A major issue in shale plays is the use of underground supplies of fresh water to fracture-stimulate the well. Horizontal shale wells are fracture-treated with fresh water to which various chemicals are added, and huge volumes of fresh water are needed. A 5,000-foot lateral horizontal well will use up to…
John Hanger, head of the agency responsible for regulating the oil and gas industry in Pennsylvania, said in an interview by the Philadelphia Inquirer that the movie Gasland, by Josh Fox, was “fundamentally dishonest” and “a deliberately false presentation for dramatic effect,” and called Fox a “propagandist.” Hanger was interviewed…
Remarkably, three full-length documentaries are in circulation about the perils and benefits of the new shale drilling boom in the US. The first, Gasland, relates stories of the horrors caused by drilling in locations across the country. It won an award at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, and is now showing…
Bryan Shaw, Chariman of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, published a letter in the Fort Worth Star Telegram assuring Fort Worth that there was no immediate health risk from contamination of air caused by oil and gas activities in the region. Shaw assured residents that “the TCEQ can state,…
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PDEP) on Monday ordered EOG Resources to suspend all drilling operations in Pennsylvania pending investigation of an EOG well blowout on June 3 in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania. EOG had previously said it planned to drill 40 wells in the Marcellus Shale in 2010, and…
The Texas Department of State Health Services issued its report on results of blood and urine samples taken from 28 residents of the tiny town of Dish, in Denton County, Texas. The report concludes that there is no evidence from those tests that the residents have elevated levels of airborne toxins…
Gasland is a film documentary about the dangers caused by hydraulic fracturing of gas wells being drilled in shale plays across the U.S. It won a Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival this year. It was filmed by Josh Fox, whose family owns land in Pennsylvania that is in the…
The Park Foundation has submitted a resolution for consideration at ExxonMobil’s annual meeting urging ExxonMobil to prepare a report on the environmental impact of fracturing operations and what can be done to reduce or eliminate environmental hazards caused by hydraulic fracturing. The proposal, and ExxonMobil’s response, provide a good summary…
An interesting article by Joe Carroll of Bloomberg News explores the problems faced by South Texas Ranchers seeking to require cleanup of old oilfield contamination. These problems are widespread in Texas and in my opinion the Texas Railroad Commission is ill equipped to address the problems.
The Bureau of Land Management has signed a settlement agreement in which it agreed to “suspend” oil and gas leases covering BLM lands in Montana until it has completed a review of the effect of oil and gas development on greenhouse gas emissions. The settlement was entered in Montana Environmental…