http://www.grist.org...in-pennsylvania

Major fracking spill happening now in Pennsylvania

by Tom Laskawy

20 Apr 2011 2:14 PM

We have the makings of an environmental disaster in northern Pennsylvania at the moment. According to local Pennsylvania television station WNEP, a natural-gas well blew out in the middle of the night while crews were engaged in "fracking" activities:

Bradford County's director of public safety said a Chesapeake well went out of control late Tuesday night. That means the well blew near the surface, spilling thousands and thousands of gallons of frack fluid over containment walls, through fields, personal property and farms, even where cattle continue to graze.

DEP is taking ground water and stream samples to determine the extent of the spill.

Officials said fluids from the well have, in fact, contaminated Towanda Creek which feeds into the Susquehanna River.

No injuries have been reported, but officials have evacuated the surrounding area as a precaution. A "major operation" is under way to kill the well and stop the flow, which, as of 1:50 p.m. ET, was still uncontrolled.

DeSmogBlog, which flagged the news, observed the irony that this spill occurs on the BP Gulf spill's first anniversary. As with the Gulf, do we really think this sort of thing will never happen again in Pennsylvania? We are, after all, talking about a state where the governor has put industry firmly in charge of regulating itself. For all the big fans of fracking out there, is putting our agricultural lands and water supply at risk really the best path to a low-carbon future? I'm going to answer "no" on that one.

I'm afraid that this will be the first of a growing wave of fracking of surface waters...

What's in that "fluid" that's leaking out? Is it water? Salt? Hydrocarbons? Surfactant? What's in it?

Update: Found a list of chemicals used: http://fracfocus.org...micals-are-used
It looks like a lot of salts, acids, and alchohols.

Edited by EricaWieser, 21 April 2011 - 07:40 PM.

General disregard for the Clean Water Act and our wholesale irresponsibility with surface and ground water in the country will come back and bite us in the future...

What's in that "fluid" that's leaking out? Is it water? Salt? Hydrocarbons? Surfactant? What's in it?

Update: Found a list of chemicals used: http://fracfocus.org...micals-are-used
It looks like a lot of salts, acids, and alchohols.

There are nearly 600 chemicals used in fracking fluid, most of which we will never know due to the mixture being a "proprietary blend". Just last week 3 members of the Senate issued a report that found 29 of the chemicals in fracking liquid to be known carcinogens. If you haven't seen it watch the documentary Gasland, which details the effects of hydraulic fracturing. I do a lot of backpacking and fly fishing in PA and I now have serious concerns about how safe these activities will be.

I do a lot of backpacking and fly fishing in PA and I now have serious concerns about how safe these activities will be.

I'm concerned less about the safety of people who will be merely visiting the land for a few days and more about the safety of the wildlife that lives in those streams and the people who live there year round. Sudden increases in salt concentration and pH can wipe out everything in a stream. And the slow accumulation of carcinogens in the tissues of the people who live there can't be a good thing.

I'm concerned less about the safety of people who will be merely visiting the land for a few days and more about the safety of the wildlife that lives in those streams and the people who live there year round. Sudden increases in salt concentration and pH can wipe out everything in a stream. And the slow accumulation of carcinogens in the tissues of the people who live there can't be a good thing.

How in the God's name is this activity legal? It sounds like one is just asking for trouble and probably cantaminating the ground water let alone something like this.

How in the God's name is this activity legal? It sounds like one is just asking for trouble and probably cantaminating the ground water let alone something like this.

Money. And more money.

[quote name='travishaas' timestamp='1303411416' post='88137']
http://www.grist.org...in-pennsylvania

Major fracking spill happening now in Pennsylvania

For several years, I was a member of a hunting camp in Sullivan Co. PA. Bradford Co. was just to our north. This was/is some of the most beautiful woodlands I've ever been in. I hate to think of this area being spoiled by an extraction industry.

Once again, this is what happens when you put the foxes in charge of the henhouse. Why people think if you put gas industry folks in charge of gas extraction, they will think of anything other than getting the gas out as cheaply and as quickly as possible.

Harry Knaub

There are nearly 600 chemicals used in fracking fluid, most of which we will never know due to the mixture being a "proprietary blend". Just last week 3 members of the Senate issued a report that found 29 of the chemicals in fracking liquid to be known carcinogens. If you haven't seen it watch the documentary Gasland, which details the effects of hydraulic fracturing. I do a lot of backpacking and fly fishing in PA and I now have serious concerns about how safe these activities will be.

thanks for the info. investigators now think that fracking may be responsible for several small earthquakes in Arkansas http://www.water-con...s_n_837485.html . I sure hope the EPA wakes up before its too late for many of our streams and rivers.

We are having a fracking boom here in North Dakota. Not sure of the veracity of this web group http://www.bakkenwatch.org/, but they seem to be telling the truth. If so, small streams are being dried up by water extraction for fracking, also lots of other nasty stuff happening in North Dakota. Oil, other drilling fluid, and related chemical spills are happening in increased frequency in spite of environmental documentation (NEPA, etc) pointing to no effect from spills. Some oil sheens showing up here in ND after flooding of oil wells built in the floodplain (some in like the 10-20 year floodplain). I dont know the exact streams effected, but some of these streams are likely used as nurseries for native and game fish.