Fracking: Jobs, exports, subsidence, water and hounding

I’ve been way too busy to keep up with all the news lately so this is a compilation.

Fracking Jobs:
OIL FIELD SERVICES: Workers in Eagle Ford file suit over wages, hours
Gayathri Vaidyanathan, E&E reporter Published: Monday, January 14, 2013

A group of oil field workers have filed a lawsuit against a Texas-based oil field services company accusing it of violating federal minimum wage and overtime laws. The workers allege that Superior Energy did not pay them overtime even though they worked up to 80 or even 100 hours a week for three years, said Allen Vaught, the attorney representing the plaintiffs. That would violate the Fair Labor Standards Act. Under FLSA, employees are entitled to overtime if they work more than 40 hours, at one and a half times the employee’s regular rate. But Superior Energy allegedly told the employees they are not eligible for overtime because they are salaried workers and get occasional bonuses. The lawsuit was filed with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Superior Energy did not respond to a request for comment by deadline. The company provides oil field services to operators on Texas’ Eagle Ford Shale.

Fracking exports:
MARCELLUS SHALE COALITION: ALLOW UNFETTERED EXPORTS
By Deborah Rogers

The question is, of course, whether the average American consumer should pay for the mistakes of a few imprudent energy executives?

There is also information about fracking jobs in this article.

A fascinating video about fracking subsidence and fracking stuff up:

Fracking water:
Report: As Drilling Grows, Fracking Using More Water
January 15, 2013 | 3:25 PM
By Kate Galbraith, Texas Tribune
***This study was funded by the Texas Oil and Gas Association.***

Jean-Philippe Nicot, a research scientist with the Bureau of Economic Geology who served as the lead author of the study, said that oil and gas association funding had not constrained his work.

Color me skeptical.

Galbraith fails again to mention that most of the water used is not returned to the active hydrologic cycle so it is not accurate to compare fracking water use to other uses. Also when mentioning recycling we must remember that much of the water used cannot be recycled because it remains in the formation. When addressing water use for fracking, mining and process frack sand MUST be added in with the total usage.

Here is the study. I haven’t read it all yet.

Life for women in a fracking boom town is not easy:
An Oil Town Where Men Are Many, and Women Are Hounded
By JOHN ELIGON
Published: January 15, 2013

It’s scary out there!

Fracking causes ozone: