There has been a lot of discussion lately about the demand on groundwater from its use to hydraulically fracture wells, and possible contamination of wells by hydraulic fracturing and improper completion of wells. Air Products and Chemicals is promoting the use of nitrogen foam instead of water in fracking in…
A recent article in the New York Times highlights the difference between “oil,” or “owal” as we say in Texas, and the heavy crude oil mined from Canadian tar sands. A major waste product of that mining is coke. The tarry substance mined in Canada goes through an initial refining process to…
The US Environmental Protection Agency has recently issued its report on greenhouse gas emissions under its Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, which for the first time includes comprehensive reported emissions from the petroleum industry. The report covers 8,000 facilities in nine industry sectors for 2011, and total reported emissions were 3.3…
The E&P industry is continuing to face public criticism of its use of fresh groundwater in fracing wells and its failure to disclose the chemicals added to frac water. On February 5, the Investor Environmental Health Network (IEHN) issued a press release announcing that shareholders have filed resolutions with Cabot O&G, Chevron,…
A client recently suggested that I should write about landfarming – the practice of disposing of drilling mud and cuttings by spreading it over land. Drilling mud is the common term for the fluid used in the process of drilling a well. It is made up of a mixture of…
FrackNation is a documentary by Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney, journalists from Ireland, in response to Josh Fox’s Gasland. It recently premiered in several locations and now can be seen on Mark Cuban’s cable channel AXS. I watched it this week, and it can be seen again on AXS February…
The University of Texas’ Burear of Economic Geology has issued a draft report updating an earlier report on water use by the oil and gas industry in Texas. Among its conclusions: Movement of shale plays into oil-rich areas of the Eagle Ford and West Texas’s Permian Basin have resulted in…
News items of interest: The University of Pennsylvania’s Center of Excllence in Environmental Toxicology has organized a group of researchers from UPa, Columbia, Johns Hopkins and the University of North Carolina to study whether the drilling in the Marcellus Shale play is hazardous to human health. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/21/taking-a-harder-look-at-fracking-and-health/ Here is a…
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is scheduled to decide whether the Lesser Prairie Chicken should be listed as an endangered species. Its Texas habitat is in the Panhandle and West Texas. The bird’s habitat extends into Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas and Oklahoma: The listing could have an adverse…
The Texas Groundwater Protection Committee has a new website that provides a wealth of information and links for those interested in groundwater resources and regulation in Texas. The Committee was created by the Texas Legislature in 1989 to provide coordination among nine state agencies that deal with groundwater: the Texas…
