Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Very, Very Interesting -- EPA Water Results Won't Hold Water

For "idiom-challenged" folks and foreigners, click here before reading further.

To find out why the EPA's water results won't hold water, click here.
To properly test such water wells, they must be first purged three times to make sure fresh water from the surrounding formation flows in for testing, Clarey said.

“We ‘re not sure they produced out all the water that may have seeped out of the formation during the drilling process or well development,” Clarey said. “So we’re not even sure they’re getting an accurate formation sample.”

The EPA data indicates the agency only flushed the wells one-quarter of the amount needed, he said.
If anyone has trouble interpreting this, let me know.

Oil and Gas Journal has the story also

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Meanwhile, four senators from oil states have written the EPA regarding broad definition of diesel:
Four US senators expressed concern about the US Environmental Protection Agency’s possible plans to regulate hydraulic fracturing under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SWDA) when diesel fuel is used.

“From a practical standpoint, a key issue is whether EPA’s actions will cause unnecessary confusion and open the door for states to lose their primacy for [underground injection control (UIC)] permitting programs,” the lawmakers said in a Dec. 21 letter to EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson.

James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.), the Environment and Public Works Committee’s ranking minority member; Lisa Murkowski (R-Alas.), the Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s ranking minority member; and E&NR Committee members Mary L. Landrieu (D-La.) and John Hoeven (R-ND) signed the letter.

They said the 2005 Energy Policy Act clarified the SDWA to specifically exclude from the UIC definition’s scope “the underground injection of fluids or propping agents (other than diesel fuels) pursuant to hydraulic fracturing operations related to oil, gas, or geothermal production activities.”
Again, as I've said before, to the EPA, if it has C and H in it and it is used in fracking, it will be considered "diesel." This includes salad oil.

5 comments:

  1. I always put diesel on my salad, don't you?

    anon 1

    ReplyDelete
  2. I didn't realize it until this past year, but I wonder if Kraft Miracle Whip will also be considered "diesel."

    This is going to be absolutely fascinating.

    After going through the definition of what "is" is, the diesel definition will be anti-climatic.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Looks like Corpus Christi is testing a different type of fracking without using water -very interesting article. Here is the link: http://www.caller.com/news/2011/dec/27/propane-fracking-slowly-gaining-attention-as-in/

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yes, I've blogged about propane fracking on this site a couple of times before.

    I have a hunch that if the EPA likes diesel for fracking, they will will really enjoy propane for fracking, especially when propane is the only thing they use.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh, and for areas where water is an issue, propane makes sense. There is no lack of water in the Bakken.

    ReplyDelete

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