There is more and more news about whether fracking should be allowed in residential areas.
This story is about a Corpus Christi based oil company that mailed hundreds of notices to Edinburg homeowners about a deep oil and gas well it wants to drill in the middle of the city.
What do you think?
They've been doing this in Fort Worth for a good 10-15 years now. In Los Angeles they have had urban production since the 1890s. This is not uncommon at all. The only difference is, is that the drilling operations are very close to nearby properties. Fracking has been done since the 1940s so I don't think this is any front page news. If they are paying me royalties, I would be happy to see additional wells being drilled in the city.
First of all, how deep is the aquifer you are getting domestic water? probably shallow. How deep is the oil being recovered? Usually this difference is several thousand feet. Drillers are required to concrete case thru the water aquifer then there is the steel casing that will contain the oil as it is recovered. The whole fracking thing has been blown out of proportion, in my opinion, due to NO understanding of the process and what drillers are required to do. Again the public needs to be educated.
Horizontal drilling and fracking in water soluble formations(Mississippian Lime)should not be within 5 miles of a community. High pressure injection wells allow the unstable non solid formation due to fracking to move; thus, causing tremors.
This is not prevalent in shale formations. Take heed, there will be hell to pay for the greed.
You are speaking of vertical wells. Multi section horizontal drilling in a water soluble formation followed by fracking creates an unstable non solid formation. Injection of waste in the near proximity(several miles)causes this unstable formation to move. This is what is happening in the Mississippian production in Oklahoma.
Horizontal wells in limestone formations should not be allowed within 5 miles of a community.
Horizontal shale formations do not show this anomaly.
No fracking in residential areas. Another poster in this discussion, with a pro-fracking POV, states that "the public needs to be educated." I agree, and they need to be educated by those who don't have money to gain from fracking. It's not logical to assume that the only accurate information about fracking would come from the O & G industry. There are folks who'd like to reduce this discussion to "what puts more money in my pocket." That's an extremely selfish viewpoint, IMO. Yes, I benefit from what fracking has occurred on my properties, but that doesn't mean I'm willing to turn a blind eye to the problems it presents...the well-documented problems. I can be a mineral interest holder and still have a responsible attitude toward the people, animals, and environment that are negatively impacted by this particular source of energy.
You won't see this particular article posted by the O & G industry for obvious reasons, but it's useful information: http://stories.weather.com/fracking
When you say "deep", how deep? "Deep" by today's standards is below 10,000 feet beneath the surface. A mile is 5,280 feet. Get in your car, watch your odometer closely, and drive in a straight line for 2 miles. That is how deep the well will be, at a minimum. Now imagine you have just traveled for 2 miles through ROCK. Why is it that everyone believes that all of the geologists, geophysicists and other trained and educated scientists knowledgeable about sub-surface terrain, are lying? Why do so many people believe every geologist and other earth scientist is owned by "big oil" so they are going to lie for "big oil"? How can anyone rationally believe that fracking, which is highly controlled, can somehow travel 2 miles directly upward (when the direction of the fracks are LATERAL, and not VERTICAL!) and somehow mess with fresh water found no deeper than 1,000 feet (at the most!) beneath the surface? When did people decide they cannot figure things out for themselves, that they require someone else to tell them what to think and believe? Just where is the science to back up the rumor that fracking damages anything on, or barely beneath, the surface? I'm still looking, and I'm really hoping the people posting here can help. What scientific magazine or other respected scientific publication supports the idea that fracking 2+ miles beneath the surface can damage anyone or anything on or barely beneath the surface? Has anyone found such published information based on scientific studies?
I have money to be made by fracking. One of my tracts is one mile north of the Cushing complex in Logan County, OK.
I would love to have extra revenue, but not at other's expense. As far as I have observed, ground water in no issue in my area, only property damage to structures.
It is strange that Northern Oklahoma went from basically zero quakes before horizontal limestone drilling and fracking to now hundreds per year. It is being blamed on injection wells to the Arbuckle formation. It is too late to prove that there would be no quakes due to injection if no well were drilled.
Re: where is the science to back up the rumor that fracking damages anything on, or barely beneath, the surface. Start with the EPA studies.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/fracking-has-contaminated-drinking-wat...
Another study: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/groundwater-contamination-may-end-the-gas-fracking-boom/
Tom Ed,
I do agree with your well thought out response. To reiterate your response, my higher concern is where the flow back frac water is to be disposed. There is more and more evidence, particularly in North Texas and Oklahoma, that injection wells are making the faults lose stability, shift and move and as a result create a man made seismic event.
I am really glad that you are on this forum.
Best,
Buddy Cotten
Another study: http://environment.yale.edu/envy/stories/fracking-outpaces-science-on-its-impact
"Duke’s Jackson says that even with the uncertainties, the current debate is far more divisive than it needs to be. “The hydraulic fracturing debate is like our political debate—it’s just unnecessarily polarized. There are many people out there, I believe, who just want there to be a problem,” he says. “On the other hand, my frustration with industry is their unwillingness to acknowledge any problems whatsoever.” That unwillingness, he suggests, complicates research efforts by preventing the release of some data and makes it look like industry is hiding something.
There have been problems, but Jackson says it’s also important to remember that numerous wells have been drilled and used without causing any known problems. “The question isn’t ‘can hydraulic fracturing be done safely?’ It’s ‘will it be done safely?’.”
Another study...this one re: fracing related earthquakes in Texas: https://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/2012/08/06/how-fracking-disposal-wells-are-causing-earthquakes-in-dallas-fort-worth/
Finally, you must admit, it is highly significant that the CEO of ExxonMobile, Rex Tillerson, fought fracing in his residence town of Denton, TX. http://www.texasmonthly.com/the-daily-post/exxonmobil-ceo-doesnt-want-a-fracking-operation-near-his-backyard/
Anyone wanna argue with Rex? ;-)