Monday, May 07, 2012

Fracking Hell

Induced hydraulic fracturing , commonly known as fracking, is a technique used to release petroleum, natural gas (including shale gas, tight gas and coal seam gas).This type of fracturing creates fractures from a wellbore drilled into reservoir rock formations. Water is nature's most important and kindest gift to humanity yet incredible amounts of water is used in the fracking process.

We are currently experience the driest period in the UK since 1976.  The Environment Agency has declared that East Anglia, the South East, parts of Yorkshire, the Midlands and the South West are officially in drought. We have been banned from using hosepipes with the threat of a £1000 fine . There has been a severe impact upon on farming. Advice are bombarded upon us: "Take a shower instead of a bath" and "Don't forget to turn off the tap when brushing your teeth"

It's estimated that between two and five million gallons of locally sourced freshwater are used for each fracking attempt, depending on the depth of the well. That's the equivalent of using the amount of freshwater that would fill four to ten Olympic sized swimming pools each time a well is flushed. The number of wells per football pitch-sized pad is predicted at 20. However, the present proposals for operations in the UK is ten per pad. Following the test fracking last year,  between five and ten fracks per well. A conservative average of the sums above would be: three million gallons per frack x ten wells per pad x seven fracks per well = 210 million gallons per site.

That calculation is just for one single site in the UK. Cuadrilla Resources, which carried out the the first test fracking in the UK, have plans for between 40 and 80 sites in Lancashire alone. If we take the midpoint of this range, 60 sites, and multiply it by the above calculation of 210 million gallons per site, that is a total of 12.6 billion gallons of fresh water mixed with toxic substances. Polluted fracking water can never be returned to the freshwater it originally started out as. It is destroyed and decimated forever. Dr Paul Hetzler, a technician who was responsible for investigating and managing groundwater contamination at the New York Department for Environmental Conservation: "If you were looking for a way to poison the drinking water supply, you could not find a more chillingly effective and thorough method of doing so than with hydraulic fracturing."

Water companies in England and Wales are wasting, through leaks, a staggering 3.3 billion litres every day. United Utilities, who lose 464 million litres of water a day through leaky pipes, and are identified by Ofwat as "cause for concern" over the maintenance of their sewer underground infrastructure, sold water to Cuadrilla Resources for the first test fracking in the UK. Cuadrilla has also obtained licenses for fracking at sites in Sussex, Surrey and Kent - areas of all three counties are officially classified as being in drought.

The No Fracking UK environmentalist organisation which researched and analysed the potential impact of fracking in South Wales explains "Three million gallons per frack is a reasonable average. Using industry sources, there will be an average of around ten boreholes per drilling pad, with at least six fracks per borehole in its lifetime - that's at least 180 million gallons of water used per site. With sites needing be spaced at regular intervals of just a few miles apart (they are just a few hundred metres apart in some parts of the world) we could see 1,000 and upwards across South Wales alone. 180 billion gallons of water. That's roughly 330,000 Olympic sized pools' worth, or nearly three Lake Windermeres. We cannot predict the consequences of our actions. We know nothing about our preserved rocks and are taking the shameful attitude of: 'Let's do what we want, we'll get away with it.' We are advocating a process which has a huge impact on already fraught water supplies - and encouraging potential disaster. "

The Broderick research report states: "Requirements for water in commercial scale shale gas extraction could put pressure on water supplies at the local level in the UK. Shale gas extraction requires high volumes of water. Given that water resources in many parts of the UK are already under pressure, this water demand could bring significant and additional problems at the local level."

Nor has SOYMB  even mentioned the possible earthquakes from fracking!!

From here 

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