Sadly injection is best option for fracking waste

Fracking waste has to go somewhere and the shale boom is creating massive amounts of fracking waste. I know you are tired of all the frackquakes caused by injecting fracking waste. Injection has activated dormant faults causing earthquakes in eight states and Texas is one of the lucky states experiencing induced earthquakes.

I know you won’t like it but this is the reality so please don’t shoot the messenger.

Injection is best option for fracking waste.

Currently there are no good options for dealing with fracking waste other than not creating it in the first place. The shale boom creates about 100 times the waste conventional drilling created. The API says each foot of drilling creates about 1.2 BARRELS of waste. (That’s each foot drilled to depth plus each foot drilled horizontally.) You can do the math on that because it gives me heart palpitations.

All this fracking waste has to go someplace. But where?

Here are some options for dealing with fracking waste. Let me know which option works best for your neighborhood.

Impoundment pits are an option industry favors. They can store the fluids in these pits and reuse it on other frack jobs. But they can only reuse the fluid a couple of times. After that it will remain in the pit until it evaporates or they will injection it into a disposal well.

Impoundment pits have not worked out too well. The volatile organic compounds off-gas into the air making the neighbors sick and degrading air quality. They also leak and contaminate groundwater.

Or you might like this kind of impoundment pit better.

How about one of these nice recycling centers?

One community is learning the hard way about the realities of recycling fracking waste.

Luzerne County is about to be hit AGAIN by the negative effects of the natural gas industry.

An application for a permit for a Frack Water Treatment Plant has been submitted to the County for Meeker Outlet Road (the old Harveys Lake Gun Club property), in Lake Township. As a result, three or important and irreplaceable water sources will be at risk.

Frack water is known to contain toxic, carcinogenic chemicals, and the application specifies that there will be 30 or more 20,000 gallon storage tanks installed at the site, as well as radioactive contaminant testing areas. In addition, anticipate a future with non-stop frack water trucks traveling 24/7, back and forth over our back roads.

Here’s another kind of recycle center.

This is the Fountain Quail recycling center. But I’m not sure they are still operating. Recycling is more expensive for operators so they won’t do this unless it is mandated. With low prices and a corrupt legislature, this is not a viable option right now.

A friend who toured a Fountain Quail facility said there were horrible emissions and spill and leaks everywhere.

Last but not least are the portable desal units. I think these would be the best option.

None of the above matters at this point because the Texas Railroad Commission has no intention of doing away with injection wells. I just wanted you to know that there are no good options for handling the fracking waste other that not creating it.

UPDATE: Creative options for fracking waste:

Fracking our food.

21 million gallons of oil field wastewater is sold DAILY to farmers to irrigate food crops in Kern County California.

Until now, government authorities have only required limited testing of recycled irrigation water, checking for naturally occurring toxins such as salts and arsenic, using decades-old monitoring standards. They haven’t screened for the range of chemicals used in modern oil production. LA Times

I took a FLIR video of wastewater pits when I was in Kern County. I had to wear a respirator. This is what they are putting on our food.

Don’t eat fish with tumors.

A smallmouth bass was caught in the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania that had a huge cancerous tumor on its mouth. See a video on CNN.

What else has been in the Susquehanna River?

• Drilling waste that XTO Energy a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil spilled there.
• Drilling waste intentionally discharged.
• Fish with abnormal black splotches.
• Runoff from drilling waste.

From the Department of DUH:

…people should avoid eating “fish that have visible signs of sores and lesions.” CNN