaner burn.
Here's some reading material for you:
Seeing Methane Leaks Through an Infrared Camera. You also have to consider the damage to our water, soil and the drilling induced earthquakes.
In who's book but yours does a 40-50% difference evoke the word "slightly"?
I'm not sure which study you are referring to, because the "study that you linked does not compare coal.
How many more millions of cars do you think that coal represents compared to natural gas? A whole hell of a lot.
I have shown you that coal is 40-50% cleaner burning than natural gas, and can back it up with countless articles. Where is your cradle to grave defense, backed up by numbers?
My original request to you was:
1. Please provide a study or any research that proves natural gas is cleaner than coal. The only research shows that considered cradle to grave, natural gas is actually worse for the environment than coal.
However, since you cannot back up your claim that natural gas is cleaner then coal, I guess I'll have to provide you with the following:
The following is an outline from James Lovelock’s book, Revenge of Gaia, pages 74-76. Lovelock is a member of Britain’s Royal Society (a scientific body) and originator of the Gaia theory, which postulates that the atmosphere, oceans, and biosphere (all life) compose a single system that regulates the Earth’s climate. I’m outlining this section because there is too much text to type in .
——————
To reduce global warming, governments welcome the chance to burn natural gas instead of coal or oil.
The main constituent of natural gas is methane – one molecule is composed of 1 carbon and 4 hydrogen atoms.
For the same amount of energy, methane combustion releases only 1/2 as much carbon dioxide as burning oil or coal.
Unfortunately, some natural gas leaks into the air before it is burned. Society of Chemical Industry’s 2004 report indicates 2%-4% of natural gas is lost to leakage. Most of the leakage is at production sites, but leakage also occurs in pipelines and in our homes.
Methane is 24 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
Methane has a shorter residence time in the air: 8% oxidizes each year.
In 12 years, only 37% of escaped methane remains, the rest having oxidized into carbon dioxide and water vapor.
Carbon dioxide has an effective residence time in the air of between 50 and 100 years.
If only 2% (the conservative end of the 2-4% estimate) of natural gas leaks before burning, it causes, over a period of 20 years, a peak global warming equal to coal burning.
If 4% leaks, natural gas causes 3X more warming than coal burning over a 20 year period.
The claim that natural gas halves carbon dioxide emissions is only true if there are no leaks anywhere (and also if the CO2 emissions from the very hydrocarbon-consumptive extraction process is not factored in).
Difficult to find estimates of natural gas leakage. An April, 2004 article in the journal Nature estimates 1.4% leakage from Russian piplines and 1.5% from US pipelines. This report does not include leakage at production sites or when the gas is burned.
Failure to consider the effects of natural gas leakage on global warming is a serious gap in our knowledge. The International Panel on Climate Change(IPPC) should study this phenomenon further.
In addition, you are exaggerating your numbers. Natural gas produces about 30% less carbon dioxide than burning petroleum and about 45% less than burning coal
You also must factor in the CO2 that is produced with the raw natural gas and is removed and vented to the air at the Amine Gas Processing plants which refine the raw gas. This ranges from about 2-15% of the produced gas. Then factor in the CO2 that is produced by the processing equipment (reboilers, etc) and compressor stations. This number is volumous and not reported.