all fracked up kyle hicks, matt gnegy, robert simmons and christopher coppock
TRANSCRIPT
What is fracking?
- Hydraulic fracturing is the process of extracting natural gas or oil from shale rock formations.
- While modern fracking got its start in the late 1940s, in last two decades technology has made fracking the premiere method of accessing natural gas.
How does fracking work?- A natural gas well is drilled vertically, like a standard well, to a depth of around 6,000 – 10,000 ft. - Monitoring devices above the ground will indicate when the wellbore has reached the level of shale rock - At that point, the drilling will turn horizontal and the wellbore will parallel the shale formation
- The wellbore is then cased and sealed with cement to prevent the fracking fluids from leaking into the groundwater
- A perforating gun is then lowered into the wellbore and an electrical charge creates fractures in the wellbore and surrounding formation
- Highly pressurized fracking fluid is then pumped into the wellbore creating fractures throughout the shale formation
- The fracking fluid is mostly water mixed with sand but can be mixed with hundreds of chemicals used to dissolve rocks or kill bacteria in the water
- The liquid and gas is then pumped back to the surface where they are mechanically separated
- The gas is then trucked to locations where it is cleaned, purified and sold to distribution companies
West Coast Fracking
- Only viable in California and mostly oil shale
-15 billion barrels of crude oil potentially in Monterey Shale
Baldwin Hills - CA-1200 acre fracking site in Ingelwood
California-Population of 32,000 in a 3 square mile
area-5 miles from USC-Has average between 2.5-3.1 million
barrels of oil for the past ten years
Study on Oil Field-Year long study done by Daniel Tormey
of Cardno Entrix-Study found that there are no effects on
groundwater or community health from fracking.
-Hard data only indicates residents within 1/2 mile are exposed to immediate health risks
- Very limited research onlong term risks/wider impacts
Public Reaction-The community has been critical of
report and question its legitimacy-Claim that reviewers of study were tied
to closely with energy company
Lawsuit-No regulation of fracking in California-Environmental group, Earth Justice, is
suing state regulators over this practice
-Hoping to force regulation on fracking
East Coast Fracking
- Marcellus Shale Deposits is utilized
- Largely gas shale
- Concentrated in Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio.
- Major industry
Hopewell Township - PA- 400k gallon wastewater holding tank
exploded in March 2010- Company fined less than $100k by DEP
for contaminating an entire watershed- Atlas had profits exceeding $150m- Residents smelled gas in days prior to
explosion- Unable to contact DEP to report smell
Hopewell Safety Violations- 16p PDF documenting violations
leading up to explosion- Ranging from:
- failure to contain erosion- deliberate discharging of fuel into the
ground- spilling 500+ gallons of hydrochloric acid onto the ground near a site