Volunteers Sought for Quality of Life Study

Researchers at the University of Colorado are looking for volunteers to participate in a study on how people respond to oil and gas development in their communities.

"Your participation should take no more than 1 hour at a time for up to 6 visits to our office in Greeley over a 6-9 month period. During the office visits, we will ask questions about your health, collect height and weight data, measure blood pressure and blood vessel health, collect a blood sample, collect a small hair sample, and collect cheek cells from the inside of your mouth with a swab.

You will be compensated with a $30.00 Visa gift card for each visit completed. In order to qualify for this study you must meet the following criteria:

 18 years old or older
 live within 2 miles of an oil or gas well
 be a non-smoker (tobacco and marijuana)
 cannot live with anyone who regularly smokes in your home
 cannot be pregnant
 cannot have a history of diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or chronic     inflammatory diseases
 cannot be taking statins or any anti-inflammatory medications
 cannot be regularly exposed dust, fumes, or solvents 

If you would like to participate in this study, or have any questions, call 970-829-7490 or email lindsay.taylor@ucdenver.edu

Project Title: QBC Study: Quality of Life and Biomarkers in Communities
Principal Investigator: John Adgate PhD, MSPH
Version Date: 8/12/15

Attend Hearing: Support Children of Frontier Elementary

Please attend and invite others to the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Committee hearing on

 

Monday, July 28 at 9:00am

 Weld County Administration Building Events Center

 1150 “O” Street, Greeley, CO 80631 

Please arrive by 8:45am. Comments will be taken until 11:00am

This hearing is a rare opportunity for Front Range citizens to be heard directly by the COGCC.

It is critical for as many concerned citizens as possible to come tell the COGCC that school children should be protected from hazardous, polluting drilling operations near their schoolyards and homes.
They need to hear what you think of the job they are doing under their mandate to protect public health and safety.

This is your chance to tell them about how this scale of oil and gas development has impacted your, or your loved ones' life and be heard about concerns such as:

 1) Public health and safety concerns - drilling near homes and schools exposes the public to higher levels of benzene and other hazardous chemicals. Recent tank explosions should be reason enough to move these industrial facilities away from where people live!

 2) Pressure tactics put on mineral rights owners to lease their property against their will - Forced pooling allows operators to take away our right to choose whether or not our property should be developed for oil and gas. Oil and gas development hurts property values.

 3) The heavy concentration of wells and tanks they have approved next to homes, schools and commercial districts in Greeley and Weld County – large industrial sites do not belong in residentially-zoned land!

Comments should be short—three minutes or less.

 Please share this message and invite friends, neighbors or family to the hearing as well!

Oil and Gas: Effects on Children's Health

Are you still unclear about the fracking process, and the health risks it poses to people, but especially to babies and young children, who live in close proximity to wells? 

The yellow link below leads to an informative 40 minute presentation by Jerome Paulson, MD, Professor of Pediatrics at George Washington University School of Medicine. It is provided by the Center for Environmental Health. The program starts about five minutes in so as to skip the introduction. Photo courtesy of Our Health, Our Future, Our Longmont. 

 "Unconventional Natural Gas Extraction and Special Vulnerabilities for Children"


.

Also see "Drilling vs. the American Dream: Fracking impacts on property rights and home values"


"Realtors in Colorado are taking note as clients become increasingly hesitant about buying homes near drilling sites, with fewer and fewer bids rolling in. “Some don’t want to even look at anything remotely close to any existing or proposed well sites,” Boulder County real estate agent Nanner Fisher told the Colorado Independent. She also told Boulder iJournal that “if there is a well that’s visible when you show a property, [the prospective buyer] will ask to look for something else. A lot of it is the visual effect of the well site,” she said. “And, they think if you can see it, it’s gotta be close enough that it’s not healthy.”

Health Hazards of living near Oil and Gas Wells

How often have you heard people who work for Oil & Gas companies say, 

"We are the most regulated industry in the United States"

I would like to know what they base that statement on. Dr. Wilma Subra in her presentation Human Health; Exposure from the Development of Shale Gas, notes that,

"Wastes generated by the exploration of crude oil and natural gas are 'exempt' by Federal law from being regulated as hazardous waste" 

Watch her full presentation here

And then there's the issue of well water contamination by oil and gas drilling activities in Pavillion, Wyoming. The industry is not regulated when it comes to the protection of drinking water supplies either. Says Dan Rather in the second segment of his report:

"Even though the agency is mandated by the Safe Drinking Water Act to monitor the quality of the drinking water across the United States, the EPA has been restricted from testing water near oil and gas fracking sites. That's because the oil and gas industry had some help from Congress in the Bush administration. In the summer of 2005 Congress passes, and president Bush signed the Energy Policy Act. In that bill was a provision that excludes Oil and Gas Companies from the drinking water regulation. It is the only industry to have such an exclusion"

Watch: Dan Rather Reports, "Fracking Gas"

In the report, rancher John Fenton says:

"You don't know how precious water is until you have to start buying it...It's either this or drink water with an unknown toxic chemical in it."

He hauls it in gallon jugs from the town, forty miles away. Because of their tainted well water they can no longer grow a garden, and when they launder or shower there needs to be ventilation because of the methane content in the water. In this different clip he says,

"We've done our own sort of health assessment with the help of a woman named Dr. Wilma Subra....She compiled the information for us. And there are some real common problems between the people who have health symptoms: nose bleeds, lack of smell and taste, headaches, dizziness, neuropathy. You know, no matter where you go, people living in close proximity to this, have the same problems..It affects all humans the same no matter where you are from."

Last but not least, a recent health study shows:

"an association between density and proximity of natural gas wells within a 10-mile radius of maternal residence and prevalence of Congenital Heart Defects and possibly Neural Tube Defects. [Most children with neural tube defects die or experience serious disability.]

Access the report here. 

And the Spills Continue

From the Greeley Tribune's Oil and Gas Spill Report
To tell by their opinion poll, many readers skip reading the spill reports! See illustration! Click here to leave your vote!

NOTE: One barrel of oil is 42 gallons (I added the conversion to gallons in red and added emphases)

Sept. 12, Kerr-McGee Oil and Gas Onshore LP reported that on Aug. 29, a gasket on a truck failed while an oil hauler was being loaded northeast of Fort Lupton. About 1.6 barrels of oil (672 gallons) were released; none were recovered. The driver shut the pumps down and released the pressure. A bucket was placed to catch leaking oil. Contaminated soil will be excavated. Soil sample tests will determine further remediation efforts. The cause of the spill was determined to be equipment failure.

Sept. 13, Bonanza Creek Energy Operating Company LLC reported that on Sep. 3, a tank equalizing valve was shut between two oil tanks east of Evans. This prevented oil from running over to the second tank as the first filled. About 100 barrels of oil (4200 gallons) were released, and 97 recovered with a vacuum truck. The equalizer valve was opened. The tank battery will be dismantled and soil tested. The cause of the spill was determined to be human error.

Sept. 13, Kerr-McGee Oil and Gas Onshore LP reported that on Sept. 4, an operator who was draining water from the oil tank to the water tank south of Platteville left the site without closing the drain valve. The water tank overflowed, releasing about 22 barrels of oil (924 gallons), none of which were recovered. Groundwater was impacted. Some contaminated water was disposed of, and MicroBlaze was applied to what remained. A new battery will be constructed with a geosynthetic liner. The cause of the spill was determined to be human error.

Sept. 13, Kerr-McGee Oil and Gas Onshore LP reported that on Sept. 6, an operator discovered oil staining on the ground during a daily site inspection southwest of Johnstown. The poly pipe came apart on the oil dumpline. It is unknown how much oil was released, and none has been recovered. Groundwater was impacted. Impacted soil was excavated. Ten gallons of MicroBlaze was applied to the water, and groundwater monitoring wells will be installed to determine the extent of the contamination. The cause of the spill was determined to be equipment failure.

Sept. 13, Encana Oil and Gas (USA) reported that on Sept. 6, a seal failed on a discharge line. The crew nearby shut off the mud drilling flow quickly. The spill area was scraped and the remaining drilling mud was removed using a vacuum truck. No further remediation is required. The cause of the spill was determined to be equipment failure.

Sept. 17, Bill Barrett Corporation reported that on Sept. 6, a hose from a mud pit to a pumping unit failed, causing a release of about five barrels of drilling mud, all of which were recovered. Soil samples will be collected, and if they are compliant with allowable levels of contaminates, no further remediation will be required. The cause of the spill was determined to be equipment failure.

Sept. 17, Noble Energy Inc. reported that on Sept. 11, about two barrels of water (84 gallons) released from a filling frac tank during line blow down process northeast of Eaton. One barrel was recovered. The area will be excavated and soil samples collected. The cause of the spill was determined to be equipment failure.

Residents Against More Wells Near School And Houses

Weld Air and Water joined 15 Greeley residents in filing an appeal this week to stop increased drilling within a high residential neighborhood, adjacent to Northridge High school, and on a ridge that slopes into the Sheep Draw waterway and wetlands. The proposal would add a twelve-well horizontal “fracking” operation on a site which already has six vertical wells.

The application by Synergy Resources Corporation was approved by the Planning Commission on July 23rd and has been scheduled for a public hearing before Greeley City Council on September 3rd. If approved, the application would allow for 25 condensate oil and gas tanks, 7 water tanks for flow-back water, and 17 separators; in addition to equipment (flares) to reduce the volatile organic compounds emitted.

What the site may look like during the drilling and fracking process.

Neighborhood resident, Sara Barwinski explains,

 “What really concerns us is the massive increase of heavy industrialization on the site. This size of industrial complex is simply not appropriate next to a school and near homes. We are not calling for a ban on existing operations—we are just asking for balance, and for the city to apply their own criteria that requires new applications to be compatible with surrounding land uses.” 

Therese Gilbert with Weld Air and Water (WAW) agrees.

“Weld Air and Water became involved because we want to help Greeley understand the options they have to restore sanity in planning around oil and gas decisions. City Council members and City Staff have stated that because Greeley lost the effort to ban oil and gas drilling back in 1992 that they have “no choice” but to approve any and all requests to drill. This simply is not true.” 

 The appeal by neighbors and Weld Air and Water outlines legal arguments and suggests that Greeley adopt regulatory approaches that are commonly used by other local governments throughout Colorado. According to Gilbert,

  “Greeley needs to strike a better balance between the goals of the oil and gas industry and the health, safety and welfare of Greeley residents.” 

 The group believes there are hopeful signs that Greeley residents and leaders are seeing a need for more balanced decision-making.

Weld Air and Water is encouraged that the City Council passed a petition on July 16 to take a closer look at the impacts of these fuel storage tanks in neighborhoods and whether there should be restrictions in the number allowed.

“We don’t think the City should move forward with this application until that analysis has occurred,” Barwinski stated.

Susan Rutherford is one of the nearest neighbors to the site. Last spring her entire neighborhood woke to a loud, shrill noise at 3:00 in the morning.

“I finally was able to figure out that it was coming from the oil and gas site because I could see a smoky cloud and the air smelled like a hot furnace,” Rutherford stated.

She called 911 and the whole operation was soon shut down. She was informed by the operator that the problem was a faulty gas pressure release valve. Rutherford believed the problem should have been caught by more frequent inspections.

“There had been periodic unexplained noises going on all day long before it finally reached that critical point. ..How can anyone believe that approving that kind of danger is protecting our health and safety?” 

Residents are also upset that the city has ignored the impacts that enlarging this industrial complex would have on the Sheep Draw trail and wetlands, which has been home to bald eagles, horned owls, hawks and other wildlife.

Patricia Gonzalez, a neighbor in the immediate vicinity explains,

“We have already seen great impacts on wildlife caused from the existing wells. The day after the 3:00 am “wake-up call” incident, a pair of hawks abandoned their nest. I am also very concerned about the odors that have increased and the fact that I see less and less wildlife when I walk the trail.. 

This is an area that is considered of “high” ecological significance. It is zoned as a conservation district and is considered part of the Cache la Poudre River corridor. City code states: development should be rejected unless it would have ‘little or no impact’ on this area. An accidental spill will flow down-hill into this vulnerable watershed contaminating it.”  

Rutherford adds,

 “Greeley and our concerned citizens are spending dollars and manpower to connect this beautiful part of the Sheep Draw to the Poudre River Trail in 2014—why wouldn’t we want to protect this investment?” 

WAW’s Gilbert is a teacher and shares a further concern,

“The track and field of Northridge High School is just over 400 feet from the well-heads, so our kids will be deeply inhaling the fumes when they exercise. I am also worried about the lack of security at this unmanned facility.” 

Synergy had an uncontrolled release in Mead last month that required an emergency response at 2:00 a.m. Synergy stated that it suspects that it was caused by teens tampering with equipment. This and other similar incidents around the country have persuaded Weld Air and Water to put forward a number of recommendations for conditions that should be attached to the permit, should the City Council decide to approve it

Gilbert continued,

  “The 24/7 drilling, increased truck traffic, odors, dust and toxic emissions are clearly not ‘compatible’ with a neighborhood.” 

She pointed to the fact the City Council rejected a coffee-shop in a neighborhood last month because citizens’ voiced concerns about possible increased traffic and noise from the commercial facility.

 “Our city government needs to understand that they have both the authority and the obligation to regulate the impacts of this heavy industry whose impacts are far worse than the impacts of a coffee shop.” 

The appeal argues that the site fails all of the City’s criteria for appropriate development and is not consistent with Greeley’s Comprehensive Plan for the future. Barwinski stated,

“If it was any other industry besides oil and gas they wouldn’t think twice about rejecting it. We want them to take the time to think through their legal options and their responsibility to Greeley citizens before making a decision that will impact us for decades to come.” 

OIL AND GAS ACCIDENTS IN THE NEWS 
Large tank batteries have come under greater scrutiny because of a serious explosion at a natural gas drill site on July 7 in West Virginia—two people died and five others were injured. The accident is under federal and state investigation. The company that operates the drill site, Antero Resources, claims in its report issued by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, that the cause of the blast was a buildup of gas in tanks used to store flow back water from the process of preparing the well for natural gas production.

The flow back process occurs during high-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing—in which millions of gallons of water and chemicals are pumped deep underground to release natural gas from shale rock. According to the West Virginia Gazette, Antero said the accident was due to “the presence of an accumulation of gas from storage tanks on location.” The company also blamed “a concentration of heavier than methane hydrocarbons in the gas mixture” and “an apparent ignition source near” near the operation. 

The Chemical Safety Board (CSB), a federal agency, is encouraging local and state governments to take steps to protect young people from dangerous tank batteries related with oil and gas development. On October 31, 2009, two teenagers, aged 16 and 18, were killed when a storage tank containing natural gas condensate exploded at gas production site in Carnes, Mississippi. Six months later a group of youths were exploring a similar tank site in Weleetka, Oklahoma, when an explosion and fire fatally injured one individual. Two weeks later, a 25-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman were on top of an oil tank in New London, Texas, when the tank exploded, killing the woman and seriously injuring the man.

 The CSB deployed investigators to all three sites to collect information on the incidents. They concluded: “The introduction of an ignition source (such as a match, lighter, cigarette, or static electricity) near tank hatches or vents can trigger an internal tank explosion, often launching the tank into the air and killing or injuring people nearby, the CSB found in its October 2011 study of the problem. The study identified a total of 26 incidents since 1983 that killed 44 members of the public and injured 25 others all under the age of 25.

The CSB’s safety recommendations urged states, standards organizations, and trade associations, to take action to protect members of the public – particularly children and young adults – from these hazards.” For more information and a video on the risks to teens see Oil Site Safety. Synergy has stated that it believes that teen vandalism may have caused one of its gas wells near Mead to vent natural gas at 2:00am at a rate that sounded like “a giant over-sized air compressor” according to a neighbor. Source: Greeley Tribune in Brief, SHERIFF’S OFFICE INVESTIGATES POSSIBLE TAMPERING AT MEAD-AREA GAS WELL, Greeley Tribune July 27, 2013.

Dunn's Done it Again!

Tribune reporter Sharon Dunn's article below shows bias for the gas and oil industry. Just compare it to what Bobby Magill wrote on the same subject for the Coloradoan .See: Fracking critics scaring public.
At least he shared the questionable comments by both Matt Lepore, the director of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, and Weld County commissioner Barbara Kirkmeyer. Dunn shared none!! 

Just as with the Health Forum on the Effects of Hydraulic Fracturing, when Dunn chose to leave out important information, like the dangers of ground level ozone, she this time, ignored Kirkmeyer's accusation that people with concerns about fracking,

"are trying to scare the crap out of everybody with the wrong facts and making things up".

 Dunn should have taken issue with that remark, considering it is Kirkmeyer herself who makes things up, claiming that groundwater is not being contaminated, when a presentation on the COGCC website clearly acknowledges that it has! See 2012 Fracking Spills.

(By Sharon Dunn)
LOVELAND — Fossil fuels will be the chief way America and the world will get its energy for years, and those in the industry must strike a balance between the incredible growth that is propping up the economy and the environmental concerns that follow, said the American Petroleum Institute’s senior economic adviser, Rayola Sougher. “What’s happening here is absolutely phenomenal,” Sougher said in an interview prior to her keynote address at the Energy Summit put on Tuesday by the Northern Colorado Business Report at the Ranch in Loveland.

“But there seems to be a big divide between the ... environmentalists and the oil developers. But they’re not mutually exclusive. We can do both. Everyone in the community has to hold the industry to the highest standards. That should not be negotiable.” The importance of the industry and continued innovation in extracting the resources has proven to be a powerful ally for the United States, not only politically, but for jobs and taxes that have helped build more wealth in the country, she said.

 In fact, America is experiencing a “stunning” energy revolution that is on pace to see the United States become a world leader and net exporter of oil and gas, some say as soon as 2030. “We were accustomed for decades of thinking that we had less oil, and have been making energy policy on that assumption. That entire vision has changed,” Sougher said. “There are millions of new jobs, a great deal of government revenue and it is enhancing energy security.” Last year alone, the United States put 1 million extra barrels of oil on the international market. That has translated to some of the best energy prices in the country, she said, saving American families roughly $926 a year in home energy costs.

 In the last decade, Colorado has seen a six-fold growth in natural gas production and triple the growth in crude oil production. In Colorado, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the average energy bills here are 23 percent less than the rest of the nation, largely because of natural gas, Sougher said. “When you add up what you would have been spending, were it not for this technology, it has important repercussions for the family budget,” Sougher said. The technology she speaks of is the advent of hydraulic fracturing coupled with horizontal drilling to get at the resources trapped in the tight shale rock a mile beneath the ground.

She said continued innovation will only enhance production, and likewise enhance job growth. Sougher said this “unconventional drilling,” alone, is responsible for 1.7 million jobs across the country. “And by the end of this decade, that will be 3 million,” Sougher said. “It’s a significant driver of economic growth.” As an example, she pointed to the average wage in the oil fields of $116,000 — 91 percent above Colorado’s average wage. The industry also pumped $1.4 billion into the Colorado economy in taxes in 2011, equivalent to 15 percent of the state’s tax revenue.

 Sougher advocated for more development across the country to keep these numbers high, especially in offshore areas. She also advocated for completion of the XL Pipeline, a pipeline from Canada to the southern links of America’s oil trade hubs, which has been under scrutiny for five years. With more Canadian and U.S. oil entering into the international framework, she said, energy prices will stabilize, even when not-so-stable nations threaten the world’s oil supply.

 At the same time, she said, the industry must work in concert with government officials and residents concerned about safety. She said the industry, too, shares concerns about the environment. They’ve been stewards of best practices since World War I, she said. “We’re on a path now, because of a lot of these breakthroughs, to have 5 percent fewer emissions in 2040 than we had in our peak of 2005,” Sougher said. “A large part of that is the shift more toward natural gas and energy efficiencies. A good part of the credit has to do with technologic innovations.”

Who's Doing the Lying about Fracking?

Excerpts from an article in the Coloradoan, with my comments in orange

LOVELAND — "..Fracking detractors are trying to “scare the crap out of everybody with the wrong facts and making things up,” said Weld County Commissioner Barbara Kirkmeyer, who was moderating the discussion between COGCC Director Matt Lepore and Anadarko regulatory affairs manager Brad Miller.

 “The problem we have, we have a group of folks on the other side who don’t care about the truth,” she said. “They’re out there saying all sorts of things about how it’s contaminating the groundwater, and, you know, that’s not true,” Kirkmeyer said.

Is she lying or merely ignorant of the real facts posted in a series of PowerPoint slides on the website of the the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission she's trying to defend? These numbers from 2012 do show there's been groundwater contamination.

What was spilled?

What was done about them?

And what to make of Matt Lepore's statement? 


"..residents “storm city hall and demand you protect their health, safety and welfare armed with misinformation,” [he]said Tuesday, speaking at the Northern Colorado Energy Summit."

As the director of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission he surely has seen, and also approved these slides! Here is one from another presentation, probably put up after Governor Hickenlooper took a sip of Frac Fluid!

He also said the following.

If you look at the demographics of anti-fracking activists, he said, they are generally affluent enough not to be concerned with the cost of home heating and cooling, he said.

Clearly, those who struggle to make a living are so bogged down in simply trying to survive that they have no time to get informed of anything of importance, including how gas and oil production may endanger their and their children's health.

 “A ban on fracking is really a ban on drilling,” he said. “A ban on fracking means an increase in coal use to generate electricity. It means an increase in local costs of electricity.”

Have you seen a decrease in your energy bills? I haven't! Besides, how can opponents be blamed for driving up the prices, since drilling is still in full swing almost everywhere in the country?

When asked by a member of the audience whether the oil and gas industry should work with local school districts to educate kids about the value of oil and gas as a way to boost industry public relations, both Miller and Kirkmeyer said such plans are already underway. “We have to educate the youth and start there, and we also have to educate the general public as well,” Miller said. “Both of those programs need to start now. The industry is starting that.” Kirkmeyer said Weld County is working with at least one school district in the county to teach kids about the importance of industry.

If there is any hope for a future for today's children and their kids at all, it does not lie in fossil fuels, but in renewable energy and sustainable livelihoods. That is what schools should focus on. It is bad enough gas wells are sprouting up close to people's homes, and that 67 wells are planned within a quarter of a mile of Frontier Academy along 29th street. Read: Where Do The Children Play

 In an earlier speech, Mercator Energy President and Western Energy Alliance board member John Harpole said fracking is good for poor people because the more fracking done in the U.S, the more natural gas will be available to drive down consumers’ cost for heating.

Fracking is actually bad, especially for poor people who may feel forced to work in the oil and gas fields to make a living, and will compromise their health in doing so. Furthermore, people in poor neighborhoods do not have the opportunity to protest a proposed well site nearby.
So far, protests have indeed come from those residents who are more affluent, but they are fully supported in their plight by people from all over Greeley, who not only want to help them but anyone anywhere who will be affected by the intrusion of noise, hazards and polluted air. With hundreds of wells already producing within city limits, we all are breathing VOCs and ozone molecules.

What is Fracking? Why is it Bad?

Fracking is the name for extracting oil and gas by injecting millions of gallons of highly pressurized water, sand and chemicals, into a well-bore, after charges have blasted open the first cracks in the rock. As the solution is pumped in, it makes more cracks, hence, the name hydraulic fracturing.

Watch this 2 min. animation: Horizontal Drilling and Hydraulic Fracturing

Fracking can cause serious side-effects to the immediate environment. Once the oil and gas have been removed, the sandstone or shale rock base is left with gaps that make the bedrock unstable. Gas companies try to fill those cracks with sand or other particulates to keep the cracks from collapsing, but that doesn’t always help.

In areas where the fracking is done far below the surface, cracks are nearly impossible to fill. They can cause minor earthquakes, which in turn can damage the cement casings of the wells so gas and oil can seep out and contaminate aquifers. It doesn’t take a genius to recognize the health risks associated with the presence of oil in the water table. Cancer and other illnesses are common in areas of high fracking activity.

Water Use

• In 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimated that 70 to 140 billion gallons of water are used to fracture 35,000 wells in the United States each year. This is approximately the annual water consumption of 40 to 80 cities each with a population of 50,000. 

• It has been estimated that the transportation of 1 million gallons of water requires 200 truck trips. Deep, horizontal wells can use 2 to 10 million gallons of  water to fracture a single well. That is 400 to 2000 truck trips! So, not only does water used for hydraulic fracturing deplete fresh water supplies and impact aquatic habitat, the transportation of so much water also creates localized air quality, safety and road repair issues. 

Toxic Chemicals 

• A variety of chemicals are used in hydraulic fracturing fluids. The oil and gas industry and trade groups are quick to point out that chemicals typically make up just 0.5 and 2.0% of the total volume of the fracturing fluid. But, when millions of gallons of water are being used, the amount of those chemicals per fracking operation is very large. For example, four million gallons of water for one fracturing operation would use 80 to 330 tons of chemicals. 

Sand and Proppants

• Shale gas wells can use more than 4 million pounds of proppant per well. Frac sand mines are springing up across the country, from Wisconsin to Texas, bringing with them their own set of impacts. Mining sand for proppant use generates its own range of impacts, including water consumption and air emissions, as well as potential health problems related to crystalline silica. 

Air Quality

•  In many oil and gas producing regions, there has been a degradation of air quality as drilling increases. In Texas, high levels of benzene have been measured in the air near wells in the Barnett Shale gas fields. These volatile air toxics may be originating from a variety of gas-field sources such as separators, dehydrators, condensers, compressors, chemical spills, and leaking pipes and valves. 

Waste Water 

• Increasingly, research is being conducted on the potential air emissions released during the fracturing flow back stage, when wastewater returns to the surface. Shales contain numerous organic hydrocarbons, and additional chemicals are injected underground during shale gas drilling, well stimulation (e.g., hydraulic fracturing), and well workovers. 

• The Pittsburgh University Center for Healthy Environments and Communities (CHEC) has been examining how organic compounds in the shale can be mobilized during fracturing and gas extraction processes...These organic compounds are brought to the surface in the fracturing flowback or produced water, and often go into open impoundments (frac ponds), where the waste water, “will offgas its organic compounds into the air. This becomes an air pollution problem, and the organic compounds are now termed Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAP’s).”

Learn lots more, especially also about the type of  Toxic Chemicals used and/or released with fracking by visiting: Hydraulic Fracturing 101