Drilling companies caught lying about water usage. Sometimes the truth just slips out as it did when an oil field worker told TXsharon the truth about water usage.
As you should know by now because I’ve been telling you again and again and again and again and again and again and even again, there is no way to accurately determine how much water oil and gas drilling companies are using to drill in the Barnett Shale. We cannot depend on drilling companies to voluntarily supply accurate numbers.
Sometimes the truth just slips out.
A few weeks ago I was driving in Wise County when I passed a gas well that had been completed about a year ago. There were big pipes crossing the road and a temporary bridge so vehicles wouldn’t crush the pipes when they passed. I rolled down my window and spoke with the oil field worker who was monitoring the pipes.
I asked him what they were doing and he told me the well was being fraced. I expressed my alarm because I knew that well had already been fraced at least twice in its short life. He replied that they always frac them three times in the first year. But that’s not the worst of it! He said that after the three fracs during the first year, they are fraced every six months.
Is this the truth? I honestly don’t know? I do know that my research indicates that Barnett Shale wells are fraced often using between 3.5 and five million gallons of clean water for each frac. I also know that industry officials claim wells are usually only fraced once.
My point here is that we don’t know! We don’t know for sure how much water is used for oil and gas drilling. Just like we don’t know for sure what’s in the waste water they pump back into the ground. They can tell us anything.
Finally, we do know that oil field workers are told not to step in any spillage of drilling waste water because it is that dangerous.
I hope our County Commissioners will require strict monitoring of water usage and disposal now that exemptions have been eliminated for Ground Water Conservation districts.
photo credit: Winston Cooper
Also posted at Texas Kaos where we’re working hard to Take Texas Back!
About Sharon Wilson
Sharon Wilson is considered a leading citizen expert on the impacts of shale oil and gas extraction. She is the go-to person whether it’s top EPA officials from D.C., national and international news networks, or residents facing the shock of eminent domain and the devastating environmental effects of natural gas development in their backyards.
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And then we wonder why our water wells are drying up? When we run out of water, what the hell are we going to do?
Well, you’ll have to drill another one but they’re draining all the water out of the aquifer and the water table is now so low that it’ll have to be a pretty deep well. Takes lots of Ca$h.
Not only enviormental Corporate lies, but we as Democrats sit by and allow leaders to lie about bringing the Iraq war to an end, but continuing the lies on the orgin of the 911 account by the Government, ant covering the real truth about the collapse of the World Trade Centers, and the Bld 7 which is the smoking gun
Educating the public is the hurdle that you will face because of the culpability to lie from industry given by our leaders in the House and Senate (both State and Federal). In order to change things we have to first change the laws. In order to change the laws, public must have an idea of what is happening and why it affects them all over the state. Our county Commissioners Courts have now been allowed a minimal say into the usage that is the first step towards proving the numbers you talked about. This process is slow and I am afraid that it will be too late. Our county Commissioners in Parker and Wise have been discussing a GWCD and have been handed the oppurtunity to somewhat “Monitor” the industry, but can choose not to if they want. The public should be outraged and demand that they play by the same rules as every tax paying citizen that dwells in our counties does. BTW, the only reason why Phil King, Our State Leg. and chairman of the Regulated Industries committee choose to support Senator Fraser’s Bill was because he was a victim of his well running dry and wanted some answers. I began calling him over a year before asking for help on the Industries lack of regulating and the lack of support from our law makers. Phil King is a joke and is a crook who supports the tatics devised by Karl Rove and Perfected by Tom Craddick.
The Texas Railroad Commission has all this information. Searching on the internet about fracking will also give you all this information.
SAY NO TO GAS WELLS AND SAY YES TO HIGHER ELECTRIC AND GAS PRICES FOR THE PEOPLE.
Anon 10:52 You seem to be supporting the rape of our natural resources which will have long-term consequences for generations in trade for cheap energy.
SAY YES TO DRILLING. SAY NO TO DRINKING WATER.
I need one of you libs to explain to me what your solution is.
We’re dependent upon foreign oil but we can’t drill on our own soil. So what’s you answer?
We need to immediately invest in alternative energy sources and not the stupid corn deal. This should be financed partially by oil and gas.
Drilling can be made safer and oil and gas can certainly afford to play by the same rules we have. If you poured antifreeze and diesel fuel all over your property what would happen? You would get a hefty fine and maybe some jail time.
We need to enforce strict monitoring.
aug 08 – NPR (Day to Day) on KERA just did a segment on the Marsalis Shale (NY Ohio Pennsylvania) and fracking and water pollution and secrecy and “proprietary processses”.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93794554
First of all, it's called desalinization and it will be rapidly advanced when the time comes, as it's not exactly rocket science.
Secondly, it would be ridiculous to think that every decent university in the world is not researching alternate energy resources to the fullest. Also, oil companies are investing huge sums of money into alternate energy. I agree that ethanol is a joke but I definitely don't see you TXsharon doing anything productive to solve the crisis.
Lastly, TXsharon, I've just finished reading all of your posts and they are ridiculous and outlandish. You attack anyone who responds saying that they have no facts when their posts are full of facts and your sources are other left wing bloggers and Brett Shipp (who is a complete moron). You obviously have no real education in oil and gas drilling methods and simply thrive on other bloggers' information. Each of the explosions you referred to in your posts were of natural gas being distributed by utilities companies such as Atmos Energy, but you somehow left this out. I agree that it's an incredibly dangerous situation but to use the explosions in false context further demotes your credibility. As a side project I think you should start snooping around the Comanche Peak Nuclear Power reactor (located about 50 miles southwest of Dallas) and try to get them to disclose everything that goes on there as these have a much higher potential for destruction. Do something productive and get a job, maybe pay some taxes so our government can afford to fund the research that you so urgently demand.
LOL!
#1 You're a liar! I can see every post that you've read and you certainly haven't read them all by a LONG shot. So, I don't really feel like addressing the additional BULLSHIT in your comment because you started off with a lie.
If you want to report on the nuclear plant, get your own blog.
How would you be able to tell what I have and haven't read if I'm anonymous? And this is just what I was talking about, trying to discredit any person with an opposing view point. As for the nuclear plant, since I cleared up the drinking water issue I just figured I would try to replace it with something that could really be daunting.
Thanks for your time, I know it's valuable especially since you were so quick to respond to my post.
You need to get out a little.
Your computer has an IP address. When you click on a post on my blog, my statcounter logs your IP address.
You found my blog from an old post on Burnt Orange Report and clicked over here from there.
Here ya go!
IP Address 206.124.13.226
Country United States
Region Colorado
City Lakewood
ISP Forethought.net
Returning Visits 0
Visit Length 2 hours 54 mins 46 secs
VISITOR SYSTEM SPECS
Browser MSIE 7.0
Operating System Windows XP
Resolution Unknown
Javascript Enabled
Navigation Path
Date Time WebPage
June 15th 2009 03:05:15 PM http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/4421/
txsharon.blogspot.com/2007/10/update-injection-well-fire-in-keene.html
June 15th 2009 04:09:14 PM http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/3970/
txsharon.blogspot.com/2007/08/barnett-shale-drilling-depleting-and.html
June 15th 2009 05:35:04 PM txsharon.blogspot.com/2007/08/barnett-shale-drilling-depleting-and.html
txsharon.blogspot.com/2007/08/senator-chris-dodd-vs-bill-oreilly.html
June 15th 2009 05:35:50 PM txsharon.blogspot.com/2007/08/senator-chris-dodd-vs-bill-oreilly.html
txsharon.blogspot.com/2008/12/frac-water-chemicals-chemical.html
June 15th 2009 05:48:04 PM No referring link
txsharon.blogspot.com/2007/08/barnett-shale-drilling-depleting-and.html
June 15th 2009 06:00:01 PM No referring link
txsharon.blogspot.com/2007/08/barnett-shale-drilling-depleting-and.html
I suppose I read all that I could find on Burnt Orange Report and assumed that was it. This is actually the first time I've ever posted on something like this and I think I might have been a little too accusatory and rude so for that I'm sorry but my positions do stand and I am looking for any kind of nonpersonal debate you can foster.
Okay. Keep reading.
And I didn't use the explosion in a false context. The point of that particular post on Burnt Orange Report is:
The Texas Railroad Commission failed in it's duty to protect citizens by hiding the fact that they knew the couplings were faulty.
The Texas Railroad Commission failed in it duty to inspect the injection well to keep the public safe. They actually faked an inspection.
I have several of posts about gas well explosions and pipeline explosions.
Anyway, I've got to go.
Yes go ahead Fort worth you already lost the biggest cash influx in this counties history it is gone and wont be coming back. Keep your clear streams because you will be doing your laundry from them when we pull all our rigs out. No more drilling no more royalties, no more roads, no more schools unless you want it to come out of your tight butts. Good Luck and farewell. You bunch of unappreciative a holes.
Don't let the door hit you in the ass…
Anonymous, what are the basic needs of a human being in order to survive? Air, water & food, right? Keeping water clean is far more important than money.
The threat that people will be doing their washing in streams is pretty melodramatic, especially as I would expect that yarn to spun in order for the fear of turning into a 3rd world country to turn people toward the oil & gas industry.
The threat of "losing" money because of the withdrawal of cash from oil & gas is another piece of fearmongering.
What I'd really appreciate knowing is just how much money does go to roads & schools. Who in particular benefits from the profits on oil & gas? Individuals or communities? And to what degree?
However, let us suppose for a moment that everything we know in the 21st century will have to change because we wake up to the fact that life is more important than money, damaging the environment, poisoning eachother and everything else in the world; we're [supposed to be] an intelligent race, so I'm sure we can find solutions if only we invested our time, money and research wisely.
Right now oil & gas needs to clean up its act. The threat [another one] that oil & gas prices will go up because of environmental considerations is a hollow one. In the west we're renowned for protecting our interests and the cost of cleaning up oil & gas operations is just a hit on profits. With the amount of profit in oil & gas I'm sure the industry can take it.
Feel free to come back & discuss, Anonymous, I'd love to hear more.
🙂