But now, mainstream media has finally caught up with the story: Halliburton to use "clean" fracking.
Last summer a Halliburton executive did the unthinkable: He took a big ol' swig of hydraulic fracturing fluid.By the way, the writer says the same thing, that mainstream media is finally catching up to this story:
No, he didn't have a death wish. And yes, he appears to be doing just fine. He did it to prove a point: fracking fluid need not be toxic.
What the exec drank was a new formulation of fracking fluid made with ingredients sourced from the food industry rather than the chemical industry.
Halliburton announced its new fracking formulation earlier this year to relatively little fanfare.Generally speaking, the mainstream media would not print any story that frames Halliburton in a good light, so it was not surprising that the Halliburton story was announced with "relatively little fanfare." But the slightest hint of "bad news" by Halliburton and it gets great exposure.
That linked article also has two stories specific about the Bakken: a) cleaning up the waste from the oil wells; and, b) landing a job in boomtown. Great article.
A big thank you to "anonymous" for sending it my way.
Modern Gel Frac fluid is in fact water-based and mainly organic. Most water-based frac Gel fluids are composed of water and a powdered mixture of the endosperm of the guar bean. Guar gum being a derivative - a widepread additive in many foods and candies.
ReplyDeleteEalier fluid systems being oil/hydrocarbon based were less safe and prone to leakage. See My-T-Oil.
And...
ReplyDeleteAdditives to Frac Gel/Solutions contain harmful chemicals... at low concentrations! The larger risk is from surface spills at active frac locations. WHICH IS ALREADY MINIMAL DUE TO EPA AND ND HEALTH REGULATIONS.
I read an article in the Mpls. Star Tribune recently that pointed to the increasing number of reported HazMat spills in western ND as being negative... That's a positive! More often than not the only difference between a 'reported' or 'reportable' incident is company policy, not municipal or county; but federal or state...
"Lies, damned lies, and statistics,"
Mark Twain
I agree 100%. The medical waste washing up on beaches on the East Coast is so much worse than anything in the North Dakota oil patch.
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