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Gas Drilling 101- Dirty & Dangerous drilling mud pit PHOTO What is different about the Marcellus? There has been gas drilling for over 100 years in
conventional gas plays. But a new drilling process, called “high-volume
hydraulic fracturing,” has made the huge natural gas reserve
in the Marcellus Shale recoverable. Drilling will most often be
done horizontally in the Marcellus Shale. Extent of Formation Unlike other gas formations, the Marcellus is vast
and continuous. Although it varies in depth and thickness, the Marcellus
underlies the entire southern half of the state (and extends under
PA, WV, and eastern OH) (1) Marcellus development in NY is expected
to begin in the Southern Tier, along the Millennium Pipeline (which
runs from Corning to Rockland County), and to radiate North from
there. Hydraulic Fracturing (also known as hydrofracking-
"Fracking") Unlike in conventional gas reserves, the gas in the
Marcellus is trapped and dispersed throughout the shale in tiny
pores, and must be released in a process called hydraulic fracturing,
or fracking. In each fracking, 2-9 million gallons of water mixed
with sand and chemicals are forced through the well into the formation
at high pressure to fracture, or crack, the shale. Roughly half
the fracking fluid remains in the ground. The rest of it (1,000,000
to 4,000,000 gallons) comes up out of the well and is considered
industrial waste and must be disposed of. Each well may be fracked
up to ten times during its productive life Diagram Water Usage Fracking requires large quantities of fresh water.
Fracking the Marcellus will require many billions of gallons of
water over the next 15 years. This water can be withdrawn from lakes,
rivers, streams, wetlands, ponds, and wells. Because the water becomes
contaminated, it may never be returned to the watershed. (3) Fracking Fluids Most of the recent advances in fluid technology for
shale gas recovery are owned by Halliburton. The gas industry describes
fracking fluids as being “like soap and oil.” However,
because Halliburton classifies the fracking fluids as proprietary,
nobody knows for sure what is in them. Samples from well blowouts
and fluids pits in Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico found fluids
to contain diesel fuel and more than 200 different kinds of chemicals,
over 95% of which have adverse side effects including brain damage,
birth defects and cancer. (4) Fluids Disposal The produced water from the Marcellus Shale is toxic
waste. In addition to the added chemicals, the water picks up hydrocarbons,
heavy metals like arsenic, and radioactivity from the shale. (5)
Billions of gallons of waste water will be produced in our area
alone and will need to be trucked to a final disposal site. The
most common method of disposal will be Deep Well Injection Disposal,
where the waste is forced underground at high pressure into dry
gas wells. (6) Well Life Marcellus wells are long lived. They will remain active for decades, up to 40 years. (7) 40 acre spacing PHOTO Well Spacing Marcellus wells can be spaced in 40-acre units or
16 wells per square mile. An average town could contain up to 1,500
wells. (8) The photograph above is of the Jonah field in the Rockies;
this is what 40 acre spacing gas development looks like. Well Pad Size When hydrofracked and drilled horizontally, Marcellus
wells require large, industrial pad sites. Depending on how many
well heads it contains, a pad will range from 5-15 acres. Noise Like all natural gas production, Marcellus wells have
temporary noise pollution from drilling and fracking that will last
about a month per well. In addition, compressor stations will be
needed for every 100 or so wells, to bring the gas pressure in gathering
lines up to that of larger pipelines. Compressor stations are permanent,
extremely noisy, and run day and night. big truck little road PHOTO Traffic All gas development creates traffic in rural areas.
The large scale of development planned for the Marcellus, and the
fact that it must be fracked, translates to dramatic increases in
traffic compared to that generated by drilling conventional wells.
One well service company, Gas Field Specialists, uses tanker trucks
that can carry 5,460 gallons of fluid. If one well requires 2 million
gallons of water for one fracking, that’s 366 tanker trucks
hauling fresh water and 183 tanker trucks hauling waste water, for
a total of 549 tanker truck trips per well, per fracking. For the
average fracking, which may take 3.5 million gallons, that is 960
tanker truck trips. In Pensylvania, the DEP estimates that one horizontal
Marcellus well requires 1,000 truck trips during drilling and fracking. two flares, farm, and new well- PHOTO Air Pollution Each well site emits air pollution. In addition to pollution from diesel generators, drill rigs, trucks and other equipment, condensate tanks and the flaring of wells are significant sources of VOC’s and nitrogen oxide, which react with sunlight to form ozone. Proposed Marcellus Shale drilling in New York will be high density. In high-density drilling areas in Colorado and Wyoming, rural communities that were once pristine now have ozone levels higher than Los Angeles. Ozone can cause a range of respiratory health problems and lung disease.(9) ENERGY POLICY ACT OF 2005- key paragraphs: SEC. 323. OIL AND GAS EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION DEFINED. Sources: |
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